Bert T. Kobayashi, Jr. is a Senior
Partner of the law firm and one of its founding partners. Mr. Kobayashi is
intimately involved with the governmental, political and
business fabric of the State of Hawaii and is there by in touch with the
vibrant business pulse of the State of Hawaii. These extensive and
comprehensive contacts enable Mr. Kobayashi to effectively
advise his clients in their business activities in the State
of Hawaii.
Mr. Kobayashi's practice
concentrates in the areas of commercial and construction
litigation, consultation in development and construction,
construction document drafting and consultation,
administrative law, governmental procurement and contracts and
public utilities representation.
Current Business Community
Activities:
Mr. Kobayashi is a respected member
of the business community.
He has been a director of First
Hawaiian Bank since 1975 and now also sits as a director of
its holding company, BancWest Corporation. Mr. Kobayashi also sat
as a director of Western Air Lines until its sale to Delta Air
Lines and on the board of Schuler Homes, Inc. until it merged
with Western Pacific and then with D.H. Horton, Inc. resulting
in one of the largest homebuilders in the United States. Mr. Kobayashi
currently is a member of the board of directors for the
Waialae Country Club in Honolulu and was its
president in 1997.
He also sits on the board of Hawaii Holdings, Inc.
which controls Hawaiian Air Lines.
Community
Activities:
Mr. Kobayashi's community business
activities have involved the following:
Director of Hawaiian Insurance and
Guaranty, a Hawaii casualty insurance company, from 1975
through 1982, Director of Inter-Continental Medical Services
from 1986 until its sale in 1996, Advisory Board of GTE
Hawaiian Telephone Company from 1997 until its merger with
Verizon in 2001, Director and Vice Chair Person of Friends of
Hawaii Charities, the host entity for the New PGA event, the
Sony Open in Hawaii, Director and President of the Ahahui Koa
Anuenue, the University of Hawaii's Athletic Foundation; past
director of the Hawaii Public Schools Foundation, past member
of the Board of Visitors for Lewis and Clark's Northwestern
Law School in Portland, Oregon, member of the Executive
Committee of the Japan-Hawaii Economic Council, which was
founded in 1971, member of the Athletic Director Search
Committee for the University of Hawaii.
Mr. Kobayashi’s professional law
activities have been the following:
Member of Hawaii Asia Pacific
Association, Member of the American Bar Association and the
Hawaii Bar Association, Member of the State of Hawaii's
Judicial Selection Commission from 1985 through 1991. He was its chairperson
from 1987 through 1989. Member of the American
Trial Lawyers Association and the American Board of Trial
Advocates, and a Fellow of the American
College
of Trial Lawyers. Member of the American Board of Trial
Advocates. Member of the American Law Institute. National
Board of the American Judicature Society. Member of the
American Arbitration Association. He has served as an
arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association in
construction and commercial
arbitrations.
Honors:
Mr. Kobayashi has been listed for
more than ten years in Best Lawyers in
America under the categories of Commercial Litigation and
Insurance Defense.
He has also been listed each year in the Honolulu
Magazine's issues featuring the Best Lawyers in the State
of Hawaii in Commercial Law and Litigation and Insurance,
ever since the magazine started its annual recognition of the
outstanding lawyers in the state.
In 1987, he received the Alumni's
Distinguished Service Award from the University of California's Hastings
College
of the Law. In 2003 he was awarded the Honorary Alumnus Award
by Lewis and Clark's Northwestern School of Law and in 2005
was awarded the University of Hawaii's Charles
Ushijima Award for Distinguished
Service.
Lectures:
Mr. Kobayashi has taught classes in
civil procedure for the Hawaii Bar Review Course, and Wills
and Estates for the Honolulu Police Department Recruit School. For the College of Continuing Education at the
University of Hawaii, he has taught
both as a regular instructor in business law and as a guest
instructor in construction law, engineer's and architect's
liability. He has
also lectured for Professional Education Systems, Inc. in the
area of construction law for attorneys, contractors and design
professionals in Hawaii. He has taught in the
area of procurement law, RFPs and construction contracts for
the Corporation Counsel's annual
conference.
Educational
Background:
Mr. Kobayashi was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and graduated from Roosevelt
High
School. Mr. Kobayashi attended the
University of
Hawaii from 1958 to
1960, and graduated from Gettysburg College in 1962, with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with minors in
psychology and mathematics. Mr. Kobayashi received his Juris
Doctor degree in 1965, from the University of California, Hastings
College
of the Law.
Military
Service:
Mr. Kobayashi was commissioned in
1962 as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Military
Intelligence Branch. After graduating from law school, he
entered active duty in 1965 as a First Lieutenant and was
trained at the Combat
Infantry
Platoon
Leaders
School at Fort Benning, Georgia (IOBC 21) and the
Counter
Intelligence
School at Fort Holabird,
Maryland. Mr.
Kobayashi served in Vietnam with the
519th MI Battalion HHQ Co. from June 1966 to June 1967. He was
the head of the PsyopslInfra-structure Section of the R&A
Branch of MACV in Saigon and
head of the strategic interrogation team for Operation
Hastings in Quin Yon. He was awarded the
Bronze Star for meritorious service in Vietnam. He received his
honorable discharge with the rank of Captain in
1967.