our attorneys

Justin M. Bongco is a first-chair trial lawyer, whose experience is as wide as it is deep.  Justin’s experience spans the civil-criminal divide, having been both a BigLaw litigator and a prosecutor.  It also spans the state and federal court systems, having clerked in federal court and tried cases in state court.  Indeed, Justin’s experience even spans three states.  He clerked in Washington (though not admitted in Washington state) and is admitted to practice in Hawai‘i and California.

Whether it’s trying a DUI case to verdict in traffic court or briefing a case before the Ninth Circuit, Justin has done it. 

Using his diverse experience, Justin helps clients on a range of issues.  He advises his real estate clients on landlord-tenant disputes, contractor disputes, contract drafting, and compliance.  He helps his trust and estates clients navigate complex systems of intestacy, probate, and trust administration.  And when a dispute is a poor fit for his BigLaw counterparts, Justin offers his extensive commercial litigation experience to clients who want big firm skill at a small firm rate. 

background

After graduating from law school, Justin was a litigation associate at Winston & Strawn LLP in Los Angeles, where he represented several corporations from major banks to video game companies.  Later, Justin moved to Seattle to serve as a judicial law clerk to United States District Court Judge Richard A. Jones in the Western District of Washington.

After his clerkship, Justin moved home to Hawai‘i, where he returned to civil litigation at an international law firm before joining the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.  As a deputy prosecuting attorney, Justin tried numerous bench and jury trials to verdict.  When he left the prosecutor’s office to form Bongco Law, Justin was in the Felony Trials division.

education

Justin received a J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where he served as an executive senior editor of the Southern California Law Review.  He received a B.B.A in Finance from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.

Admissions

• Hawai‘i

• California

Clerkships

• Hon. Richard A. Jones, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington