David C. Farmer, Trustee vs. Harmon - Witness Paul A. Lynch

Paul Lynch is a former law partner of Plaintiff David C. Farmer, and witnesses Judge Alan Kay and Daniel Case in the law firms of Lynch and Farmer, and Case, Kay & Lynch.

NEW DISCOVERY (04/14/09): More undisclosed conflicts-of-interest between David C. Farmer, Steven Guttman, Paul Lynch, Judge Alan Kay, Dan Case, etc.:

Honolulu law firm Lynch Ichida Thompson & Hirota has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and saw all but one of its attorneys leave the firm this week.

The general practice and civil litigation firm, which employed seven attorneys, filed for bankruptcy reorganization on Feb. 17.

Since then, partners Wesley Ichida, William F. Thompson III and Maile Hirota have left the firm. Two of them have started new firms, according to records with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

The bankruptcy filing, signed by Paul A. Lynch as president of the firm, lists Lynch Ichida Thompson & Hirota’s assets at more than $500,000 and debts at more than $300,000.

The case is scheduled for a March 16 hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert J. Faris. Within days of the bankruptcy filing, the trustee overseeing the case filed a motion to have it dismissed because the petition was missing a key document, the corporate resolution that is supposed to show that the firm’s entire board of directors - the four partners — authorized the filing.

Attorney Steven Guttman of the Honolulu law firm Kessner Umebayashi Bain & Matsunaga said the board didn’t sign off on the filing. He was hired by Ichida and Horita to represent them in the bankruptcy case.

“Mr. Ichida, Mr. Thompson and Ms. Hirota do not support the petition filed by Mr. Lynch,” Guttman told PBN. He said the former partners won’t oppose the motion to dismiss the case.

According to the bankruptcy filing, the law firm’s biggest creditor is ReOrient8 LLC, owed $82,000. Until Feb. 13, Wesley Ichida was listed as the agent for the company, according to state DCCA records, which do not include a description of ReOrient8’s business purpose.

The filing also lists $15,000 owed to Douglas Emmett for the lease on the law firm’s 14th floor offices at 1132 Bishop St. in downtown Honolulu, about $13,500 owed to Marsh & McLennan Cos. for insurance and thousands of dollars owed to companies such as Hawaiian Telcom, Martindale-Hubbell and LexisNexis.

Ichida, Thompson and Hirota declined to discuss the bankruptcy filing and their decisions to leave the firm, which was incorporated in 1999.

State DCCA records show that Ichida and Hirota each have established and registered new limited liability law companies in recent weeks. Hirota established Hirota & Associates on Feb. 9.

Ichida joined with another of the firm’s attorneys, Ann Kemp, and established Ichida, Kemp on Feb. 12.

The Hawaii Rules for Professional Conduct prohibit law firms from continuing to use the name of a partner who has left the firm and is actively practicing law elsewhere. It could not be immediately determined how the former Lynch Ichida Thompson & Hirota firm will be renamed.

The firm specialized in civil litigation, bankruptcy, real estate, construction, securities, insurance defense, immigration and family law, and adoptions, according to its Web site.

Insurance Defense, Automobile, Product Liability, Professional Liability, Casualty, Coverage Issues, Aviation, Bad Faith, Admiralty and Maritime Law, Securities, Commercial Law, Construction Litigation, Professional Errors and Omissions, Subrogation, Investigation and Adjustment

Firm Profile: Lynch, Ichida, Thompson & Hirota, A Law Corporation (formerly of the Honolulu Office of Case & Lynch and Lynch & Farmer), as of February 1, 1999, formed a law corporation which presently consists of four, general principals, Paul A. Lynch, Wesley W. Ichida, William F. Thompson III, and Maile M. Hirota; two associates, Ann C. Kemp and Tony Tran, and one of counsel, J. Gregory Turnbull.

Language proficiencies in the firm include Tagalog, Ilocano, and Japanese. Our principal office is located in Honolulu, with statewide access to legal services on each of the island counties.

The firm engages in the general practice of law including, civil litigation, emphasizing collections, real property, construction, admiralty, securities, professional errors and omissions, insurance defense, family law, immigration, nationality and international law (including adoptions).

Principals
PAUL A. LYNCH — 1937 — Yale University, A.B., 1959; Harvard University, LL.B., 1964 — Admitted to Bar, 1965, Hawaii; 1965, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii; 1966, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit — Member American and Hawaii State Bar Associations - E-Mail: paul.lynch09@gmail.com
WESLEY W. ICHIDA — 1946 — University of Michigan, B.A., 1968; University of Colorado, J.D., 1971 — Order of the Coif — Admitted to Bar, 1971, Hawaii; 1971, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii; 1972, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit — Member American and Hawaii State Bar Associations - E-Mail: wesley.ichida@gmail.com
WILLIAM F. THOMPSON, III — 1930 — University of Hawaii, B.A., 1956; Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 1959 — Admitted to Bar, 1963, Hawaii; 1963, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii; 1963, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit — Member American Immigration Lawyers Association (Board of Governors, 1977-1979) - E-Mail: thompsonHI@aol.com
MAILE M. HIROTA — 1968 —University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, A.B. (with honors), 1990; Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington, J.D., 1994 — Admitted to Bar, 1994, Hawaii; 1996, Ohio; 1994, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii — Member Hawaii State Bar Association; American Immigration Lawyers Association — Languages: Japanese - E-Mail: maile.hirota@gmail.com

Associates
ANN KEMP — 1964 — University of Hawaii, B.B.A. (with high honors), 1986; University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D. (magna cum laude), 1989 — Admitted to Bar, 1989, Hawaii; 1989, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii; 1991, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit — Member Hawaii State Bar Association — Practice Areas: Litigation - E-Mail: ann.c.kemp@gmail.com
TONY TRAN — University of Hawaii, J.D., 2007 — Admitted to Bar, 2007, Hawaii - E-Mail: tonytran.esq@gmail.com

Of Counsel
J. GREGORY A. TURNBULL — 1955 — Hawaii Loa College, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1978; University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, J.D., 1984 — Admitted to Bar, 1984, Hawaii; U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii — Member Hawaii State Bar Association - E-Mail: Dr.Turnbull@gmail.com

After 13 years as an active federal judge, U.S. District Judge Alan C. Kay will assume senior status Jan. 2.

He is eligible at the end of the year under the "Rule of 80," which allows active judges who qualify to seek senior status and continue to render judicial service or retire.

District judges are eligible for senior status once they reach the age of 65 and when their total years of service and age equal 80. Kay is 67 years old.

A vast majority choose to seek senior status rather than retire. Those who take senior status can accept a reduced caseload but still render substantial service to the court. Kay is not expected to cut back on his work any time soon.

"My caseload now is as heavy as it's ever been and I look forward to continuing presiding over cases," Kay said.

Kay's move to senior judge creates a vacancy on the four-member District Court. President Clinton will appoint a judge with the advice and approval of the U.S. Senate.

While Hawaii qualifies for a fifth judgeship, approved by the 9th Circuit and recommended by the National Judicial Conference, Congress still needs to approve it.

"At this point, Congress does not seem amenable to approving new judgeship positions," Kay said.

Kay was appointed by President Reagan in 1986. He joins two other senior judges in Hawaii -- Martin Pence and Samuel P. King.

Kay served as chief judge from 1991 to 1998. He served as chair of the 9th Circuit Chief District Judges in 1997 and 1998. He also was a member of the Judicial Council of the 9th Circuit, the 9th Circuit Pacific Islands Committee and the 9th Circuit Rules Review Committee.

Kay also is a counselor for the Aloha Inn, American Inn of Court at the University of Hawaii Law School.

Kay was born and raised in Hawaii. He received a doctorate of law from the University of California, Boalt Hall.

He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1953 and was honorably discharged two years later after service in the Far East. He practiced law with the law firm of Case, Kay & Lynch.

Before joining the bench, he was on the board of directors of Bank of Hawaii and Hawaii Bancorp, and the Economic Development Corporation of Honolulu.

He also has served on the board of the Legal Aid Society and the Prison Good News Mission.

Insurance Company Clients
Aetna Casualty and Surety Company	Great American E&S Insurance Company
Hartford Holdings, Inc.	Jefferson Pilot Financial Insurance Company
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company	Midland National Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company	North American Company for Life and Health Insurance
Universal Underwriters Group	Zurich American Insurance Group

Non-Insurance Company Clients
AAO Services, Inc.	Adventist Risk Management, Inc.
Brown Jordan International, Inc.	Dell Computer Corporation
HMS Insurance Agency, Inc.	National Mortgage & Finance Co., Ltd.
Peerless Coffee Company, Inc.	Trivest Partners
Whirlpool Corporation	Wiss Janney Elstner Associates, Inc.