Ian F. Tapu
Ian Falefuafua Tapu (he/him) is currently a law clerk at the Hawai‘i Supreme Court and later in the year will be clerking in federal district court. Born and raised in Hawai‘i with family ties to Samoa and Tonga, his advocacy is intimately tied to uplifting and supporting Pasifika people. Tapu has also published extensively on topics relating to U.S. territories, LGBTQ rights, constitutional law, and Indigenous rights. His work has appeared in publications such as Arizona Law Review, NYU Review of Law & Social Change, and UCLA Asian Pacific American Law Journal. He has other work forthcoming with California Law Review and Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Tapu earned a J.D. from the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law, where he was an Ulu Lehua Scholar and founder of the Pacific Islander Legal Association Student Chapter, and received an A.B. in Native American Studies and Public Policy from Dartmouth College. He also sits on various local boards and national councils.