William C. "Bill" Darrah, Esq.

William C. "Bill" Darrah is the first Best Lawyers in America's Hawaii Family Lawyer of the Year. For decades he represented divorcing spouses in some of the most challenging situations you might imagine. He learned how to use mediation to get quicker, better, outcomes for his clients. Quicker because mediation expedites the acquisition of information necessary to understand one's options. Better because of the confidential nature in which all manner of settlement possibilities can be explored in real time, better because it preserves family resources, and better because the couple controls their own fate. Using what he learned, Bill is now exclusively a domestic mediator for the Mediation Center of the Pacific (MCP), Hawaii's largest provider of divorce mediation services. For more information regarding MCP, and to inquire about the possibility of retaining Bill, go to mediatehawaii.org, or call 808-521-6767.

• Hawai‘i resident since June 1971
• Born October 6, 1948 in Providence, Rhode Island
• 1966 graduate of Tabor Academy, Marion, Massachusetts (Valedictorian) 
• 1970 graduate of the University of North Carolina (Morehead Scholar)
• 1975 graduate of New York University School of Law (Root-Tilden Scholar)
• Federal judicial clerkship in Portland, Oregon (1975)
• Licensed to practice law in Hawaii in April 1976.

• Represented divorcing spouses before all of Hawaii's Family Courts, the Hawaii Supreme Court, and the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, with a particular expertise in resolving complex financial issues (property division, child support and alimony)
• Counsel of record in numerous Hawai‘i divorce “landmark cases” 
• Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers  
• Martindale-Hubbell “AV” highest attorney rating  
• Designated a "Best Lawyer in America" 
• Designated a Hawai‘i “A+ Lawyer” 
• Designated a Hawai‘i “Super Lawyer”  
• American Bar Association certified divorce mediator 
• AAML certified divorce arbitrator 
• Mediation Center of the Pacific volunteer mediator
• Mediation Center of the Pacific Access ADR mediator 

• Three (3) time Chair of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association’s Family Law Section 
• First Circuit Family Court Volunteer Settlement Master 
• Hawaii Supreme Court Appellate Mediator 
• Hawaii Access to Justice Commission Divorce Committee
• Numerous Family Court bench/bar committees

• Hawai‘i State Bar Association’s annual Divorce Law Update Program 
• Editor of the Hawaii State Bar Association’s Hawai‘i Divorce Manual 
• Presenter Divorce Law in Hawaii public education program
• Numerous trainings, workshops, symposiums, presentations and articles

• First Best Lawyers in America's Hawaii Family Lawyer of the Year  
• Hawai‘i State Bar Association’s C. Frederick Schutte Award for Outstanding and Meritorious Service to the Legal Community and the Profession  
• Hawai‘i State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division President’s Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service to the Community 
• Mediation Center of the Pacific's “Lawyer as Problem Solver” Award  
• Hawai‘i Supreme Court and Family Court “Friend of the Family Court” Award 
• Hawai‘i Governor’s “Outstanding Pro Bono Attorney” Award 
• MCP “Champion” Award  
• Family Court “Advancement of Legal Knowledge” Award
• Various other awards and distinctions