Kalina Nguyen Le is an Associate in the firm’s Business & Commercial Law practice group. Kalina earned her law degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. While there, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal, the Chief Executive Officer of the Law & Business Organization, and the Lead Campus Representative for Kaplan. Kalina is fluent in Vietnamese and English and provides legal assistance to Vietnamese-speaking clients in various industries.
During her time in law school, Kalina was a Research Assistant for Professor Andrea Freeman. She provided research on the subject of FDA regulations and access to food for the professor’s new book. For more than two years, she served as an intern in the UH Office of Innovation and Commercialization, where she researched language and background information on licensing templates, as well as reviewed and developed templates for plant licensing. Kalina was also a 2023 Summer Associate at Damon Key, where she conducted in-depth research on legal issues across diverse areas of law and assisted with both transactional and litigation matters.
Also while in law school, Kalina was an Executive Assistant at a real estate law practice focused on providing legal services to businesses and individuals leasing commercial property in Hawaii. While there, she managed new leads and researched business registrations and property information for commercial leasing transactions, and managed bi-monthly billing.
Kalina earned her Bachelor of Arts, with honors, from the University of Washington with a major in Political Science and a minor in Law, Societies, and Justice. Shortly after graduating, she served as a Legal Assistant at Northwest Consumer Law Center, a non-profit consumer law firm in Seattle. In this position, she managed prescreening and intake of potential new clients, assisted in drafting legal documents and research for ongoing litigation cases, reviewed and prepared bankruptcy files, and revamped and assisted in managing the Pro Se Bankruptcy Clinic, for which she obtained a $10,000 grant.
Born and raised in Everett, Washington, Kalina set her sights on a legal career from a very early age. A career quiz taken in elementary school indicated she should become a lawyer or a cosmetologist. Her parents, immigrants from Vietnam, had encouraged Kalina and her sisters to become lawyers or doctors; Kalina chose the former and never looked back.
Among Kalina’s strengths is her ability to relate to people and help them feel heard. Her goal is to be the best attorney she can for her clients. Additionally, she hopes to inspire children of low-income neighborhoods to pursue professional degrees.
Kalina resides in Honolulu and enjoys weightlifting, snowboarding, and baking. She savors spending time outdoors and discovering new hobbies. Kalina has volunteered with the naturalization clinic/citizenship workshop and looks forward to giving back to low-income communities and the types of programs that helped her achieve her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Professional and Community Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- Hawaii State Bar Association
Bar Admissions
- State of Hawaii
- U.S. District Court (District of Hawaii)