Kendra Kawai is a Director in the labor and employment law department of the law firm Torkildson Katz. Ms. Kawai has extensive trial experience and regularly defends small and large employers in discrimination, harassment, and disability cases at the administrative, state, and federal levels. She also provides employers with guidance on leave law and wage and hour compliance issues and evaluates and updates employee handbooks. Ms. Kawai has been licensed to practice law in Hawaiʻi since 2002. She previously worked for the City and County of Honolulu in the Department of the Corporation Counsel’s Tort Litigation and Counseling & Drafting Divisions. She received a BA in Political Science with a Minor in Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego, and a JD from the University of Oregon School of Law. She recently served two terms on the Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi Board of Directors. Ms. Kawai previously served as Co-Chair of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Hawaiʻi Chapter, Educational Foundation, and Programs Committee for the island of Oahu. Also, she served as a programs committee member for several years.