Matthew Gozun is an Associate in the firm’s Business & Commercial Law, Immigration & Naturalization Law, Real Estate, and Wills, Trusts & Estates practice groups. Matt is proficient in Japanese and uses his language ability to assist Japanese-speaking clients.
Matt graduated magna cum laude with a certificate in Pacific-Asian Legal Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. While there, he received CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for achieving the highest grade in six classes: International Business Transactions; Law & Society in Japan; Law, Aging, and Medicine; Non-Profit Organizations; Trusts & Estates; and Contract Drafting. Matt was also an Oralist on the Jessup International Moot Court Team.
While in law school, Matt’s paper on revisions to Japan’s Childcare and Family Leave law received the Frank Boas Award for best Second-Year Seminar research paper on a subject relating to a Pacific Asian topic. He was honored with the Sam and Helen Piesner Endowed Scholarship for Japanese Legal Studies, a scholarship awarded to high-achieving students who wish to pursue the study of Japanese Law, and the Spirit of Alison Adams Scholarship, awarded to students with success in careers prior to attending law school. Matt also worked as a Research Assistant for Professor Richard Chen, assisting with research on how sociocultural and structural influences affect the practice of investor-state dispute settlement, a system in which private investors sue countries for alleged treaty violations. For his pro bono service, Matt worked with the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawaii, a collaboration between the Richardson School of Law and Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services to provide low-income clients with access to legal services.
During the summer of 2022, Matt was a Legal Intern at OneAsia Lawyers in Tokyo, Japan, a multinational law firm with member offices across Asia and Oceania. While there, he assisted Japanese clients with their legal matters in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Prior to law school, Matt was an Assistant Language Teacher for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme in Tokushima, Japan. In that position, Matt taught English as a second language to senior high school students, while concurrently working as a part-time teacher at a school for students with auditory or visual disabilities.
According to Matt, he enjoys helping others to achieve their goals and is gratified to know that he can play a role in the success of others, a trait that he has retained from his time as a teacher. As a transactional attorney working in business law, he hopes that his work will help to bring new economic opportunities to the people of Hawaii, especially the younger generation.
Matt earned a Bachelor’s Degree with a double major in Biology and Economics at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born in New York and moved to Hawaii at the age of three, growing up in Mililani on Oahu, and later attending Damien Memorial School.
Outside of the office, Matt’s hobbies include reading, cycling, running, hiking, playing musical instruments, and photography. He enjoys travelling and hopes that Damon Key’s involvement in the Meritas Network will enable him to see even more of the world.
Professional and Community Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- Hawaii Bar Association
- Access to Justice Room (Honolulu District Court), volunteer
- JET Alumni Association
Bar Admissions
- State of Hawaii
- U.S. District Court (District of Hawaii)