Christina N. Ohira

Ms. Ohira is a Director of the firm and concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate and land use law, hotels and resorts, business structure and operations, and commercial transactions. She brings more than 15 years of experience to her work on a variety of real estate acquisitions and sales, commercial leasing and commercial residential developments, including representing condominium associations and the creation of in condominium and community developments.

Ms. Ohira’s commercial work includes the formation of business entities and corporate acquisitions and sales. She also represents clients with liquor licensing matters, including liquor license applications, transfers, and defending alleged violations.

Ms. Ohira has received Martindale-Hubbell's® highest possible AV® rating for her legal skill and integrity. She has been selected to the Hawaii Super Lawyers® list in 2024, and selected to the 2017 Hawaii Super Lawyers®, "Rising Star" list.

Ms.Ohira has also been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in Honolulu list in the practice areas of Real Estate Law, Business Organizations (Including LLCs and Partnerships), Land Use and Zoning Law, Commercial Finance, Commercial Transactions/UCC Law and Corporate Law.

Ms. Ohira has been recognized by theChambers and Partners USA High Net Worth Guide in the practice area of Private Wealth Law since 2023.

Ms. Ohira is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association and served as the Chair of the Real Property & Financial Services Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association in 2016. In 2024, Ms. Ohira was appointed as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and will serve through 2007.

At the William S. Richardson Law School, Ms. Ohira graduated among the top students in her class. While in law school Ms. Ohira was a Casenote Editor and the Resource Manager of the University of Hawaii Law Review. She received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Property I (2005), Internet Law & Policy (2005), State & Local Government (2006) and Secured Transactions (2006). Ms. Ohira also published an article with Professor David L. Callies, Public Use/Public Purpose After Kelo v. City of New London: What’s Happened Since, in the Institute on Planning, Zoning, and Eminent Domain in 2007.

Some examples of her work include:

Real Estate Transactions. Assists in the representation of developers in both acquiring and selling high-profile properties, including hotels and resorts, golf courses, and shopping centers. Duties included due diligence, drafting and negotiating purchase and sale contracts, financing documents, opinion letters, and working with various state and city permitting agencies.

Real Estate Developments. Assists in the representation of developers (both large and small) seeking to develop planned communities, mixed-use projects, and commercial developments. Duties include title review and analysis, identifying and resolving land use and entitlements issues, and coordinating and facilitating survey, construction, archaeological and environmental work.

Land Use Law. Assists clients with zoning analysis, permitting, nonconforming uses and structures and zoning issues related to acquisitions and development. Also represents clients responding to and settling notices of violation.

Condominium Development. Represents clients seeking to create condominium property regimes and condominium conversions. Examples include the conversion of an office building into a medical office condominium project, and the creation of various residential and commercial condominiums.

Association Representation. Ms. Ohira represents a number of Associations and provides general guidance to the Board and assists with updates and amendments to project governing documents.

Commercial Leasing. Represents both landlords and tenants in commercial leasing transactions involving shopping centers, office buildings and ground leases. She has also assisted a number of clients with lease surrenders, payment plans and other workouts between landlords and tenants.

Entity Formation and Structuring. Entity formation and preparation of constituent documents such as bylaws, operating agreements and shareholder / member agreements. Examples include, the organization of a beverage company, an event planning company, and equipment rental company.

Commercial Transactions. Represents clients in the sale and/or acquisition of small businesses. Examples include the sale / acquisition of a property management company, restaurant and bar, IT company, retail establishments, and blinds installation company.

Liquor Licensing. Represents clients before the Honolulu Liquor Commission seeking Hotel, Restaurant, Dispenser, and Wholesale licenses. Represented clients before the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau seeking a Federal Basic Permit for the sale of alcohol. Also represented clients in transferring and obtaining transfers of liquor licenses.