Michael J. O'Malley
Michael J. O'Malley
  • Partner

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Biography

Michael J. O’Malley represents for-profit and nonprofit clients in their initial organization and structuring, business dealings, M&A transactions, infrastructure, capital and other financings, regulatory compliance, tax planning and proceedings before tax authorities, and also addresses issues of corporate governance and fiduciary duty.

His work includes:

  • Tax Planning and Disputes: Represents domestic and foreign businesses, organizations and individuals in planning and structuring their transactions, activities and affairs to lower their overall federal, state and local tax burden and minimize their related risk and exposure; obtaining private letter rulings and determination letters from the IRS and Hawai‘i Tax Departments in connection with tax-free reorganizations, “qualified high technology business” applications and credits, and other tax incentive and structuring matters; and settling disputes with federal, state and local tax authorities.
  • Healthcare: Advises healthcare organizations, providers and insurance companies on compliance, regulatory, tax, corporate and transactional matters.
  • Mergers and Acquisitions: Represents buyers and sellers of businesses, including stock purchases, asset sales and mergers. Representative transactions include stock and asset acquisitions and changes in control of public and private corporations, including a real estate company, a developer, a newspaper, a gas company, an equipment company, hospitals, health care organizations and medical practices, a construction company, and various retail businesses.
  • Corporate Organization and Governance: Organizes for-profit and non-profit corporations, prepares charter documents establishing complex capital structures, stock transfer restrictions, buy-sell and first refusal rights and supermajority voting requirements. Advises corporate directors concerning fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest and compliance with the Hawaii Business Corporation Act and other federal and state laws and regulations.
  • Corporate Finance: Advises clients with respect to their various financing transactions, including infrastructures and other project financings and capital, leasing and other financings.


Mike served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal on Legislation and was a teaching assistant at Harvard Law School. Following graduation, he practiced with a Wall Street firm in New York City for four years, then returned home to Hawai‘i and joined Goodsill, where he became a partner in the firm’s corporate and tax groups. He rejoined the firm in 2008, following a fifteen-year hiatus during which he was a partner at another Hawai‘i law firm, then worked for nine years as a director with PricewaterhouseCoopers and its successor in Hawai‘i. Since 1986, he has authored or co-authored the Hawai‘i chapter of the ABA Deskbook on Sales and Use Tax. He is a frequent speaker at seminars on tax, corporate and other leg

Education

  • Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
    • J.D. - 1981
    • Honors: Teaching Assistant
  • Claremont-McKenna College, Claremont, California
    • B.A. - 1977
    • Honors: summa cum laude

Published Works

  • Hawaii Sales (General Excise) & Use Taxes, American Bar Association Handbook on Sales and Use Taxes, 1987 - Present
  • Co-author, Hawaii Chapter, ABA Real Property Tax Deskbook

Bar Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1981
  • Hawaii, 1981
  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 1984
  • U.S. District Court District of Hawaii, 1982
  • New York, 1983
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1983
  • U.S. Tax Court, 1984

Professional Associations

  • American Bar Association [Tax, Business and Health Sections]
  • Hawaii State Bar Association [Corporations and Securities and Taxation Sections, Member]
  • American Health Lawyers Association
  • Friends of Family Specialty Courts, President and Director
  • Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children, Director
  • Oahu Economic Development Board, Director

Practice Areas:

  • Corporations, LLC and Partnerships
  • Health Law
  • Tax
  • Mergers, Acquisitions and Business Transactions

Honors

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Attorney Award – Judicial Edition, 2022-2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2010-2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year in Honolulu, 2012, 2015-2017, 2019-2020
  • Chambers USA, 2019-2021
  • Super Lawyers, 2019-2021
  • Volunteer of the Year, Association of Hawaiian Civil Clubs
  • Best Lawyers in Hawaii, 2023
  • Top Lawyers in Hawaii 2023
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Attorney Award - Legal Ability & Ethical Standards, 2024
  • AV Preeminent Attorney 2023 and 2024

Classes & Seminars

  • Tax, Corporate, M&A, Exempt Organizations, Hawaii Society of Certified Public Accountants Corporate Seminars, 1986-Present
  • Speaker, Hawaii Tax Institute

Pro-Bono Activities

  • Jas. W. Glover Holding Co., Ltd., Board of Directors
  • Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Trustee
  • Friends of Family Specialty Courts, President and Director

Past Positions

  • McCorriston Miho Miller Mukai, Honolulu, Hawaii, Partner, 1994 to 2000
  • Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, Honolulu, Hawaii, Partner, 1987 to 1994, 2008-present
  • Dewey Ballantine, Associate, 1982 to 1985
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers, Director, 2000 to 2008

Representative Clients

  • Classic Resorts, Inc.
  • Hawaii Association of Realtors
  • Kamakura Corporation
  • St. Francis Healthcare Systems
  • Aloha Care

References

  • Hawaii Association of Realtors, Nancy Donahue-Jones