Kainoa Tabar is an experienced Honolulu attorney whose practice focuses on real estate and business transactions, commercial leasing, development, financing and documentation.  Mr. Tabar has presented legal seminars on privacy and instituting better business practices for construction companies and maintains a legal blog on a plethora of civil law subjects.

Transactional practice includes drafting business documents, contracts, commercial leases, review of lease forms and purchase sale agreements; closing documents; review of transactions for compliance with state and administrative laws; drafting of articles of incorporation, bylaws and handling of all aspects of business registration; review of company policies for compliance with state and federal laws (nonprofits included);  review of company forms and drafting of forms and policies; domestication of foreign national corporations including construction of drafting interdependent contractual agreements and partnerships between multinational corporations (e.g. global construction and technology companies); obtaining of licenses for foreign professionals; review of intellectual property disputes; negotiation; review of recording and performance contracts, negotiation between artists and producers.

Mr. Tabar received his B.A. in Journalism, cum laude with honors, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and went on to be a staff reporter for Pacific Business News before heading to law school at Hofstra University School of Law.  He received his law degree, cum laude, from the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii where he was a staff editor of the Asian & Pacific Law Policy Journal.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Tabar served as a summer law clerk to then-Associate Justice Simeon Acoba and Circuit Court Judge Steven Alm before serving as assistant director of the Hawaii Innocence Project. Prior to opening his own private pratice, Mr. Tabar was an associate at Park Park & Remillard and then Badger Arakaki LLLC where he litigated business law matters, mediated, arbitrated and litigated consumer and construction law disputes.  He is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association and the American Bar Association and is admitted to practice before all Hawaii courts, the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

EDUCATION

  • J.D. (2008), William S. Richardson School of Law, cum laude, University of Hawaii
    • Staff editor, Asian & Pacific Law Policy Journal
  • B.A. (2002), Journalism, cum laude with honors, University of Hawaii at Manoa

ADMISSIONS

  • Hawaii State Bar (2010)
  • United States District Court for the District of Hawaii (2010)
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2012)

PUBLICATIONS

  • Author, Protecting the Privacy of Student and School Records Under FERPA.

MEMBERSHIPS/ACTIVITIES

  • Friends of Waikiki Library, Board Member
  • Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation, Former Board Member and Executive Director
  • Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, Former Executive Director
  • William S. Richardson School of Law Alumni Association

PAST SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

  • National Business Institute, December 2015, Protecting the Privacy of Student and School Records Under FERPA
  • Junior Judges Program, Benjamin Parker Elementary School, 2015