Stephen G. Dyer
Partner
Email: stephen.dyer@hawadvocate.com

Mr. Dyer has been a partner since 1999. His practice includes most areas of civil litigation, with emphasis on defending lawsuits alleging personal injury, sex abuse, premises liability, medical malpractice, and construction defects, with further focus on cases involving military members or entities, and Japanese nationals and corporations. Parties have agreed to Mr. Dyer as a paid arbitrator in over 30 cases.

Education

Mr. Dyer attended the University of Notre Dame, utilizing a four-year Army ROTC Scholarship, graduating with B.A. degrees in Japanese (summa cum laude) and Economics. He received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. While in law school, he was awarded a two-year Rotary Foundation Scholarship to Japan where he completed the highest level of Japanese study at International Christian University, and a year attending Tokyo’s Chuo University Graduate Law Department, while interning at Yuasa & Hara law offices. He has received education, training and experience from the U.S. Army, to include criminal defense, anatomy, medicine, and international and military operations law. He attended the Army’s Command and General Staff School and War College.

Experience

Mr. Dyer has practiced in litigation his entire career. He began in the U.S. Army, spending 27 months in Seoul (Yongsan), Korea where he defended soldiers in Courts Martial and administrative hearings, to include 24 jury trials. He spent his last 3 years on active duty at Tripler Army Medical Center defending medical malpractice claims and assisted the U.S. Attorney defend the U.S. in several federal bench trials. He continued his Army JAG career, serving 2 years in the Hawaii Army National Guard, then 17 years as a reservist at U.S. Pacific Command. In private practice in Hawai’i, he has continued with civil litigation defense, to include several trials.

Mr. Dyer was instrumental in the immediate aftermath of the Ehime Maru/USS Greeneville tragedy as the representative of US Pacific Command: https://www.jicuf.org/alumni-stories-no-15-mr-stephen-dyer/. (Japanese translation). He was a panelist on a US-Japan Council webinar commemorating the 20th anniversary: Remembering the Ehime Maru. Mr. Dyer was featured on ThinkTech Hawaii’s show Law Across the Sea on 2/17/20: Somewhere Over the Rising Sun.

Affiliations

Mr. Dyer is licensed to practice in Hawaii, Illinois (inactive), Federal Courts in Hawaii and Illinois, and all Military Courts. He is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association and has served as an officer of its Young Lawyers Division. He has been a Rotarian since 1991, serving in many leadership positions, to include President of the Pearl Harbor Rotary Club, and as an Assistant District Governor, supervising five Rotary clubs. He serves on the boards of several non-profits, and is a Leader in the US-Japan Council.