- GuardianshipJoelle Segawa Kane earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and is a 1995 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa. She served as law clerk to the Honorable James R. Aiona, Jr. (ret.) of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit, State of Hawaii, during the inaugural year of the Hawai’i Drug Court. She now assists individuals, families, businesses, beneficiaries and fiduciaries with a wide variety of legal needs. Her practice areas include insurance, estate and trusts, probate, conservatorships, guardianships, elder law and civil litigation. Ms. Kane has represented clients in numerous state and federal court actions at all phases, including negotiations, mediations, arbitrations, discovery, pre-trial litigation, trials and appeals. She has extensive litigation and dispute resolution experience before all courts in the State of Hawai’i and has tried both jury and bench trials and handled numerous arbitration proceedings. Ms. Kane has also served as arbitrator and Kokua Kanawai for proceedings within the First Circuit, State of Hawaii.
- Wrongful DeathThe firm’s work in Commercial General Liability dates back to its earliest days in 1996. The firm has afforded defense to many walks of commercial activity including hotels, supermarkets, national retail chains, restaurants, gasoline service stations, distributors and manufacturers. This work has included the defense of relatively simple slip-and-fall accidents as well as accidents involving complex industrial equipment with injuries ranging from broken bones to brain damage to wrongful death and catastrophic coma. Expert witnesses are very much the focus of the firm’s practice in this area with careful attention to the client’s litigation strategies and guidelines.
- Fraud uated cum laude from Cornell College in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in both Mathematics and Political Science. He attended the Centre for Human Rights and Responsibilities in London, England. He is admitted to both the Hawaii and Illinois bars. Mr. Gallagher practices primarily in the area of insurance defense and insurance law litigation. He has jury trial experience with personal injury, insurance fraud, brain damage claims, psychiatric claims, premises liability, and commercial general liability claims. He has represented defendants in construction defect and unfair competition claims. He has also defended manufacturers in product liability actions and air carriers in aviation claims. Mr. Gallagher is an experienced coverage counsel in declaratory relief and bad faith defense in both the first party and third party context. He has served as an expert witness in first-party insurance coverage dispute.
- Unfair Competition
- Workers CompensationThe workers’ compensation practice area of the firm is headed by partner Jacqueline W. S. Amai who joined the firm in 2000. It is separately staffed with associates and paralegals familiar with the statutes and administrative rules and regulations specific to workers’ compensation in the State of Hawaii. Ms. Amai and her associates have represented a broad range of clients and business types, counseling and defending large commercial employers and self-insureds, as well as solo entrepreneurs. The firm regularly appears before the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations through the Disability Compensation Division and the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board on matters of workers’ compensation compensability and disputes, and it has both pursued and defended appeals to the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals and the Hawaii Supreme Court. The workers’ compensation practice section of the firm is particularly proud of its success in the prosecution of fraud and the defense against inappropriate and illegal claims.
- Premises LiabilityGALLAGHER KANE AMAI & REYES is a civil litigation firm with emphasis on insurance defense and the defense of self-insured individuals and corporations. The firm is most active in the defense of commercial general liability claims, premises liability, construction defects, products liability, asbestos and toxic torts...
- Construction LitigationThe firm maintains an active practice in the defense of construction defect claims. The firm defended a large supplier of EFIS installed product in the largest commercial mold litigation case in Hawaii. The firm has also defended general contractors and subcontractors in projects ranging from Spec Home Construction to large multi-unit condominium construction and the development of Honolulu’s skyscrapers. The firm actively participates in continuing legal education issues relating to construction defect claims including indemnity contracts, additional insured endorsements and unfair/deceptive practices claims. The firm has successfully represented masonry subcontractors, window installation subcontractors, drywall and stucco subcontractors, plumbing subcontractors, carpentry subcontractors, home inspectors, and developer’s construction management consultants. As always, the firm’s practice in this area is careful to meet the client’s litigation strategies and guidelines with a goal of providing an effective and efficient defense.
- Personal InjuryKamalolo K. Koanui-Kong is an insurance defense litigation associate with Gallagher Kane Amai, focusing on personal injury and commercial general liability matters. Ms. Koanui-Kong earned her Juris Doctorate in 2017 from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with a certificate in Native Hawaiian Law. Ms. Koanui-Kong is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools, Kapalama Campus, and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Hawaiian Language from the Kawaihuelani School of Hawaiian Knowledge from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Ms. Koanui-Kong is bilingual and fluent in the Hawaiian language.
- Medical MalpracticeInsurance Coverage work of the firm has grown in the past decade and has involved advice and litigation in a number of high profile matters including the Ocean Point Homeowner Class Action Construction Defect claim and Kuhio Park Terrace Class Litigation. GKA&R Attorneys have handled litigation and provided insurance coverage support services including coverage opinions, Reservation of Rights and disclaimers and matters concerning a variety of insurance policies including comprehensive general liability, directors and officers, Medical Malpractice coverage, hospital liability insurance policies, Homeowners Insurance, Automobile Insurance and Excess Insurance Coverages. The firm has litigated insurance coverage disputes involving policy terms such as the total pollution exclusion endorsement, employers liability endorsement, Automobile Exclusion, Professional Liability Exclusion, Contractual Liability Exclusion and others. The insurance coverage group keeps abreast of current and ever changing law in the fields of Additional Insured endorsements and Supplementary Payment Provisions. The group has also handled matters involving commercial indemnity obligations.
- Auto Accidents
- Social Security DisabilityMs. Takahashi practices in the area of insurance defense focusing on personal injury and commercial general liability matters. She also has experience handling cases involving workers’ compensation and social security disability claims.
- Estate PlanningMs. Kane is a member of the American Bar Association, the Probate and Estate Planning and Elder Law Sections of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association, Hawai’i Estate Planning Council, a Director of the William S. Richardson School of Law Alumni Association, and former Chair of the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai’i. She is also an active member of her community and supports many local organizations such as HUGS, Daughters of Hawai’i, ‘Io Society, Hawai’i Community Foundation, ‘Ahahui Koa Anuenue and Spike and Serve.
- TrustsGKA&R’s philosophy emphasizes quality of performance and speed of response. The firm’s blend of experience assures that civil litigation of all magnitudes can be handled effectively and efficiently. At the same time, the firm’s size assures clients that they will receive personal and individual attention on each case from GKA&R’s trusted partners and attorneys.
- Probate