John D. Zalewski is a member of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, and insurance and pension committees.  His practice is devoted to commercial and civil litigation in Hawaii, where he is lead attorney of record in federal court and state court actions and binding arbitration and government agency proceedings. His practice emphasis is to zealously defend commercial, professional, and nonprofit entities and their directors and officers, and prosecute claims and defenses that arise from business transactions, business judgment, employment practices, and alleged civil rights violations. His practice includes accepting selected plaintiff cases that seek significant monetary damages or other remedies involving real estate and businesses, or accounting or fraud issues.

Mr. Zalewski has practiced litigation and advocacy in Hawaii for over 20 years.  He has served as lead counsel in successful jury and bench trials in the United States District Court for the District of Honolulu and in all of Hawaii’s four state circuit courts, and in numerous arbitration proceedings and mediation forums. His background includes having practiced as a licensed CPA for a prominent international accounting firm, and having served as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Hawaii, where he prosecuted cases involving the commission of complex white collar crime.  

Mr. Zalewski received a Doctor of Law degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1986, and a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Accounting from the University of Minnesota in 1980.  He is admitted to practice before all courts in Hawaii and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Defense Research Institute.  He has achieved the rank of Godan in the Japanese martial art of Kendo.

 Some of Mr. Zalewski’s recent achievements include:  

•As lead counsel, successfully represented a developer and obtained under an exhaustion of remedies theory a stay of all litigation proceedings pending adjudication in the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.  Kealia Water Co. Holdings, LLC v. Plantation Partners  Kauai, LLC, 665 F. Supp. 2d 1189 (D. Haw. 2009).

•Obtained judgment in favor of franchisor for trademark infringement brought under the Lanham Act, 15 USC § 1051, et seq.  Era Franchise Systems LLC v. Wakabayashi, 2009 WL 5177769 (D. Haw. 2009).

•Obtained dismissal of claims asserted against nonprofit corporation under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.  Moore v. Nat'l City Mortg. Co., 2010 WL 914334 (D. Haw. 2010).

•Obtained large mediated settlement in a multi-party case against seller, developer, and consultants involving the purchase and sale of a residential subdivision and an undisclosed and unrecorded encumbrance.

•Settled several actions asserted against multiple directors and officers for little or no consideration incident to successful pretrial motions practice.

•Successfully pursued and obtained mediated resolutions on behalf of entities and professionals in complex, multi-party commercial actions brought in U.S. District Court and Hawaii state court involving title, contract, professional negligence, and business issues. 

John Zalewski has been recognized by Chambers and Partners, the internationally renowned lawyer referral directory, in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers for his litigation work, and has been recognized in Benchmark: Litigation, a publication that identifies the best commercial and financial litigators in the United States for general and in-house counsel.