Law Firm Overview

Carlsmith Ball LLP offers its clients the expertise of more than 94 attorneys plus the experience and heritage reaching back to 1857. We are dedicated to serving clients throughout the Pacific Rim. Our offices stretch from Northern Mariana Islands to Honolulu, Los Angeles, Hilo, Kailua-Kona, Maui, Kapolei and Hagatna, Guam.

Carlsmith Ball LLP is a full-service law firm that takes a team approach to each individual case and client. Our offices are linked by a sophisticated communications system that gives each attorney instant access to some of the best legal minds in the profession. These resources, together with our understanding of the Pacific Rim, allow us to offer clients a unique combination of technical skills and practical experience, enabling us to better serve their legal needs.

HISTORY

In 1857 David Howard Hitchcock opened a small practice in Hilo, Hawaii, starting what was to later become known as the "CARLSMITH" firm. Little did he dream that his firm would grow to be Hawaii's largest law firm (with more than 94 attorneys) and that its practice would extend throughout North America and the Pacific. In 1990 a merger with one of California's most respected law firms, Ball, Hunt, Hart, Brown and Baerwitz, added significant strength and depth to the firm. Today, the original Carlsmith firm has grown to become Carlsmith Ball. Carlsmith Ball LLP enjoys the unique reputation of being the premier law firm in the Pacific. We can communicate and conduct business in Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and French.

HISTORICAL PROFILE

1857 Opened offices in Hilo, Hawaii

1958 Opened offices in Honolulu, Hawaii

1974 Opened offices in Kona, Hawaii

1978 Opened offices in Agana, Guam

1983 Opened offices in Maui, Hawaii

1985 Opened offices in Los Angeles

1987 Opened offices in Saipan

1990 Merged with Ball, Hunt, Hart, Brown and Baerwitz, adding offices in Long Beach

1990 Opened offices in Washington, D.C.

OUR INTEGRATED NETWORK OF OFFICES.

Carlsmith Ball's offices in Los Angeles, Honolulu, Maui, Kona, Hilo, Guam, and Saipan provide the base for personal, in-depth expertise and attention to clients' legal needs throughout the Pacific. Carlsmith Ball LLP is not only geographically dispersed in strategic locations throughout North America and the Pacific, but has developed a sophisticated system of inter-office communications. When a client walks into any Carlsmith Ball LLP office, he is walking into 8 different offices around the Pacific and North America. Whatever area of expertise a client needs, Carlsmith Ball LLP can either meet that need on the spot or quickly involve specialists in one of our other offices.

• Admiralty & Maritime
• Banking/Finance
• Corporate/Business
• Environmental
• Hospitality
• International Transactions
• Labor, Employment & Employee Benefits
• Litigation & Dispute Resolution
• Real Property & Land Use
• Tax, Trusts & Compensation Planning
• Technology

CORPORATE/BUSINESS LAW.

Our Corporate/Business Practice Group offers legal services in a broad array of business and commercial undertakings. We provide analysis and advice on structuring proposed transactions and activities; selecting and establishing the appropriate organizational entities; negotiating agreements; satisfying legal and procedural requirements; and assisting in regulatory, administrative and legislative matters.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Corporate law
• Securities
• Partnerships
• Joint ventures
• Acquisitions and mergers
• Commercial law
• Regulatory and administrative law
• Legislative matters

In addition, Carlsmith Ball LLP includes attorneys who have delivered outstanding results in critical specialty areas such as:

• Antitrust and trade regulation
• International commercial arbitration
• Telecommunications
• Patents, trademarks and intellectual property
• Energy development
• Legislative issues and initiatives, at both the state and the federal levels

INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS.

With the growing volume of business being conducted across national boundaries, it is increasingly important to have a law firm experienced and knowledgeable in multinational transactions.

Because incoming investment is so significant in the Pacific Rim, our International Practice Group has long provided foreign clients with superior legal advice on transnational matters of all kinds. Our attorneys routinely provide guidance (in the client's own language) to those unfamiliar with the American legal system and American ways of conducting business. We also serve American companies conducting business abroad, focusing on how American laws affect manufacturing, trading and service organizations.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Acquisition and mergers
• International tax planning
• Foreign investment disclosure and reporting requirements
• International finance
• Registration of foreign companies and branch offices
• Incorporation of subsidiaries
• Immigration (including representation before the Immigration Service)
• Federal and state regulations and restrictions
• Federal trade and tariff laws
• Technology licensing
• Protection of industrial and intellectual property rights

LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION

In 1990 the merger of Carlsmith and Ball Hunt combined Carlsmith's expertise in business law with one of California's premier litigation firms. Our Litigation Practice Group has a proven track record and is experienced in almost every area of business litigation. Our attorneys utilize a support staff of paralegals, document analysts and administrative personnel to provide litigation support services in a cost-efficient manner.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Antitrust
• Banking and Finance
• Computer hardware and software development
• Constitutional Law
• Construction
• Contracts
• Election laws
• Insurance coverage
• Personal injury
• Products liability defense
• Professional liability involving attorneys, realtors and accountants
• Real estate
• RICO
• Securities

REAL PROPERTY & LAND USE

Our Real Property Practice Group has a long-standing and well-established reputation for expertise in real estate matters. Our attorneys typically represent developers and major landowners in a broad spectrum of real estate matters including resort, commercial, residential and industrial projects, with particular emphasis on complex transactions.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Acquisition, development and sale of both raw land and developed properties such as hotels, residential projects, shopping centers, golf courses and office buildings
• Tax-deferred exchanges
• Long-term ground leases
• Commercial leasing
• Construction contracts
• Project financing
• Hotel management contracts
• Planning, zoning and land use matters
• Water rights
• Quiet title actions
• Environmental matters

TAX, TRUSTS & COMPENSATION PLANNING

Our Tax Practice Group provides income tax and pension planning for both large and small businesses, and income tax and estate planning for individuals. Our attorneys have worked extensively on federal tax matters and on tax issues that arise under the local laws of Hawaii, Guam, California and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Because Carlsmith Ball LLP routinely works on multinational transactions, our attorneys have significant experience in the tax aspects of these transactions.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Real estate acquisition, ownership and development
• Sophisticated tax planning for businesses and individuals
• Formation, purchase and sale of business ventures, including the structuring of major transactions
• Structuring of business arrangements for maximum tax advantage
• Foreign investment and operations in the U.S.
• Equipment leasing
• Tax-exempt organizations, especially health care providers
• Estate and gift tax advice, generation skipping transfers, liquidity analysis and business succession
• Probate administration, trust formation and administration, charitable giving, structuring of charitable trusts and pre- and post-nuptial agreements
• Pension and profit-sharing plans for large companies, multiple employers, professional corporations and small businesses
• Welfare benefit funds, cafeteria plans, employee stock ownership plans, 401(k) plans and executive compensation arrangements

LABOR, EMPLOYMENT & EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

The laws and regulations that govern employers are complex, constantly changing and vary from area to area. Our Labor, Employment & Employee Benefits Practice Group has a wealth of experience and expertise in representing employers in this fast-moving area of the law.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Labor negotiations and labor arbitrations
• Employment contracts
• Independent contractor agreements
• Labor audits
• Personnel manuals and employment policies
• Affirmative action plans
• Union organizing campaigns
• Labor aspects of acquisitions, sales and mergers
• Employee terminations and layoffs

In litigation/appellate practice, Carlsmith Ball LLP has extensive experience in both federal and state court with:

• Wrongful termination
• Discrimination
• Wage/hour disputes
• Labor injunctions
• Pensions and employee benefits
• Defamation defense

Carlsmith Ball LLP frequently handles administrative proceedings before:

• The National Labor Relations Board
• The U.S. Department of Labor
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
• The Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
• The California Department of Fair Employment & Housing
• The California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement

BANKING/FINANCE

Our Finance Practice Group has developed particular insights and skills in corporate finance; offering a full range of legal services to financial institutions, commercial lenders and borrowers. The capabilities of our Finance Practice Group are further enhanced by the close working relationship it has with the attorneys in the firm who specialize in other areas, most notably tax, real property and international law.

In large commercial credit transactions, Carlsmith Ball LLP may represent either lenders (both foreign or domestic) or borrowers; in consumer credit transactions, Carlsmith Ball LLP primarily represents lenders.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Documentation and closing of loan transactions
• Consumer and commercial credit
• Federal and state regulatory matters
• Financial service company acquisitions
• Refinancing arrangements and restructuring of loans
• Foreclosures, collections and bankruptcy matters

ADMIRALTY AND MARITIME

Our Admiralty Practice Group has an established and varied maritime and admiralty practice throughout Hawaii, Guam, Saipan and Micronesia, and has expanded its admiralty and maritime practice to California. Our admiralty clients include major international shipping companies, marine insurance companies, charters and shippers, ship builders and operators, cruise ship companies (both international and local tourist-oriented operations), the fishing industry, waterfront developers, recreational boating interests and marine financiers, among others. Our maritime clients range from Europe and Asia to North America.

PRIMARY AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDE:

• Marine insurance
• Arrest and foreclosure of vessels
• Cargo claims
• Collision and casualty
• Charter agreements
• Vessel financing and documentation
• Towage
• Government regulations of shipping activities
• Marine pollution
• Fisheries and marine resources

Areas of Practice

• Administrative Law
• Admiralty & Maritime Law
• Antitrust & Trade Regulation
• Banking & Finance Law
• Bankruptcy Law
• Business & Commercial Law
• Business Organizations
• Constitutional Law
• Employment Law -- Employer
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Estate Planning
• Government Contracts
• Health & Health Care Law
• Naturalization & Citizenship
• Insurance Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• International Law
• Labor Law
• Litigation & Appeals
• Probate & Estate Administration
• Real Estate Law
• Securities Law
• Taxation Law
• Workers' Compensation Law
• Y2K (Year 2000)

Published Works

• Telecommuting: Here Today but Gone Tommorrow?, Pacific Employment Law Letter
• Legal and Ethical Obligations Toward Potentially Unstable Employees, Pacific Employment Law Letter
• Suggestions For Minimizing Work Place Diversity Conflicts, Pacific Employment Law Letter
• Basic Reminders on Payroll Deductions, Pacific Employment Law Letter
• A Newsletter for Consular Officials
• Contributor, E.E.U.U. Guia Empresarial by Duane H. Zobrist, Stephen L. Bradford (in Spanish)
• Contributor, USA Business - The Portable Encyclopedia for Doing Business in the United States, World Trade Press
• Contributor, World Trade Press

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Admiralty & Maritime Law, Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Banking & Finance Law, Bankruptcy Law, Business & Commercial Law, Business Organizations, Constitutional Law, Employment Law -- Employer, Energy Law, Environmental Law, Estate Planning, Government Contracts, Health & Health Care Law, Naturalization & Citizenship, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Law, Labor Law, Litigation & Appeals, Probate & Estate Administration, Real Estate Law, Securities Law, Taxation Law, Workers' Compensation Law, Y2K (Year 2000)