Gerald A. Sumida is a partner in Carlsmith Ball LLP's Honolulu office and Chair of the firm's Corporate & Business Practice Group. He concentrates on business structuring and operations, including corporate, limited liability company, joint venture
Mr. Sumida rejoined Carlsmith Ball LLP after serving from October 1999 to December 2002 as the General Counsel of the Asian Development Bank, a multilateral development bank established in 1966 to promote the economic and social development of the Asian and Pacific Region (ADB). ADB, based in Manila, Philippines, currently has 62 member
Mr. Sumida is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2018 for Corporate/Commercial law (Band 1) and was named Lawyer of the Year—Energy Law—Hawai‘i by The Best Lawyers in America 2018. He is also listed in Best Lawyers for Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Corporate Governance Law, and Securities / Capital Markets Law, and has been listed for these areas since 2010. In 2009, he was elected to the position of Secretary-General of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, an international association of more than 1,600 business and commercial lawyers focused on legal developments and regional legal cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Representative Matters
Business Structuring & Operations Represented clients
Energy, Clean Technology and Project Development Represented firms in developing energy, including renewable energy projects and facilities that sell power to electric utilities, including structuring organizational arrangements, negotiating power purchase arrangements, completing site acquisition, undertaking permitting and land use matters, negotiating financing, including project finance arrangements, engaging in public utilities commission proceedings relating to energy projects. Clients include Kalaeloa Partners (cogeneration), Puna Geothermal Venture (geothermal), First Wind (wind), Sea Solar International (OTEC), Oceanlinx (wave energy), and other solar photovoltaic, energy service, waste-to-energy
Acquisitions and Sales Represented clients in stock and asset sales and purchases and in mergers, including structuring the transaction, negotiating the transaction and preparing required documentation, structuring and negotiating financing arrangements, preparing and coordinating filing of all required federal and state notifications, and handling various post-closing matters.
Securities Represented corporations and limited partnerships in undertaking primarily private offerings of securities under SEC Regulation D, including structuring the securities offering, preparing all required offering memoranda and related documents, preparing and filing state and federal applications and notifications, and conducting post-offering work. Represented a
Antitrust and Trade Regulation Counseled primarily corporations in federal and state antitrust and trade regulation matters. Included counseling regarding proposed stock and asset acquisitions, corporate mergers and joint ventures, conducting antitrust compliance programs, and assisting in federal and state antitrust litigation. Represented a Hawai‘i firm in a nationwide class action litigation involving almost all U.S. cement and
State and Hawai‘i Agencies Represented the State in energy-related matters, including preparing preliminary and subsequent comprehensive analyses on the legal, financial and institutional aspects of developing a 150-mile undersea electric transmission cable to deliver power from the island of Hawai‘i to Oahu. Represented various State agencies and quasi-public corporations on venture capital financing and high technology matters.
Intellectual Property Represented clients in state, federal and foreign intellectual property matters. His experience includes advising on
Prior Work Experi