I hired Kainoa I got accused of an arson case was evicted from a building I was renting I won my case told me when I get out of jail we will get on it. he must have got spooked and he dropped my case no explanation nothing. this guy make me sad.. trust me no communication I figured Hawaiian sup each other specially of our innocents. lose money I have to add a star so I put 1. but it's negative 5 read more

I've worked with Kainoa this year to help with a sensitive and emotional situation regarding an eviction in Wahiawa. There were some hiccups such as the location of the filing (Wahiawa, not Honolulu) and finding the right process server. But in the end, after all is said and done, I would go back to Kainoa if I ever needed legal work again. He communicates within 24 hours of calls, texts or emails. In such a stressful situation, it was comforting to know he is trying his best from his end and that ultimately, he is on my side and will fight for me. The stress was affecting me physically. I didn't expect this from a lawyer, but he showed compassion and righteousness. Thank you Kainoa. read more

Kianoa Tabar I Hired Kianoa to help guide me through some Violations we received from the city of Honolulu. Excellent Choice!!! Couldn't be any happier for his help guiding me through this tough process. Everything ran smoothly and He help resolve all our issues with the City. Very Professional and Fair / Honest / Rates! Highly recommend! read more

disappointed. when he 1st started, he might have been eager to respond, but i think communication is very important and should be timely. His asst is fabulous. I woul give the asst 5 stars. read more

Kainoa helped me during an extremely stressful time. My landlord had sent me an illegal notice to move out over a request for an oven repair. If it hadn't been for him, I probably would have ended up homeless or living in a wayoverpriced airbnb until I found an affordable place to rent in the most complicated and expensive rental market this year. He is not just an attorney to me now but a lifelong friend. I would pick him over any other attorney any day, because of his excellent manners, communication skills, and emotional/intellectual intelligence level. He will fight for you and he knows all about the complicated landlord/tenant issues in Hawaii. You won't be disappointed! read more

No matter an email or a call... 48 hours no callback. If he is that busy he should have $$$ for staff or a reception OR a call service. Anyone too busy to return an email or return a call, DOESN'T need your business! AVOID and do your small claims yourself! @J Kainoa Tabar spare me your perfunctory "response" blah blah! Get a receptionist, hire local! read more

I can't review his services but, I emailed Kainoa to inquire about Landlord-Tenant issues. He responded quickly and wanted to speak with me over the phone. I just got off the phone with him after the anticipation and excitement to hear how he could assist me. Kainoa sounded very nice and professional. Though, his first question was asking where the unit was located. I told him in Aiea by the Stadium and he said he does not handle issues there as they probably go to the Kapolei court house. So, if you live from aiea and beyond westward, don't contact Kainoa as he will only work on issues that will be handled at the Honolulu Courthouse. If you live anywhere that will go to the Honolulu one, I'm sure he would be fabulous. I just wish I knew this before contacting him and wasting both of our time. Who would've thought... Aiea would have to go to Kapolei courthouse... sigh. read more

Mr. Tabar, called me back immediately to address an ongoing rift with an aggressive neighbor and a landlord that was using illegal tactics. He gave me the information to move forward with confidence to a safer location. I really appreciated his concern and intellectual advice for the well being of my family. Thank you. read more

I found Kainoa through ARAG legal insurance network and was happy that he took my case. I needed representation to help recover payments made to a home plans designer and plans router who failed to perform. Kainoa was thorough in gathering documents and background info to present demand letters that resulted in a positive response. Kainoa was responsive and kept working the process through every step until the task was complete. Recommend! read more

He Came, He Saw, He Rescued 5.0 stars Posted by Lewis May 14, 2018 I hired J. Alan "Kainoa" Tabar. to make sure I had fairness (in the broad arena of real estate management). A totally positive experience it was with this bright lawyer. I witnessed a dazzling performance - smooth, polite, effective, and one that drew raves from observers. Other positives: (i) a quick return of the unused part of the retainer; (ii) gentleness on the number hours he's tabulating on you, fair hourly rate too; (iii) marvelous responsiveness by email - he gets back to you quickly by that vehicle; (iv) wonderful personality - he'll soon be seeming like your old high school friend; and (v) frankly, he's easy on the eyes - I was trying to match-make my daughter with him! read more

It's very difficult to find attorneys in Honolulu that represent tenants in tenant-landlord disputes. I researched on Google, Yelp, and called the Hawaii Bar Association for a list of attorneys that represent tenants. There is literally just a couple of attorneys that take these cases. That's the bad news. The good news is that there is one attorney that specializes in helping you and he is extremely professional and honest. Kainoa Tabar is very prompt and he answered my questions and set a meeting with me the next day so I could go over my dispute with him. His standard retainer is $1,000 and he will bill you incrementally as he does work on your case. I received emailed invoices as he worked on my case and his billing is very accurate and fair. Thank goodness Honolulu has such a great attorney to help you when you need it. read more

Kainoa is an extremely competent attorney who is diplomatic and unbiased. He has great integrity and compassion. He can analyze a complex issue and break it down into clear basic steps that the layperson can understand. He keeps expenses down by using a digital office and visiting clients in their home, which makes the situation friendly and comfortable. He also is readily available by phone and email. He makes every effort to keep expenses down without compromising effectiveness. I had an issue with the board of my condominium building. I searched for a condo law attorney and found that most of them represent condo associations but not apartment owners. I was lucky that the University of Hawaii Law School recommended Kainoa who does represent the "little guy" and the marginalized. Kainoa has empathy and concern for the underrepresented and helps to empower them. He astutely analyzed my situation and developed an effective, non-combative, and inexpensive solution. He educated me on the various governing documents of a condominium association including state and federal law as well as the building's declaration, bylaws, and house rules. My issue concerned a house rule imposed by the board that banned smoking inside of units. A few months earlier, the owners failed to pass this smoking ban as a bylaw amendment in part because of an objection to all forms of prejudice including legal lifestyle management and the fact that there was no evidence of toxic environmental smoke. In this era when many demonize smokers and blatantly discriminate against them with impunity, I feared that I was facing an expensive lawsuit to get the house rule repealed. Instead, Kainoa helped me work collegially with other owners. He attended the annual meeting of owners with my proxy where he helped me become elected to the board, made a motion to repeal the house rule using proper legalese, and successfully guided me in asking the board to repeal the smoking ban. I recommend Kainoa enthusiastically and with absolutely no reservations. read more

My understanding of Mr. Tabar; his level of professionalism and open-mindedness allow for a safe, and comfortable environment to solicit his services. His understanding and execution of the law is calculated and learned. If any issues were to ever arise, I recommend Mr. Tabar. He is responsive and attentive, a man of character, wisdom, AND aloha. read more

Kainoa Tabar's services are professional, honest, timely, knowledgeable and accurate. I needed a rental attorney and decided to contact him after reading other YELP reviews. Then I vetted Kainoa with the Hawaii Bar Association. His approach is personable, understanding and shows willingness to work with you. I'm not sure what happened with some of the others's experiences but my email messages were returned within a day or many times within the hour. He even responded on the weekend (I thought I would need to wait until Monday). I received emailed invoices as he worked on my case and his billing is very accurate and fair. There were times when I emailed him something to read over (before I posted it), and he didn't charge me for those types of short reviews. I will definitely contact Kainoa Tabar again. read more

When I moved out of my rental, the landlord did not return my deposit even though I left the house in pristine condition. I tried several times to reach the landlord, but he was very unresponsive. 2 months passed and I got fed up. This was when I decided to hire an attorney, Kainoa, to intervene. Kainoa takes the time to listen to me explain the situation so he can assess and come up with a solution. I think this is a very important aspect when you look for an attorney. Some attorneys are in such a hurry that they do not listen to the details and overlook important facts. Instead, Kainoa LISTENS, which means he CARES. Additionally, many attorneys turned me away since my case was a simple rental deposit case that could be settled in small claims court. Kainoa, on the other hand, never thought my case was too small. He immediately took action and called the landlord. His professionalism and knowledge of law really had an effect as he informed the landlord that it is illegal to keep a tenant's rental deposit for more than a certain amount of time without written notice. By law, he was supposed to return 100% of the rental deposit. Kainoa was able to get my rental deposit returned to me within a matter of days since his first contact with the landlord. I could not believe it!! His fees are extremely reasonable and no case is too small for him. If you want an attorney who actually cares for you as a person, gives you undivided attention when in your presence, and is knowledgeable about the intricacies of law, Kainoa is the guy for you. After that landlord fiasco, I decided to hire Kainoa as my attorney to set up corporate documents. And man, was I glad I did. He discovered that I owed business license fees, and had an expired license. He quickly got all my paperwork back to current. Again, Kainoa's knowledge of business / real estate law is top-notch. His work ethics and diligence is unparalleled and his character is world-class read more

Mr. Tabar is extremely professional and knowledgeable. He helped us with issues regarding our property and did so in a caring manner. He not only answered all our questions, but he relayed specific, easy-to-follow instructions to us on how we could resolve our issues. We'll definitely contact Mr. Tabar for assistance in the future. read more

Excellent of handling my family's estate. He listened and understood the need to settle.

I hired Kainoa to help me with and operating agreement in which I was transferring ownership to my business partners. He's actually very nice guy and he has a relaxing and patient disposition, but whether it be because of Covid or something else in his life, his email communications were poor and he seemed to keep dropping the ball on our timelines. I would have phone meetings with him and then he wouldn't follow through and do the things he agreed to do. That said, I believe the opposing lawyer was dropping the ball quite a bit as well so it wasn't all his fault. I believe I worked with him for five months, and I finally dropped him as my lawyer and got another lawyer because I lost confidence in his ability to represent me. He charge me quite a bit of money and I don't really know what he did for me but to be fair, I don't have a lot of experience working with Lawyers and the ins and outs of the work they do. I wish I didn't feel this way because I really actually liked the guy. He seems to be incredibly intelligent so maybe you'll have better luck with him. I feel bad leaving this review but I really count on yelp reviews reviews to make intelligent decisions about who I hire. If this is an old review, you might want to call Kaino and give them a shot... Like I said, I worked with him in the middle of Covid and it was a challenging time for all of us. Oh yeah, I did notice that one of the other revierers accused him of being racist.. I did not at all find that to be the case and I would not rule him out based on that particular assessment. read more

I recently used the services of attorney Kainoa and I was very pleased with his way of conducting business as well as the outcome. He is knowledgeable, professional, and a good and clear communicator. I would not hesitate to engage his services again. Thank you attorney Kainoa. read more

Mr. Tabar returned my call and not only was he exceedingly patient and polite, but he gave me invaluable advice over the phone for no charge and when I suggested I make an appointment (basically so he could get paid for his services) he said I didn't need an attorney yet! You don't meet many people like this gentleman and I'll definitely be calling him when I DO need an attorney. read more

Since I wanted to start my business off right, I decided that I had to find a lawyer to properly write all my business contracts. During my search I was very disappointed to learn that even though there where a bunch of lawyers to choose from non of them wanted my business. After 2 weeks of unreturned phone calls; being permanently put on hold; and lawyers acting like they didn't want to help me, I almost gave up. I was pleasantly surprised when I contacted Kainoa and he actually answered the phone. I did not get a answering machine or a secretary taking a message, and never calling me back. I was happy that I found a lawyer that took me seriously and was interested in what I wanted to achieve. Kainoa was nice and very easy to work with. He was informative, professional, and gave me good counsel on legal aspects of my business. I was very pleased with the business contracts that he developed. I feel like a ton of bricks has been lifted off my shoulders and now I am excited to move forward in my business, knowing that I got the right legal advice. I am so glad that I hired Kainoa to help me. As the business thrives and expands I would like to keep contact with him for more legal advice and guidance. read more