The firm is proud to announce that Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher has been selected as Benchmark Litigation's 2020 Litigation Law Firm of the Year-Hawaii.
The firm was short-listed amongst four of Hawaii's top law firms.
Benchmark Litigation Comments about the firm:
Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher offers legal services in litigation, real estate and business law from their central hub in Honolulu. The firm has become one of the most distinguished litigation outfits in Hawaii since its founding in 1994, earning numerous accolades over the years.
Terence O’Toole is a highly regarded lawyer who heads the litigation department at the firm. He represented Safeway Stores in a multimillion-dollar action regarding product failures and defective construction regarding the client’s flagship store in Honolulu. In 2015 the main action was settled and since then, the client pursued claims in federal court in Honolulu against the insurance companies who covered certain defendants in the main action. The case has since been settled.
Another star litigator at the firm is Sharon Lovejoy, who specializes in general commercial and real estate litigation. She represented Woodley Hunt, Michael Hunt and related entities in an appeal on the state of Hawaii’s income tax assessment regarding the sale of a residential rental community in Oahu. Lovejoy argued that the tax was improperly allocated and therefore the client should receive a refund. The summary judgement ruled in favor of the client.
Douglas Chin has a wide breadth of government and legal experience, most notably having served as Hawaii’s Attorney General from 2015 to 2018. In one case since joining the firm as a director, Chin represented a client in a dispute against an owner of a private road. This dispute revolved around public prescriptive easement rights.
Known for his aggressive yet practical style, Andrew Lautenbach defended Irongate, a luxury condominium developer, in a real estate matter. The plaintiffs, parties contracted to buy four units in Irongate’s project, specifically the Trump International Hotel and Tower at Waikiki Beach Walk, filed claims in an effort to recover forfeited deposits due to their failure to close agreeing to the sales contract terms and to the terms of a prior settlement agreement. The U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii ruled a summary judgement in favor of Irongate. This result has since been appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court.
Esteemed litigator Trevor Brown is a master of real estate litigation, but is also very skilled in other litigation practice areas. He represented consumers in both class and individual actions against Genki Sushi restaurants. Consumers ate tainted scallops and as a result, either contracted Hepatitis A or were exposed to adulterated food through secondary exposure. The class action call for recovery claims for those consumers who were exposed to the tainted scallops and consequently received Hepatitis A vaccinations or an immunoglobulin shot. The individual actions call for recovery claims for damages suffered by each individual due to the adulterated food. Over 40 individual cases have settled, including the class action.