Jeffrey H. K. Sia
Partner
Email: jeffrey.sia@hawadvocate.com

Jeffrey H. K. Sia is the managing partner in the law firm of Chong, Nishimoto, Sia, Nakamura & Goya, LLLP. He joined the law firm in July, 1982, when it was then-known as Libkuman, Ventura, Ayabe & Hughes. Mr. Sia became a partner with Ayabe, Chong, Nishimoto, Sia & Nakamura in July, 1987, and has been primarily involved in litigation work involving third-party and first-party insurance coverage claims; and personal injury; medical and other professional liability; product liability; sexual harassment; and construction cases. He serves as an arbitrator within the Court Annexed Arbitration Program for the Hawaii State Judiciary. He also provides mediation and arbitration services for other parties upon their request.

Education

Mr. Sia pursued his undergraduate studies at Brown University, where he majored in Political Science. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978. He then attended the Garey School of Law, Villanova University, from 1978 to 1981. He was admitted to the Hawaii Bar in 1981.

Experience

After serving as a law clerk and bailiff for the Honorable Philip T. Chun, First Judicial Circuit Court, State of Hawaii from June, 1981 to June, 1982, Mr. Sia joined ACNSN as an associate on July 26, 1982. Since joining ACNSN, he has been involved in jury and non-jury trials in state and federal courts, appellate work before the Hawaii Supreme Court, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, state administrative hearings before the Medical Claims Conciliation Panel and Insurance Division, and CAAP arbitrations. He is “AV – Preeminent 5.0 out of 5” peer review rated in Martindale-Hubbell. He has been listed in Super Lawyers® since 2008 in the area of personal injury defense: general, and was selected for inclusion in the 2010 through 2015 editions of The Best Lawyers in America®, being recognized in 2012 as a “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of insurance. In October, 2015, he was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Affiliations

Mr. Sia is currently a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association (and the Insurance Law Section of the Association), and the Defense Research Institute. He was a member and participant of the select Federal Court Judicial Conference sponsored by the U. S. District Court, District of Hawaii pursuant to two three-year terms (1995-1998 and 2005-2008), and was again appointed to serve as a member/participant of the Conference for another three-year term (2014-2017). He also served a three year term as one of the five Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference for the District of Hawaii (2009-2011). In 2001, he served the Hawaii State Bar Association as its elected secretary, and in 2002, he served the Association as its elected treasurer. Elected President of the Association for 2008, he served the Association as President-Elect in 2007, and then as its President in 2008. In 2009, he continued to serve as a member of the HSBA Board of Directors in an ex officio status. He also served as Chair of the HSBA committee relating to the eventual establishment of the Hawaii State Bar Foundation, and then served as the new foundation’s initial president. Thereafter, he served as a director on the HSBF board for a year and was re-elected to serve as its President for 2015. From 2009 to 2013, he served as a member of the Federal Judicial Selection Commission, an advisory commission established to assist Hawaii’s U.S. Senators in the selection of candidates to serve as District Judge in the Federal District Court in Hawaii, and participated in that capacity to assist in the selection of candidates for two Article III judges for the District. In 2018, he was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court to serve on a Judicial Task Force on Civil Justice Improvements, which was established to develop recommendations on ways to streamline the litigation process and make the state trial courts more accessible, affordable, efficient and just.

Other Professional Experience

Mr. Sia has participated in numerous continuing legal education seminars and workshops as a speaker or faculty member, including work as an instructor/faculty member for the Hawaii College of Trial Advocacy, the training of arbitrators for the Court Annexed Arbitration Program sponsored by the Hawaii State Judiciary, and guest speaker at the annual up-date on tort law in Hawaii, the annual meeting of the Hawaii Claims Association, and at monthly meetings of the Hawaii Insurance Claims Managers Association. He was one of two guest speakers on insurance law for the Justices and Judges of the State of Hawaii Judiciary in 2006. He was a co-author of “Fundamentals of Liability Insurance Law,” published by Sterling Education Services, LLC (2004); a co-author of “Insurance Law In Hawaii,” published by Lorman Education Services (1999); and a co-author of “Effective Motion Practice in Hawaii,” published by Lorman Education Services (1998).

Reported Case (Sample)

Johnston v. KFC National Management Company, 71 Haw. 229, 788 P.2d 159 (1990); Canalez v. Bob’s Appliance Service Center, Inc., 89 Haw. 292, 972 P.2d 295 (1999); Tri-S Corp. v. Western World Ins. Co., 110 Haw. 473, 135 P.3d 82 (2006); Pulawa v. GTE Hawaiian Tel, et. al., 112 Haw. 3, 143 P.3d 1205 (2006); Allen v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 307 F. Supp. 2d 1170 (D. Haw. 2004).