Joel D. Kam
Mr. Kam is a partner in the Real Estate practice group. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai'i, he is a graduate of Iolani School, the University of Hawai'i, and Stanford Law School. Mr. Kam’s practice focuses on real estate and land use matters with an emphasis on acquisitions and dispositions, condominium development and registration, subdivision development and registration, land use permitting and entitlements, leasing, and real estate arbitration matters. Examples of Mr. Kam’s experience include the following:
-Acquisition, entitlement and development of multi-phase, multi-parcel, vacation ownership resort on Maui, Hawai'i, by publicly traded vacation and resort company.
-Acquisition of 400-room resort property in Poipu, Kauai, Hawaii, for publicly traded hotel and resort company.
-Development of 57-unit luxury resort condominium on the North Shore, Oahu, Hawai'i.
-Development and registration of luxury subdivisions at Hualalai and Maniniowali, Kona, Hawai'i.
-Representation of lessors and lessees in ground rent renegotiation and arbitration proceedings, and with respect to valuation and lease-to-fee conversion matters.
In 1999, as special counsel to the City and County of Honolulu, Mr. Kam co-authored substantial and structural revisions to the Land Use Ordinance (LUO) instituting the major/minor permit application processes which remain in effect to date. Mr. Kam has frequently been retained by the State of Hawai'i, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as a special consultant on subdivision matters. He also has served as general counsel for an international action sports wholesale and retail company and in that capacity has negotiated agreements, leases, licenses and other types of partnering arrangements throughout the United States, Japan, Europe and parts of Central and South America.
In 2010, Mr. Kam was elected a Director (2011-13) of the Real Property and Financial Services Section of the Hawai'i State Bar Association.
Areas of Practice
- General Real Estate
- Subdivisions and Condominiums
- Leasing
- Arbitration
Bar Admissions
- Hawaii, 1993
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1994
Education
- Stanford Law School, Stanford, California
- J.D. - 1993
- University of Hawaii, Manoa, Hawaii
- B.A. - 1989
- Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
- Honors: Class Marshall, College of Social Sciences
- Honors: With Distinction
- Honors: Regent's Scholarship
- Honors: Dean's List
- Honors: Phi Kappa Phi
- Major: Political Science
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Hawaii State Bar Association, Section on Real Property and Financial Services, Member
- American Bar Association, Real Property Section, Member
- American Bar Association, Probate and Trust Section, Member





