Japanese-Speaking Attorneys

Suhi Koizumi

San Francisco, CA

Partner and leads the Immigration Practice Group. Advises corporate clients on nonimmigrant and immigrant business visas, investor visas, labor certification, I-9 compliance, and corporate immigration program management. Experienced with startups to Fortune 500 companies across various industries. Former President of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California. Recognized by Super Lawyers (2019-2025), Rising Star (2010-2017), Best Lawyers of America (2020-2022), and as one of the Best Lawyers Under 40 by NAPABA (2017). Fluent in Korean and conversant in Japanese.

Howard L. Lim

Dallas, TX

Howard Lim is Counsel at Carter Arnett, focusing on patent litigation and IP counseling. He has extensive experience with lithium-ion batteries, semiconductors, display technologies, gaming software, and video streaming. With a J.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from SMU, he previously developed lithium-ion battery technology at Panasonic Corporation. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

Buyong Bonnie Lee

Philadelphia, PA

Bonnie Lee is an Associate at Ricci Tyrrell Johnson and Grey. Her practice focuses on products liability defense and premises liability defense. She earned her J.D. from Rutgers Law School, where she was a Women’s Rights Law Reporter for Rutgers Law Review. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree, with honors, from Johns Hopkins University in Music and minored in Economics and Arts Administration. She also attended the Julliard School in New York for Music in Violin. Ms. Lee is conversational in Korean and Japanese and has performed as a violinist internationally.

Helen Suh Hopkins

Atlanta, GA

Helen Suh Hopkins has over ten years of experience representing injured victims, recovering hundreds of millions in compensation. She graduated from Georgia State University with her law degree in 2012 and is admitted to practice in Florida and Georgia. She specializes in catastrophic injuries and insurance bad faith.

John Bowdren graduated from The Highcroft School in 1986. He served in the United States Marine Corps, including two tours in Okinawa, Japan, and was honorably discharged in 1990. He received his B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Baltimore in 1995 and graduated from The Quinnipiac School of Law in 2003. He focuses on criminal defense, personal injury, and landlord/tenant disputes, and has represented clients in courts throughout Connecticut.

Matthew Hillix is a trial lawyer dedicated to advocating for injured victims, having recovered millions for clients. He earned his B.A. from UC San Diego in 2010 and his J.D. from Loyola Law School in 2015, graduating with honors. He is a member of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the American Association for Justice.

Josh M. Blane

New York, NY

Josh M. Blane is an attorney dedicated to protecting the rights of the injured, sick, and accused. He holds a B.A. from Touro College and a J.D. from Rutgers Law School. His practice strategy focuses on hard-won victories in personal injury, criminal defense, and civil rights litigation. Josh also volunteers as an emergency medical technician, applying his medical knowledge to client cases. He is recognized for his legal writing and courtroom advocacy skills.

H. Hurst Coffman

Wichita, KS

H. Hurst Coffman grew up in Ottawa, Kansas. He graduated from Ottawa public schools and received a B.A. degree in English Literature in 1969 from Ottawa University. Following college he taught English as a foreign language at a school in Japan for one year. Returning to the U.S. for law school in 1970 at the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, D.C., he received his J.D. degree in 1974. Hurst has fond memories of leaving Washington the same day as Richard Nixon in August, 1974. Hurst returned to Kansas where he became affiliated with the firm of Schroeder, Heeney, Groff and Hiebert in July, 1976, as a tax and estate planning attorney. Through the years, the firm evolved into Coffman, DeFries and Nothern, and in 2021, Hurst joined Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy, Chartered. Hurst practices in the areas of Trust and Estate Planning, Trust Administration, Elder Law, and Estate and Gift Tax Planning. He still represents some of the clients and their families that he worked with from the beginning of his practice. In addition to the law practice, Hurst is an active farmer owning and co-managing with one of his sisters a cow-calf operation at a fifth generation farm in Douglas County southwest of Lawrence. The family and the neighbors are interested in preserving several hundred acres of “pre-settlement forest” which has mostly disappeared from the area due to development and farming. Hurst also has studied piano and organ for many years and enjoys playing church services on pipe organs in various churches in Topeka. He is the music director and organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Ottawa and accompanist at Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka. In addition to the organ, Hurst is an avid opera fan attending live performances in any place he can. Studying languages has been a lifelong hobby, starting with Latin in seventh grade. Hurst has studied French, Japanese, Italian and most recently Hebrew.

George Tamvakis

Libertyville, IL

George Tamvakis is a Partner at Salvi & Maher, LLP, specializing in worker's compensation. He received his B.A. from Augustana College in 1983 and his J.D. from Valparaiso University in 1986, admitted to the Illinois bar in 1987. He is fluent in Greek and Japanese and serves as the Civil Service Commission Chairman for the City of Park Ridge.

Amanda S. Chang

Honolulu, HI

Amanda S. Chang is Of Counsel, practicing immigration law, including naturalization, green card applications, various visas, and U.S. Embassy matters. She is fluent in Korean and conversant in Japanese, and actively participates in community service, holding leadership roles in several cultural and professional organizations.

Nathan Whittaker

Phoenix, AZ

Nathan Whittaker is an experienced litigation attorney with Righi Fitch in Salt Lake City Utah. Nathan is a native Utahn, having grown up in a small town in southern Utah as the son of a dairy farmer. After graduating in 2003 from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon with a B.A. in International Affairs, he returned to Utah and received his law degree from Brigham Young University in 2007. He was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 2008. Nathan’s legal practice is focused on civil litigation and appellate practice. Having briefed and argued 16 appeals and over 80 dispositive motions, Nathan has developed a reputation for excellence in legal research and writing and has been praised by judges for his attention to detail. He is adept at taking the most complex legal principles and facts and synthesizing them into simple yet persuasive arguments. He has also served as a member of the Utah Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Civil Procedure, which works with the Utah Supreme Court to decide the rules that govern the state trial courts. Nathan’s civil litigation practice includes the defense of business owners, construction companies, and trucking companies and their drivers. He handles a wide variety of insurance defense cases ranging from personal automobile accidents to catastrophic injury and wrongful death. He serves on the firm’s rapid response team for Utah. His practice also includes insurance coverage and bad faith. His attention to detail and ability to synthesize information quickly serves his clients well not only in rapid responses but also in complex litigation. Nathan also has experience providing insurance coverage analysis and advice on many different types of policies, including commercial general liability, commercial property, business owners, homeowners, professional liability, commercial auto, and personal auto policies. Before attending law school, Nathan spent two years abroad in Japan, where he learned to speak Japanese fluently. While there, he also learned the importance of keeping things simple and uncluttered-a principle he strives to apply to his legal practice. In his spare time, Nathan enjoys being in the outdoors, whether hiking in the Wasatch Mountains, exploring the redrock canyons of Southern Utah, or just gardening in his backyard. He sings baritone in the Salt Lake Men’s Choir and volunteers for the Utah Aids Foundation.

David E. Karlin

Tustin, CA

David E. Karlin is a California attorney with a primary focus on ADA defense, Business and Real Estate Litigation and Transactional matters, and legal issues involving Japan. Prior to attending Law School, David lived in rural Japan working with the local community. In 2011 David graduated from Chapman University Fowler School of Law. Since becoming a lawyer, David has worked primarily in ADA defense, representing property owners and businesses, as well as maintaining his real estate commercial leasing and acquisition practice. Since 2013, 75% of David’s time has been devoted to defending businesses and property owners from ongoing abuse of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). David has been involved in and has served as the primary attorney on a large part of the firm’s 1,400 ADA cases date, including cases filed in the federal Central, Southern, Northern, and Eastern Districts of California, in each of which he is admitted. David has helped hundreds of businesses and property owners fight back in ADA lawsuits and has helped work with hundreds of businesses and properties to bring their businesses and properties into compliance to ward off potential ADA lawsuits. In addition, since 2014 David has also been a California licensed Real Estate Broker to better serve clients in real estate matters such as ADA Defense, Partition Action Litigation, real estate acquisition, and commercial leasing. David’s past, current and future focus is, and has always been, working together with the businesses and property owners to help with their legal issues and protect them from abusive litigation.

Paul M. Collins

San Francisco, CA

Paul joined Tenant Law Group in August 2022 as a trial attorney and currently serves as an admissions attorney. His practice focuses on advising clients in landlord-tenant cases, informing them of their rights, and recommending steps to take to achieve the desired outcome. Paul also evaluates potential new matters to determine if they are suitable for contingency fee representation. Paul has experience in both criminal and civil proceedings. Before joining Tenant Law Group, he spent five years as a Deputy Public Defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office. He has most recently worked as a contract litigator for a civil litigation firm, assisting in multi-stage criminal and family law divorce proceedings. Paul also previously served as a volunteer attorney for Public Counsel, a public interest law firm, where he fought for low-income tenants facing unlawful detainer proceedings. Paul earned his Bachelor of Economics and Philosophy with a specialization in Japanese language summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University and his Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. He is currently licensed to practice law in both California and Idaho.

Esther Kim

Playa Del Rey, CA

ESTHER KIM, an associate attorney at SSJ Law, has experience in Civil Litigation, Restraining Orders, Lemon Law, and Pre-Litigation Personal Injury. Esther has had success in representing clients both in and out of the courtroom. Working in the best interests of the client, Esther has been able to successfully mediate contentious divorces and settle personal injury claims without necessitating the involvement of the court. Licensed to practice law in California, Esther has represented clients in various restraining order cases, personal injury, and lemon law disputes. In addition to graduating in the Top 10% from Southwestern Law School’s 2-Year SCALE Program, Esther earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. During her time at Southwestern Law School, Esther worked as a Dean’s Fellow and Teaching Assistant for Contracts Law in order to provide one-on-one mentorship and guidance to incoming law students.

John W. Anderson

South Jordan, UT

Mr. Anderson focuses his practice in the areas of criminal defense, civil litigation, contracts, business law, construction litigation, business entities, and property law.

Sawa Nagano

New York, NY

Sawa Nagano is Of Counsel to the firm. She focuses on the representation of clients in relation to price-fixing litigation under the Sherman Antitrust Act and other federal and state laws to recover overcharges caused by international price-fixing cartels. Ms. Nagano joined the firm in 2013. Prior to joining KM, Ms. Nagano worked with the law firms of both Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe LLP and Crowell and Morning LLP, where she assisted in the investigation of conspiracies to engage in price-fixing and anticompetitive practices by manufacturers and multinational conglomerates, and she represented cable operators on matters arising before the Federal Communications Commission as well as in their relations with local and state franchising authorities. She also worked for the New York bureau of a major Japanese television network. Additionally, she interned with the Office of Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth at the Federal Communications Commission and worked as a student counsel at the Art, Sports, and Entertainment Law Clinic of the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University. Ms. Nagano is fluent in Japanese.

Paul H. Johnson

Salt Lake City, UT

Paul H. Johnson grew up on a potato farm in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and a minor in Japanese, and from the University of Idaho College of Law. With 36 years of legal experience, he has served as a judicial law clerk, criminal prosecutor, in-house corporate counsel, and administrative hearing officer. He primarily practices criminal defense law in adult and juvenile court, also handling related family law and juvenile law matters. His professional credo is 'helping good people in trouble'.

Bethany Mito Lee

Lynnwood, WA

Bethany Mito Lee is a partner in Lee & Lee, PS. Prior to founding the firm with Nelson K.H. Lee in 2010, she practiced in Washington, D.C. with Crowell & Moring LLP as a counsel in the antitrust group. She has focused on litigation and counseling throughout her legal career, advising clients from a broad range of industries. Ms. Mito Lee has over a decade of immigration law experience specializing in family-based, employment-based, and investment-based visas. She has also served as pro bono counsel in asylum and trafficking cases.

Eric Shelton

Lacey, WA

Eric began working for his dad in 2015 after defending insurance companies and working as a King County Prosecutor. He is well acquainted with the insurance industries' tactics and tricks. Eric graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 2011 and earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Redlands. He is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice and a Washington State, Pierce County, and Thurston County bar member.

Jonathan S. Raymer

Greensboro, NC

Jon has years of Real Estate experience representing commercial and residential builders, developers, investors, and owners in highly complex transactions including, but not limited to, closing services, leases, declarations, easements, rights-of-way, financing agreements, asset purchase agreements, amortizations, title issues, and defeasances. Jon also handles property sales from dissolved entities, estates, trusts, and tax-deferred exchanges under section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. Outside of the office, Jon is an active cyclist, hunter, fly fisherman, and homebrewer.

Richard P. Bogetich III, known as Tre, is an attorney at Bressman Law Office, applying tenacity and a strategic mindset to advocate for individuals injured due to negligence. He holds a Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University - Pettit College of Law, an MBA, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Heidelberg University. He is a member of the Columbus Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association and has basic fluency in Japanese.

Brett C. Anderson

Lehi, UT

Brett C. Anderson is a founding partner of Anderson & Rogers, representing clients throughout the State of Utah for over 25 years. He holds a business degree from the University of Utah and a law degree from Oregon. He is a member of the Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho State Bars, and was a former adjunct professor of Criminal Law and Procedure. Prior to co-founding the firm, he served as a prosecutor for several Utah cities. Mr. Anderson has successfully tried hundreds of cases and is known for aggressively seeking justice for his clients, having argued cases in most Utah courts, including the Utah Court of Appeals. He speaks Japanese.

Matthew R. Howell is a partner and former federal prosecutor specializing in family law, criminal defense, business law, and appeals. He has extensive experience in civil and commercial litigation, including whistleblower claims and class action lawsuits, and has argued cases before various federal and state appellate courts. He joined Fillmore Spencer LLC in 2005.