Awards and Honors

Martindale Hubbell - AV rated lawyer - Best Rating Possible

Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum

AVVO Top Rated Personal Injury Attorney, 10 of 10

ATLA Top 100

Lawyers.com - Rated 5.0 out of 5.0 - Top Rating Possible

National Trial Lawyers - Top 100 Trial Lawyers

Million Dollar Advocates Forum

American Society of Legal Advocates - Top 100 - 2014

Marquis' Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Law

AVVO Clients' Choice Personal Injury Lawyer

American Society of Legal Advocates - Top 100 - 2013

A recent Hawaii Supreme Court case appears to generally require the existence of basic UM (Uninsured Motorist) coverage in HJUP (Hawaii Joint Underwriting Program) auto policies. See, Willis v. Swain, Hawaii Supreme Court No. 25992 (October 26, 2006). In that case the HJUP insurer (First Insurance) argued that HJUP policies are not required to include UM coverage. In addition First Insurance also asserted that, even if HJUP policies generally must include UM coverage, that their letter sent with the policy stating "[i]f you desire ... [UM] ... coverage[] ... , contact an insurance agent to assist you in obtaining these coverages upon payment of the appropriate premium..." was sufficient to constitute an offer of UM coverage and the insured was deemed to have rejected such coverage if the insured took no action after receiving such a letter. The Hawaii Supreme Court rejected those positions and stated that the letter was at most an invitation to initiate negotiation, not an offer. Furthermore, since the coverage had not been properly offered and refused, Willis's HJUP policy automatically included UM coverage by operation of law and she was entitled to assert her UM claim against First Insurance.

Accident Lawyer Hawaii

William H. Lawson, Esq.
Century Square
1188 Bishop St. Suite 2902
Honolulu, HI 96813

New client hotline:
(808) 524-5300

Pearl City, Aiea and Waipahu:
(808) 671-7600

Main business phone:
(808) 528-2525

Directions to Honolulu office

HI accident news
and articles

Court cases re:
Hawaii accident law

Lawson Law
Scholarship 2018

Products Liability - Cases & Comment

Jones Act- maritime law and seaman cases

The Constitution Of The State Of Hawaii

Recent Personal Injury and Car Accident News

An important victory in the fight for individual rights (as opposed to insurer rights) is the case of Yukumoto and HMSA v. Tawahara. In that case on May 26, 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected the efforts of a health insurer who tried to convert its insurance coverage into a 'loan agreement' and recover its medical expense payments from Mr. Yukumoto when he had a 3rd party claim - in spite of the fact that he was not being fully compensated for his losses. This insidious insurance practice has been damaging the citizens and members of the Hawaii community for many years. For more info, see the decision here: Yukumoto and HMSA v. Tawahara, Hawaii Sup. Ct. No. SCAP-15-0000460 (May 26, 2017).

There is NO CHARGE for sending your case information to our law firm. The information provided on this website is preliminary and informational ONLY. It is not legal advice. The use of our webpages does not establish an attorney-client relationship. This website is copyright 1999-2017 and the contents of this website are the property of Personal Injury Attorney William H Lawson. The Terms and Conditions of Use for this website and our Privacy Policy are available here for your consideration. All rights reserved.

Accident Attorney - Personal Injury Lawyer Hawaii

We thank you for visiting our site!