Leinā began her career at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation dedicated to protecting Native Hawaiian land and water rights, sacred places, and traditional and customary practices. While at NHLC, Leinā represented Hawaiʻi state prisoners incarcerated out-of-state in a class action lawsuit for reasonable accommodations of their religious practices. Leinā represented clients involved in business, construction, and real estate disputes in agency proceedings and before the state and federal courts in private practice.
Leinā graduated from high school on Oʻahu, earned her BA from Brown University, and her JD from Berkeley School of Law. Leinā was born and raised on the island of Kauaʻi, growing up in small communities reliant on traditional practices and subsistence lifestyles. In 2011, Leinā moved home with the goal of using her law to degree to assist the people and places that make Hawaiʻi unique.