Richard S. Ekimoto

RICHARD S. EKIMOTO received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California at Davis School of Law in 1983. He was an editor of the U. C. Davis Law Review and was a member of the U. C. Davis Moot Court Board. Mr. Ekimoto practices primarily in the areas of general representation of homeowner associations. The Real Estate Educators Association awarded the 1989 Best REEAction Article to New Federal Law Increases Scope of Fair Housing Act, an article co-written by Mr. Ekimoto. Mr. Ekimoto has served as a panelist, speaker and writer on many topics, including Community Association Governance, the Hawaii Condominium Property Act, the Federal and State Fair Housing Acts, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Telecommunications Act, Leased Fee Conversions for Condominiums, and Employment Law. Mr. Ekimoto has written monthly columns on condominium law for The Maui News, The Garden Island and The Molokai Dispatch, and a quarterly column for the Building Management Hawaii magazine. He also publishes the Hawaii Condo Law Blog. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Community Association Law and the Community Association Management Insider. Mr. Ekimoto is also a member of the Hawaii State and California Bar Associations.

Mr. Ekimoto has served as the National Vice-President of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), Member of CAI's National Board of Trustees for two terms, President of the Hawaii Chapter of CAI, a member of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Chapter of CAI, Chair of CAI National's Public Affairs Council and the first chair of the Hawaii Legislative Action Committee for CAI (HLAC). He is the only Hawaii resident to be an officer or director of CAI National. He is currently the National Liason for HLAC. He also serves on the CAI amicus team which prepares amicus briefs on cases throughout the country which raise issues important to community associations. Mr. Ekimoto was a contributor to CAI's publication, Satellite Dishes & Other Antennas: Model Rules and Guidelines for Planned Communities and CAI's upcoming publication, Pet Peeves. He is also the co-author of CAI's Guide for Association Practitioners Design Review: How Community Associations Maintain Peace & Harmony (originally GAP #2.)

Mr. Ekimoto was admitted to CAI's prestigious College of Community Association Lawyers ("CCAL") in October of 1996 during his first year of eligibility. He is the second attorney from Hawaii to be so honored. He is currently a member of CCAL's Board of Governors, the first Hawaii attorney to serve on the Board of Governors. He is the only Hawaii attorney to have been a faculty member for CAI's National Law Seminar. In 1997, he taught the session on annual meetings in Arlington, Virginia and Marina del Rey, California. In 2003, he taught the session in New Orleans, Louisiana on Association Regulation Inside the Unit. In 2004, he taught the session in Las Vegas, Nevada on the Federal Fair Housing Act. He was the Chair of the Law Seminar Planning Committee for the 2004 Law Seminar. Attorneys throughout the United States who wish to learn more about community association law attend these law seminars.

Mr. Ekimoto has received numerous awards from CAI National including, the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award, the President's Award for Meritorious Service, the Award of Excellence in Public Affairs for work in representing the interests of community associations before the Federal Communications Commission, and the Award of Excellence in Public Affairs for drafting Amicus Curiae briefs on behalf of CAI. He has also received the CAI-Hawaii Chapter Public Advocate Award and the CAI-Hawaii Chapter Committee Chair Award.

Mr. Ekimoto formerly served as co-chair of the Condominium Property Regime Committee of the Real Property and Financial Services Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association which advises the State Legislature on matters concerning proposed legislation.

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John A. Morris

JOHN A. MORRIS has been a member of the Hawaii Bar since 1984 and joined the firm in 2001. He served as the State's first condominium specialist from 1988-1991 and drafted a number of bills affecting condominiums which were subsequently enacted into law. He continues to be active in proposing and testifying on legislation as a member of the Community Associations Institute Legislative Action Committee.

As a member of the real property and transactional sections of the firm, Mr. Morris focuses on representing condominiums, cooperatives and other types of homeowner associations. His experience includes:

• Advising boards on their rights and duties under the law and their governing documents;

• Enforcing the requirements of the law and those documents; and

• Collecting delinquent assessments.

Professional Activities:

• Member, Hawaii Council of Associations of Apartment Owners ("HCAAO")

• Member, and past president of the Community Associations Institute ("CAI") Hawaii Chapter.

Mr. Morris has lectured and written articles about homeowner associations and legislation affecting them. Each year, he publishes a 300 page "Director's Guide to Hawaii Community Association Law", a handbook for directors which includes relevant laws and analysis for board members.

Education:

University College London, London, England, Bachelor of Laws (LLB. 1973)

J.D., University of Hawai`i, William S. Richardson School of Law, 1984

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Arlette S. Harada

ARLETTE S. HARADA was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 18, 1958. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1976. Ms. Harada received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College in 1980 and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California in 1983. Ms. Harada was admitted to the Hawaii Bar in 1984 and to the California Bar in 1985. From 1984 through 1988, Ms. Harada practiced with the law firm of Gill Park Park & Kim in the areas of labor law, civil litigation, workers' compensation and real estate law before the State and federal courts and in hearings before various administrative agencies. From 1988 until February 1994, she practiced with the law firm that became Dinman, Nakamura, Elisha & Lahne ("DNEL") primarily in the areas of civil litigation, involving corporate, construction, condominium and employment issues and in real estate law. Ms. Harada became a shareholder and director of DNEL in 1991. From February 1994 until July, 2005, Ms. Harada was a principal in the law firm of Elisha Ekimoto & Harada concentrating in the areas of civil litigation, including corporate, construction, condominium and employment issues, collection/foreclosure, creditor representation in bankruptcy, and real estate law. Since August, 2005, Ms. Harada has been Of Counsel to Ekimoto & Morris.

Ms. Harada has represented clients in jury and non-jury trials before the Circuit and District Courts of the State of Hawaii, on appeal before the Hawaii Supreme Court, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for the Federal Circuit, and in arbitration proceedings. She has also served as a panelist and speaker on litigation, employment and real estate topics for condominium, property management and attorney groups.

Ms. Harada is licensed to practice before all courts in the State of Hawaii and the State of California, in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for the Federal Circuit. She is a member of the Hawaii State and California State Bar Associations. Ms. Harada also serves as an arbitrator for the Hawaii State Bar Association Court Appointed Arbitration Program and was a delegate to the Annual State Judicial Conference for two years. She is on the Board of Directors for the Collection Section of the Hawaii Bar Association. Ms. Harada was the alumnae admissions representative for the District of Hawaii for Wellesley College for ten years and served for one year as the secretary of the board of directors for the Wellesley Club of Hawaii.
 

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Gwenaelle Bratton

Gwenaelle Bratton studied law at the University of Rennes, France and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK. She received her J.D. from The George Washington University in Washington, DC in 2003. While in law school, she was a staff member of The Environmental Lawyer, a volunteer interpreter for the school’s Immigration Clinic, and a volunteer tax preparer for Community Tax Aid, Inc.

She practiced in Northern Virginia as an immigration and real estate attorney. She represented immigrants before the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Board of Immigration Appeals, she drafted real estate and business purchase contracts, and she assisted with divorce and personal injury litigation.

She is a member of the bars of Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Hawai‘i.

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Russell H Ando

RUSSELL H. ANDO has been practicing law in Hawai`i for over twenty years. He focuses his practice on community association law, foreclosure law, landlord-tenant law, commercial litigation, creditor’s rights, and collection law. Mr. Ando is licensed to practice in all of the courts of the State of Hawai`i, the United States District Court for the District of Hawai`i, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a member of the Hawai`i State Bar Association, its Collection Section, the American Bar Association, and its Litigation Section. Mr. Ando has served for many years as an arbitrator for the Court-Annexed Arbitration Program, First Circuit Court, State of Hawai`i. He served two terms as a member of the Board of Examiners, Supreme Court of Hawai`i. He has been appointed as a foreclosure commissioner by the First Circuit Court, State of Hawai`i in dozens of cases.

Mr. Ando began his legal career with a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Edward
H. Nakamura, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Hawai`i.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Oregon School of Law, where he was an editor of the Oregon Law Review.  Mr. Ando was a member of the Arts and Sciences Advisory Council at the University of Hawai`i for many years. He is the Founding President of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association at the University of Hawai`i and is a member of its Board of Directors.

Mr. Ando has spoken and written on a variety of topics in foreclosure law, creditor’s
rights, and collection law.

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Paul Schwind