Hannah Matsunaga

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Hannah is a graduate of Punahou School, Vassar College, and Stanford Law School.

At Stanford, Hannah led the workers’ rights pro bono group, representing low-income workers against their bosses. She was also a member of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic; her team won Mount Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido, 139 S. Ct. 22 (2018), which established that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act covers state employers, regardless of size.

Hannah started her legal career at a California-based civil rights law firm focusing on gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual harassment. She then served as a law clerk for Judge Jesus G. Bernal of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and Judge Mark J. Bennett of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Clerking on both a trial court and an appellate court has given her valuable insight into federal court practice at all stages of a case, as well as an interest in the diversity of legal practice.

Hannah’s practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, sexual abuse, and civil rights. In her first year at Davis Levin Livingston, she helped try a wrongful death case on behalf of a man who died by suicide at Halawa Correctional Facility, as well as a medical malpractice case on behalf of a child injured by negligence at Tripler Hospital. Both cases resulted in record victories.

Hannah is passionate about using the law as a tool for social justice, as well as protecting the people, land, and water that make Hawai‘i special. Outside of the law, she loves rock climbing, farmers’ markets, and LGBTQ history.