After completing his active duty aviation career, Mr. Desmarais returned to Spokane, Washington, where he attended Gonzaga University School of Law. He was selected as an editor of the law review and graduated with honors in 1980. He was then selected as a law clerk to the Honorable Benjamin McInturff, Chief Judge for the Washington State Court of Appeals.

In 1983, Mr. Desmarais returned to Hawaii and joined the firm of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, where he was a partner 1986-2002. He became Counsel to the firm of Tom Petrus & Miller LLLC in 2002. His practice of law has concentrated in the areas of tort and commercial litigation and he has had numerous jury and bench trials in both state and federal courts.

Aviation: He has handled disputes representing major fixed-wing and helicopter manufacturers and product liability, wrongful death and design trials.

Maritime: He has represented domestic and foreign underwriters in all aspects of marine litigation, including barge fires, Jones Act and cargo claims, collisions, passenger claims and ship repair disputes.

Product Liability: He has represented manufacturers of construction equipment, automobiles, aircraft and aircraft component parts, helicopters, boats, ships, warehousing lift devices and scuba tanks.

Premises Liability: He has defended national and local retailers in premise liability litigation matters, including trip/slip-and-falls, escalator injuries, assault, false arrest and dram shop issues.

Commercial Litigation: He has represented major hotel owners in lease rent reopening arbitrations and lease disputes; international hotel chains in management agreement arbitration, commercial landlord-tenant trials on behalf of commercial landlords as well as major shopping malls.

Trust Litigation: He has represented the state’s largest bank in trust litigation including accounting, property management, lease disputes and standard of care issues for fiduciary operations.

Construction: He has represented engineering and construction firms as well as a variety of contractors in construction contract disputes.

Mr. Desmarais has an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell and is the author of “Advances vs. Advancement”, 1 Gonzaga Law Review 1981 and is the Hawaii law contributor to “Product Liability: A Fifty State Compendium” by Little Brown & Company (1995-2004). He is a member of the Washington State (1980) and Hawaii (1982) Bar Associations. Mr. Desmarais is also an honorary member of the Iowa Defense Counsel Association. He has been designated a bar examiner (1985) and arbitrator (1992) by the Hawaii State Supreme Court and currently serves as co-chair of the Attorney-Client Relations Committee of the Hawaii State Bar Association. He has been selected by the Hawaii Judicial Arbitration Commission as a member of the Arbitrator Mentor Panel. Mr. Desmarais has also been selected by peer voting for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2008 specializing in Commercial Litigation. Mr. Desmarais has also been selected by peer vote as one of “Hawaii’s Best Lawyers” (Honolulu Magazine July 2007 ed.). He is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Hawaii, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He has also conducted seminars on various litigation issues for professional organizations and in-house training for corporate clients.

Mr. Desmarais and his wife, Nicky, have two daughters. He enjoys traveling, flying an aerobatic glider and golfing.

Representative Published Cases:

• Meng v. Hawaiian Trust Co., 104 HAW 267, 88 P3d 202 (2004)
• Old v. Hunter Engineering Co., 2003 HAW App. Lexis 407 (Haw App. 2003)
• City & County of Honolulu v. Ing, 100 HAW 182, 58 P3d 1229 ( 2002)
• Coon v. City & County of Honolulu, 98 HAW 233, 47 P3d. 348 ( 2002)
• Hawaii Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Phillip Morris, Inc. et al, 52 F. Supp 2d. 1196 (D. Hawaii 1999)
• Molokai Chamber of Commerce v. Kukui Constr. (Molokai) Inc. et al, 891 F. Supp 1389 (D. Hawaii 1995), 161 F.R.D. 426 (1995)
• Larsen v. Pacesetter Sys. Inc., 74 HAW 1, 832 P2d 1273 (HI Sup Ct. 1992)
• Todd v. Todd, 9 Haw App 214, 832 P2d 280 (1992)
• Queen Victoria Corp v. Insurance Specialists of Hawaii Inc., 694 F Supp. 1480 (D. Hawaii 1988)
• Commercial Sheet Metal Co. v. Matson Navigation Co., 6 Haw App 148, 711 P2d 738 (1986)