Joanne Lo Grimes

Ms. Grimes has over two decades of experience in representing and advising trustees in connection with the administration of their trusts and the assets under their management, including legacy and inception assets. Ms. Grimes has worked on complex termination planning matters for large centuries-old Hawaii trusts distributing assets, pro rata and non-pro rata, to multi-generational beneficiaries. Ms. Grimes advises fiduciaries in the area of trust accounting (principal and income), trust administration, diversification and prudent investment, and fiduciary responsibilities. Ms. Grimes also represents parties in trust-related disputes over valuation and distribution of trust assets.

Ms. Grimes advises nonprofit organizations on structure, governance, and compliance issues applicable to exempt organizations, including investments under management. She served as primary legal counsel to the Hawaii Host Committee for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation held in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2011, and the National Host Committee for the IUCN World Conservation Congress held in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2016. For over a decade, she has represented a large charitable trust in its support of four charitable organizations serving health care, educational, and charitable purposes in the Kamuela area of the Big Island of Hawaii.

For over two decades, Ms. Grimes has served as primary outside counsel to a government retirement fund with more than 20,000 participants and retirees enrolled in defined benefit, defined contribution, deferred compensation, and welfare benefit plans. Ms. Grimes has advised in the areas of procurement of investment consultants, investment managers, actuaries, custodians, and third party administrators; and has represented the plans in administrative appeals and litigation by plan participants involving disability and retirement eligibility and benefits, domestic relations orders, and assists in the drafting of legislation, rules, and regulations affecting the plans.

Ms. Grimes advises employers on personnel and benefits matters, employment agreements, handbooks, workplace issues, equal employment opportunity issues, wage and hour compliance, confidentiality and non-competition agreements, work-for-hire arrangements, trade secret and trademark protection, and trade symbol registration.

Ms. Grimes works with individuals and business to protect their proprietary and intellectual property rights. She advises on confidentiality and non-competition agreements, work-for-hire arrangements, trade secret and trademark protection, and trade symbol registration.

In a prior career, Ms. Grimes worked for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith in New York City; for a Merrill Lynch – Sun Hung Kai (overseas securities) joint venture in Hong Kong; and then as Operations Manager for Merrill Lynch International (Asia) & Co. Ltd.’s Asia-Pacific Institutional Office in Hong Kong. During law school, Ms. Grimes externed as a student law clerk for the Administrative Judge for the First Circuit, State of Hawaii, whose calendar included motions and probate proceedings. After law school, Ms. Grimes worked as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Ronald T.Y. Moon, Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court.