Cades Schutte is dedicated to achieving exceptional solutions for our clients, improving the legal system in our community, and enhancing the lives of all our Ohana. 

Cades Schutte is a full-service law firm with over 70 attorneys.  Cades provides superior service in 22 practice areas from its main office in Honolulu and offices in Kailua-Kona, Waimea, Kahului, and Lihue.  Since the founding of the firm in 1922, Cades attorneys have been called on to serve as counsel in some of the most notable cases and transactions in the State of Hawaii.

Our Attorneys

Cades attorneys are recognized by their peers as being among the leading practitioners in their fields.  In 2017, the Best Lawyers of America® named 32 Cades attorneys to its ranks, along with 1 Best Lawyers of America® Lawyer of the Year.  The Chambers and Partners USA Guide also recognizes Cades as a leading Hawaii law firm in the areas of litigation, real estate, bankruptcy/restructuring, corporate/commercial, tax, and labor and employment law.  Cades is proud of the diverse backgrounds and experiences of its attorneys.  Approximately one-third of our lawyers are women and more than half are of Asian or native Hawaiian ancestry.  Our attorneys are top graduates of some of the finest colleges and law schools in the world.  Many of our attorneys have lectured and published and are recognized experts in their fields.

Our Practice

We offer a wide range of services with an emphasis on business counseling.  We are proud to serve local, national, and international clients.  While we may be thought of as a business law firm, we also offer estate planning, tax, and personal litigation services.  Cades is organized into five departments - Litigation, Finance and Real Estate, Corporate, Tax, and Trusts and Estates - but departmental lines are fluid.  Cades attorneys from different departments routinely collaborate on projects to benefit our clients.  This approach provides a full array of our firm's expertise and experience.

Cades stands ready to provide exceptional service in 22 practice areas:

• Banking & Finance
• China Practice Group
• Commercial & Real Estate Litigation
• Construction Law and Litigation
• Corporate and Business Law
• Creditors' Rights & Bankruptcy
• Digital Media and Internet Law
• Educational Institutions Law
• Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
• Employment Law & Labor Relations
• Environmental Law
• Estate Planning, Trust Administration and Probate
• First Amendment, Advertising and Media
• Health Care
• Hospitality and Resort Property
• Insurance Defense & Professional Liability
• Intellectual Property
• Land Use, Zoning & Entitlements
• Public Utilities and Telecommunications
• Real Estate
• Tax
• Technology & Electronic Commerce

Firm Culture

Over ninety five years of experience has impressed upon Cades the importance of growing attorneys "from the ground up."  Every attorney in our firm is an asset.  Cades strives to recruit attorneys with credentials as impeccable as their character.  We are committed to developing young attorneys through our mentorship and continuing legal education programs.  Our firm values the individuality of each attorney but also stresses the importance of mutual respect and honoring obligations to each other and our community.  Such values are well-reflected in our democratic style of management, which is carried out by an elected committee of partners rather than a single partner.  Our values have shaped us into one of the most vibrant, diverse, and collegial firm environments around town.  Since our founding in 1922, no group of three or more attorneys has ever left Cades to form another firm or legal practice.  The vast majority of our partners were once associates at the firm.  Many of our attorneys have spent most, if not their entire, legal careers at Cades.  And those attorneys who have left the firm have often gone on to careers of great distinction.  Our alumni include a federal district judge; a Ninth Circuit judge; the former presidents of two of Hawaii's "Big Five" corporations; the former general counsels of two of Hawaii's three major financial institutions and Hawaii's major telephone company; and the former chief executive of Hawaii's largest health care system.

Technology

Cades has made significant investments in state-of-the-art computer legal research systems, custom databases, and office management tools to help us to maximize the efficiency of our operations.  We continually train our lawyers and support staff to make the best use of these tools and resources.  Our office is equipped with videoconferencing capabilities, and to accommodate the special needs of some of our clients, we have created a number of client-specific or transaction-specific extranets and other interactive web-based applications.

Community Involvement

We are proud to serve our community through pro bono work and charitable giving with the same commitment we dedicate to our regular clients.  Our activities are broad and varied, and range from serving leadership positions in the major cultural, educational, and charitable institutions of Hawaii to assisting individuals in need.  We are committed to building our community and State.  We have frequently been designated a "pacesetter" donor to the Aloha United Way and have supported a number of other agencies.  The firm partnered with the Cades Foundation, a charitable foundation founded by two of our partners, in making the first substantial contribution by a law firm to fund scholarships for students of the University of Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of Law.  Many of our attorneys are or have been members of the adjunct faculty at the William S. Richardson School of Law and other academic institutions.  Several attorneys currently serve as chairs of charitable organization boards and many others serve or have served as board members.  In recent years, other attorneys have led cultural organizations such as the Honolulu Ballet Theater, Manoa Valley Theater, and Diamond Head Theatre, as well as educational and human services organizations.  Others have been active in the Hawaii State Bar Association and other non-profit legal organizations by leading sections and various committees.  Several of our partners have served as presidents of the Hawaii State Bar Association.  Currently, one of our partners is the president of the Hawaii Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.  Still others have been active in athletic organizations ranging from surfing to ice hockey.

Firm Memberships

Media Law Resource Center

The Media Law Resource Center ("MLRC"), formerly the Libel Defense Resource Center, is a non-profit information membership association founded in 1980 by leading publishers and broadcasters to assist in defending and protecting First Amendment free speech rights.  The MLRC provides its members with a wide range of resources on libel and privacy law, and other issues affecting the media. 

Employers Counsel Network

Comprised of top-level law firms in all 50 states, plus Washington D.C. and Canada, the Employers Counsel Network ("ECN") advises and represents employers regarding workplace issues and disputes.  Each ECN firm was selected because of its outstanding reputation in the field of employment law.  Attorneys at ECN firms are well known as editors of their state's Employment Law Letter or Federal Employment Law Insider, monthly newsletters for HR professionals and in-house counsel from HR Hero.

Hawaii Employers Council

The Hawaii Employers Council ("HEC") is an employer association committed to advancing management's efforts to promote collaborative employee relations that result in skilled, engaged and effective workplaces.  HEC achieves this by providing professional human resources and labor relations services and information that reflect the highest standards of quality, integrity, ethical conduct and social responsibility.