Tajima LLP brings direct Guam court experience and documented results to commercial disputes connecting California, Guam, Hawaii, and the wider Asia Pacific region. We represent businesses, owners, investors, and executives whose disputes involve these connections, whether our clients are based in the islands, on the U.S. mainland, or internationally.
Managing Partner Chase Tajima has litigated in Guam’s territorial and federal courts through pro hac vice admission, partnering and coordinating with local Guam counsel. That experience complements our California business litigation practice and our work involving international business relationships and infrastructure.
U.S. territory. Asia Pacific connections.
Guam occupies a consequential position in the western Pacific: American territorial soil close to major Asian markets, with international aviation connections, submarine cable infrastructure, and significant U.S. military installations. While Hawaii connects the mainland United States to the Pacific, Guam extends that connection farther west into the commercial networks of East and Southeast Asia.
For businesses operating through Guam, a dispute over a local asset can affect contracts, investments, and operations across several countries. A disagreement over access to a data center, for example, can have consequences far beyond the building itself. Guam’s role as a transportation, communications, and defense hub gives these commercial relationships broader economic and strategic significance. U.S. Department of the Interior
Experience in Guam data center and international infrastructure disputes
Our attorneys’ work involving RTI Connectivity, Gateway Network Connections, and a Guam data center illustrates how these disputes cross jurisdictions. The matters involved subsea cable infrastructure, corporate control, access to operational equipment, and related litigation and arbitration in Guam, California, and Hawaii.
Representative results include:
- Dismissal in Guam federal court. Obtained dismissal of a corporate-control lawsuit against an executive and minority shareholder in Gateway Network Connections, LLC v. Matulich. The District Court of Guam found that the relevant corporation was controlled from California, defeating the asserted basis for diversity jurisdiction. This was a jurisdictional dismissal, rather than a decision on the underlying claims. Court decision
- Protection against shareholder dilution. Obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction through local Guam counsel to halt dilution of a minority shareholder out of the management structure in Matulich v. Asia Connectivity Elements, Inc., Guam Superior Court No. SP0154-22.
- Access to essential cable equipment. Obtained interim arbitration relief requiring customary access and power to subsea cable equipment at a Guam data center, confirmed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii in July 2022.
- Rent refund and executive reinstatement. Obtained arbitration awards requiring approximately $1.7 million in co-location rent to be refunded and reinstating an executive as the data center’s CEO and director. The District of Hawaii confirmed the awards in September 2023. Court decision
These were specific favorable results within broader disputes involving multiple claims. They demonstrate experience addressing immediate business needs while managing the interaction among courts, arbitration, corporate relationships, and international infrastructure.
California litigation capability, working with Guam counsel
Significant Guam disputes can require both local knowledge and coordination beyond the island. Tajima LLP combines California business litigation capability with experience working alongside Guam counsel to develop a coordinated strategy.
That coordination matters when a position taken in one court affects another proceeding, when an arbitration determines rights central to pending litigation, or when urgent relief is needed to protect business operations.
Chase’s Guam court appearances have been through pro hac vice admission—permission to appear in a particular matter—with local counsel. Any new Guam court appearance remains subject to the applicable admission requirements and court approval.
Where Guam and Hawaii intersect with our Asia Pacific practice
Our Guam experience is part of a broader practice involving California business disputes with an Asia Pacific nexus. Hawaii can also play a central role through business relationships, witnesses, arbitration, or related court proceedings—as it did in the Guam data center matters.
This experience is particularly relevant when:
- A California dispute involves a Guam or Hawaii business, investor, or transaction.
- An international commercial dispute concerns assets or operations in Guam.
- Related litigation and arbitration require coordination across California, Guam, and Hawaii.
- A business needs California litigation counsel who understands the wider Pacific context of its dispute.
The client’s address does not determine the connection. It may arise from the opposing party, the investment, the infrastructure, or the evidence. Tajima LLP brings direct experience with these intersections and a litigation strategy grounded in the client’s commercial objectives.
Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
California Business Disputes with an Asia-Pacific Nexus · California Litigation with a Hawaii Nexus · Business & Commercial Litigation