Loretta A. Sheehan
Partner
Practice Areas:
Loretta Sheehan served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney from 1985-1995, focusing on crimes against women and children. In 1990 she became the first prosecutor to expand legal boundaries in the field of child homicides by successfully introducing the concept of “murder by omission.” In 1995 she was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii, and spent the next 14 years focusing on complex drug prosecutions, violent crime, and crimes against women and children.
In 2009 Loretta Sheehan joined the firm of Davis Levin Livingston, as a seasoned litigator with more than 45 jury trials under her belt. Since joining the firm, she has earned a reputation as a passionate yet methodical advocate for clients across Hawaii, focusing on personal injury and wrongful death matters with a special emphasis on medical malpractice, including birth injuries. In representing children and their families whose lives have been dramatically altered by preventable birth injuries, she fights tirelessly to hold at-fault parties accountable for the wrongs they have committed.
Ms. Sheehan plays an important role at Davis Levin Livingston. She has been a part of a number of record-setting verdicts and settlements, including the single largest wrongful death recovery. She sees her work at the firm as more than “just a job,” but an opportunity to improve lives.
In 2007 she was awarded the prestigious Jefferson Award for her extensive work in the field of domestic violence. In 2016 Mayor Kirk Caldwell appointed her to the Honolulu Police Commission, where she “earned a well-deserved reputation for raising issues that her colleagues have preferred to ignore.” Civil Beat, October 19, 2016. In 2018, she was unanimously elected Chair of the Honolulu Police Commission.
Education
- Boston University, summa cum laude
- Georgetown University Law Center
Bar Admissions
- Hawai‘i
- New York
- U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai‘i
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Professional Honors, Associations & Activities
- Member, Hawai‘i State Bar Association, 1986 to present
- Member, Hawai‘i Association for Justice, 2009 to present
- Member, American Association for Justice, 2009 to present
- Volunteer, Board Member and Chair, Hospice Hawaii, 1988-1994
- Member, Advisory Board, Domestic Violence Action Center, 1995-present
- Jefferson Award winner, 2007
- Federal Magistrate Judge Selection Committee Member, U.S. District Court, 2011
- Faculty, Hawaii State Bar Association Trial Academy, 2014 & 2016
- Commissioner, Honolulu Police Commission, 2016-2017
- Chair, Honolulu Police Commission, 2018 to present
- Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, 2019
- Selected to the Best Lawyers in America since 2019
- Selected to Super Lawyers, 2012, 2014 - 2016, 2020

- Bio
- Education
- Bar Admissions
- Professional Honors & Associations