Chris, born and reared in Japan, joined the firm in 1988 and immediately began building a practice in corporate, commercial, and real estate law, primarily with Japanese-speaking clients.  To address the needs of her Japanese clients, her practice also encompasses immigration law, estate planning and employment matters.

Chris is a past director of Meritas, a world wide affiliation of commercial law firms, which has members in over 270 cities.  Damon Key is the exclusive Hawai’i affiliate of Meritas.

While in law school, she was an editor of The Transnational Lawyer, and was awarded various scholarships, including The Transnational Lawyer Scholarship and the Community Legal Service IOLTA Program's scholarship. She was also active in the Pacific International Law Society and the Asian American Law Student Association.

She practices in the following areas:

Business & Commercial: Assist clients with business transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies; negotiation of contracts; purchase and sale transactions; business planning; loan agreements; and other commercial transactions with focus on retail, restaurant, service, tour/travel, internet, real estate and non-profit business transactions.

Immigration: Assist clients with non-immigrant business visa applications (to include E-2 Treaty Investor ; E-2 Treaty Trader ; L-1 Intra-company transfer; and H-1B Specialty Occupation); coordinate immigrant visa applications; fiancée visas; business/tourist visas; R-1 religious worker visas; E-B category filings; Family-based petitions; Transitional Diversity (Lottery) applications; Re-entry Permits; Consular Processing and general immigration consultation.

Employment: Counsel and assist employers (corporations, non-profits, supervisors, human resource specialists) regarding employment issues; provide advice regarding employment agreements and employee handbooks/policies; and counsel clients with issues arising from termination, discipline, non-compete agreements, discrimination, harassment etc;

Real Estate: Assist clients with the purchase and sale of real property; purchase and sale of leasehold interests; review of commercial lease agreements (shopping centers, hotels, warehouses, offices, retail space etc); coordinate purchase and sale of hotels, golf courses, resorts and shopping centers; assist landowners with disputes related to water, boundary, title, nuisance and other issues; and other general consultation.

Estate Planning: Assist clients with their estate plans (wills, trusts (revocable/irrevocable), power of attorney, advance health care directives, family limited partnerships, qualified domestic trusts etc) with focus on non-resident and resident alien planning.

Professional & Community Affiliations

American Bar Association
Hawaii State Bar Association
Volunteer, American Heart Association – 34th Annual Golf Class Committee (2008)