Bart W. Howk is a member of the firm's transactional department. He concentrates his practice in business and real-estate transactions.
Areas of Practice
Mr. Howk's practice covers:
- Negotiating all manners of business deals and contracts, including loans, license agreements, independent-contractor agreements, consulting agreements, advertising and marketing agreements, and buy-sell agreements
- Negotiating and navigating complex real-estate purchases and sales, including drafting term sheets, conducting due diligence, and reviewing preclosing title issues
- Negotiating commercial real-estate leases and subleases, including office leases, retail leases, and ground leases
- All aspects of real-estate development, including condominium and subdivision creation, preparing for sales, and drafting condominium public reports
- Advising on creation and organization of for-profit and nonprofit entities
- Corporate restructuring, including mergers and acquisitions, transfers of ownership interests, and conversions of entity type
Mr. Howk's representative clients and transactions include:
- Representing purchaser of 3,500 acres of Parker Ranch land on the Island of Hawaii
- Representing developer of 65-acre development on the Island of Hawaii in acquiring, developing, and administrating the project
- Representing Japanese tourist company in various business negotiations and transactions, including publishing magazines, selling tour activities, renting trolleys, providing loyalty card rewards, and selling advertisements
- Representing developer in negotiation of agreement with the County of Hawaii to develop potable water wells
- Representing various purchasers of luxury homes and lots on the Islands of Hawaii, Kauai, and Oahu in contract negotiations and closings
- Negotiating and drafting agreements in connection with providing recreational sailing tours and catamaran cruises in Waikiki
- Representing a business owner in the sale of a partial ownership interest for $138,000,000, including drafting various documents necessary to create, merge, and convert the corporate forms of various entities in connection with the transaction
- Performing business legal work for the fifth-largest insurance company in the world, including drafting independent-marketing organization contracts, ensuring agent compliance with the law, resolving insured and annuitant complaints, drafting documents for various business transactions, and assisting in preparations and defense against potential litigation
- Handling all daily transfers of interests (including purchasing, selling, and transfer of interests between owners) of business entities across the United States for one of the largest healthcare-management companies in the nation
- Performing legal work for the general counsel of a quasi-governmental entity, including drafting reports to the Board of Directors regarding proposed transactions and analyzing whether the entity was subject to open-record and open-meetings laws
- Negotiating and drafting the documents necessary for the asset purchases of child day-care centers
Clerkships
Law Clerk, Honorable Paul M. Spinden, Western District Court of Appeals of Missouri, 2006-2007
Activities
- Hawaii State Bar Association, Member
- Hawaii State Bar Association Leadership Institute Fellow, 2011-2012
- Young Lawyers Division, Director, 2013
- Hawaii State Bar Foundation, Director, 2013
- Landshark Invitational Surf Competition, Open Novice Division - 1st Place, 2011
- 760 KGU: The Fives of Hawaii Business, Co-Host
