David M. Louie

David M. Louie is a partner at Kobayashi Sugita & Goda in Honolulu, Hawaii, with extensive experience in complex commercial litigation and government matters. His practice includes commercial litigation, construction litigation, and governmental procurement and bid protests. He also has experience with construction defect cases, general liability insurance defense involving catastrophic injuries, and government relations. His background as Hawaii Attorney General adds senior public-law experience to a private practice built around high-stakes disputes and government-facing legal issues.

Louie graduated from Occidental College and Boalt Hall School of Law, now the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. His education provided a foundation for a career in trial advocacy, legal analysis, and public service. Decades of litigation practice and later service as the state’s chief legal officer further developed his experience with complex cases, institutional representation, and government decision-making.

Louie served as Hawaii Attorney General from 2011 to 2014. Before that public role, he spent decades in private practice, including as managing partner of a litigation firm from 1977 to 2010, and handled jury trials. His current work draws on that experience in commercial, construction, insurance-related, procurement, and governmental matters requiring strategic litigation judgment.

David M. Louie has received professional recognition for his legal work and brings both senior government service and extensive private litigation experience to client matters. His practice helps businesses and institutions address complex disputes, construction issues, procurement challenges, and government-related questions. He evaluates legal risk, evidentiary issues, procedural strategy, and the broader institutional consequences that can accompany significant litigation or public-law matters.

Law Office Affiliations

• Partner, Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, LLP
• President, Vice President and Director, Hawaii State Bar Association (1995-2001)
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer and a Director, Hawaii Defense Lawyers Association (1993-2010)
• Northwest Regional Governor, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (2008-2010)
• Lawyer Representative for the, United States Court of Appeals (Ninth Circuit) (2005-2008)
• Vice Chair, Hawaii Supreme Court Rule 19 Special Committee on Judicial Performance (1999-2010)
• Member, Society of Attorneys General Emeritus
• Member, Association of Defense Trial Attorneys
• Member, Trial Attorneys of America
• Member, American Bar Association
• Chair, State of Hawaii Aloha Tower Development Corporation (1999-2005)
• Past Co-Chair, Premises Liability Section and Past Chair, Diversity Committee, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
• Secretary, Easter Seals Hawaii
• Board Member, American Judicature Society (Hawaii)
• Member, Defense Research Institute

Licensed State

• Hawaii

Awards & Badges