Who fired whom?
Law firm,
billionaire at odds

Gensiro Kawamoto and Alston Hunt
Floyd & Ing trade shots on
who knew what, and when

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By Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.com

Let's recap first.

Gensiro Kawamoto, a Japanese billionaire, invested big time in Hawaii real estate in the late 1980s, when he bought more than 170 properties, including many Oahu homes. When Japanese investors were criticized for driving up home prices, Kawamoto immediately stopped buying homes. All through it, Kawamoto was represented by his local attorney, Carol Asai-Sato.

A decade passed.

Early in 2002, Kawamoto suddenly announced that he would sell half his Hawaii homes, as well as all of his 642 residential properties in Northern California.

As it turned out, several of Kawamoto's Oahu homes had not been taken care of and had fallen into unsightly disrepair. In April 2002, the Star-Bulletin reported that some sales of Kawamoto's homes had fallen through on inspection.

Soon after, Asai-Sato said the billionaire was shocked to learn of the condition of the homes, and had made a trip to Hawaii to see for himself.

As it turns out, there was no surprise. That's according to Asai-Sato's law firm, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, which no longer works for Kawamoto.

"[Kawamoto] was regularly updated on his properties with photos, faxes and telephone calls," the firm said yesterday.

"Any services were provided with Mr. Kawamoto's knowledge, and at his direction."

The disclosure follows a new dispute between Kawamoto and Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing. Kawamoto recently announced that he fired the firm effective Nov. 15, 2002. In a statement, Kawamoto blamed Asai-Sato for property management problems that attracted negative publicity.

In a response, Asai-Sato's law firm said it was not fired, and told Kawamoto on Nov. 7 that it would no longer work for him.

Kawamoto has not responded to repeated requests for further comment. He has hired another local attorney, Lance Taniguchi, of Carlsmith Ball LLP. Taniguchi declined to comment.

Barbara Hastings, a spokeswoman for Alston, declined to elaborate on the dispute. "Lawyers are very constrained" by attorney-client privilege, she said.

In a similar situation, Kawamoto sued his California property management company last year, alleging that the firm failed to make repairs to his homes in that state. Kawamoto also alleged that the company, CB Richard Ellis, had failed to inform Asai-Sato of requests for repairs from tenants.

The lawsuit followed a spate of negative publicity for Kawamoto in California, after Kawamoto gave 30-day eviction notices to hundreds of people who were renting his homes in the Sacramento and Santa Rosa area. In April 2002, Kawamoto settled a lawsuit that alleged he had kept 149 Santa Rosa rental homes in bad shape. Soon after, he sued CB Richard Ellis.

Kawamoto also drew ire in Hawaii when his workers tore up a driveway that was encroaching on one of his properties in Kahaluu on Windward Oahu.

In an announcement this week, Kawamoto blamed Asai-Sato for that incident and others, "which were performed by playing with laws, in unreasonable and inhuman ways, using my name. This caused much suffering to many people."

Asai-Sato said Kawamoto's recent statements were ludicrous and false.