Nathan T. K. Aipa
Nathan Aipa was born in Honolulu, Hawai'i in 1953 and grew up in Kailua, Oahu where he and his wife Hilary Ann Kaanohiwaianuenue (Stephenson) Aipa have raised their three sons Moses, Isaiah and Daniel. He graduated, cum laude, from Iolani School in 1972 and then attended the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, from which he graduated in 1976, with honors, having majored in English and Political Science. After spending almost a year as a management trainee at Matson Terminals in Honolulu, Nathan returned to school at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii. He served on the staff of the University of Hawaii Law Review and graduated from law school in 1980.
Nathan served as one of three law clerks to former Chief Justice Williams S. Richardson, of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii in 1980. He then went to the Prosecutor's Office of the City and County of Honolulu in 1982 where after a year he had worked all trial and appellate levels in the state criminal justice system. Nathan also served as Grand Jury Counsel in the First Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii. In 1983, Nathan spent a year as an associate with the then Law Offices of Wayne Marshall Pitluck before embarking on a 16-year term as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE).
As the first General Counsel of KSBE, Nathan developed a legal and tax department that handled all legal, tax and risk-management functions. Nathan directly managed and worked on several key projects for KSBE including the redeployment of substantial real estate assets to a more diversified investment portfolio, voluntary lease to fee conversion policies and procedures involving multi-family residential leaseholds, due diligence of major investments including major national and international real estate and investment banking firms, negotiations and renegotiations of major commercial and resort leasehold projects in Hawaii and nationally, the development of water rights policies and practices, the reorganization of taxable and non-profit subsidiaries and affiliate organizations, and the successful defense of KSBE's admissions policy before the national office of the Internal Revenue Service. Nathan also was selected to chair the institution-wide strategic planning process launched by KSBE. The strategic planning process culminated in the adoption of a 10-year strategic plan that guides KSBE today.
Nathan has also done extensive research and writing in the area of native Hawaiian rights, and has coordinated and spoken at several seminars and symposiums in Hawaii on native Hawaiian rights and land rights. He has served as a member and director on several committees and boards of the Native Hawaiian Bar Association, the Hawaii State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Hawaii Lawyers Care, and Maximum Legal Services. He has served as a Bar Examiner for several years. He currently serves as a hearings committee member for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
 Over the years, Nathan has enjoyed doing volunteer work as a scout leader and Director for Boy Scouts of America (Aloha Council); as a coach, manager and officer for Little League Baseball; as a helper and event chair for the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association; as a helper at various seniors health-care centers, a Board Member for Hawaii Homeownership Center, Inc., and a Director and 2005-2006 President of the Kailua Historical Society. Nathan also finds time to work with and assist his wife who is an accomplished hula dancer and instructor, and a fashion designer and retailer in Hawaii.
As a partner in the firm, Nathan Aipa focuses his practice primarily in the areas of business and real property, trusts and estate, exempt organizations, and Native Hawaiian rights. |
