Momose Michi

Michi Momose

Partner

Michi is a partner in the Litigation Department of Cades Schutte. She works on a wide variety of complex commercial and real estate litigation matters.

Overview

Michi is a partner in the Litigation Department of Cades Schutte. She works on a wide variety of complex commercial and real estate litigation matters.

Michi’s practice broadly encompasses commercial, business, and real estate litigation, and includes the representation of financial institutions and schools in a variety of matters. She has a wide-range of experience in all aspects of litigation, including motions practice, discovery, bench and jury trial, and appeals. She previously worked on a trial team that secured a complete defense verdict in a four-week jury trial in federal district court. She has represented clients on issues including products liability and toxic tort litigation.

Michi is a board member of Hawaii Women’s Legal Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to programs that improve the lives of women and children. Michi also served on the board of Hawai‘i Women Lawyers, a non-profit organization committed to improving the lives and careers of women in the legal profession and enhancing the status of women and promoting equal opportunities for all people, from 2017 to 2024. She previously served as an O‘ahu director on the board of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association’s Young Lawyer’s Division.

Michi was selected to be a fellow in the Hawai‘i State Bar Association’s 2017 Leadership Institute. She has also trained in trial practice through the U.S. District Court of Hawai‘i’s Federal Trial Academy.

Prior to joining Cades Schutte, Michi served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Richard W. Pollack of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.  Michi received her law degree, summa cum laude, from the William S. Richardson School of Law. As a law student, she was the Outside Articles Editor on the Law Review and a member of the Philip C. Jessup International Law moot court team, which advanced to the international rounds. She also served as a judicial extern to Associate Justice Simeon R. Acoba, Jr. of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court. During law school she received the CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Civil Procedure I, Evidence, Federal Courts, Legal Practice II, Race, Culture & Law, and Health Law, as well as the Michael P. Porter Dean’s Scholastic Award. Prior to law school, Michi obtained her Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Experience

  • Assisted with litigation in administrative hearings and Circuit Court confirmation proceedings that resulted in securing a $331 million contract award in a bid protest involving the construction of roadway improvements and a consolidated car rental facility at Kahului Airport on Maui
  • Assisted with litigation in state court representing a large general contractor in a $30 million dispute over a bioenergy project on the Island of Hawai‘i
  • Assisted with litigation in state and federal trial courts, the Intermediate Court of Appeals, and the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, defending law firms against UDAP claims challenging procedures in non-judicial foreclosure proceedings
  • Worked on trial team that secured a complete defense verdict in four-week jury trial in federal district court in 2018

Awards

  • Listed in Best Lawyers®, since 2025, Ones to Watch (2021)
  • Listed in Super Lawyers® Rising Stars, 2021-2022
  • U.S. District Court of Hawai‘i’s Federal Trial Academy, 2019
  • HSBA’s 9th Annual Leadership Institute Fellow, 2017
  • Michael P. Porter Dean’s Scholastic Award, 2010
  • CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Civil Procedure I; Evidence; Federal Courts; Legal Practice II; Race, Culture & Law; Health law: Bioethics

Education

  • Juris Doctor (2012), William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, summa cum laude
  • Bachelor of Science (2008), Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, cum laude

Admissions

  • Hawai‘i State Bar (2012)
  • United States District Court for the District of Hawai‘i
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States Supreme Court (2022)

Membership

  • Hawaii Women’s Legal Foundation, Director
  • Hawai‘i Women Lawyers, past President (2020-2021), Director (2017-2024)
  • HSBA Young Lawyer’s Division, O‘ahu Director (2019-2020)
  • HSBA Appellate Section, Board Member (2015-2016)
  • Hawaii State Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Federal Bar Association