Over her 35-plus-year legal career, Cissy has handled myriad types of commercial and personal injury litigation, with cases ranging from lease rent renegotiations to helicopter crashes.  Cissy also has a keen interest in cases involving Native Hawaiian issues, such as the repatriation of ancient Hawaiian artifacts.  Cissy had the honor of being appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to the NAGPRA Review Committee for two terms. She also served as the Interim President and CEO of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the largest museum in Hawaii and the premier natural and cultural history institution in the Pacific.  Cissy served two terms on the board of Hawaii Justice Foundation, recently completed her term on the board of Historic Hawaii Foundation, and is currently a director of Hawaii Public Radio.

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Cissy is exceptionally persuasive at trial before juries.  As a result, she was selected by a major pharmaceutical company to serve on its trial team for a high-profile case brought by the State of Hawaii, where billions were at stake.  A Fortune 100 company was so impressed by Cissy's trial skills, it made her a member of its National Trial Team, and asked her to teach new members of the team.