Mr. LaPorte has more than 30 years’ practice as a litigator and more than two decades of experience as an arbitrator in Hawaii.  After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point and serving in the 25^th Infantry Division in Hawaii, he graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1994 and began practicing as a litigator at Cades Schutte LLP in Honolulu, where he is now Chairman of its Litigation Department.  Mr. LaPorte has represented a wide variety of individual, business, and trust entity clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in diverse matters.  He has litigated, mediated, and arbitrated claims large and small, ranging from personal injury matters to complex intellectual property disputes.

In construction matters, he has represented both owners and contractors, and has substantial working knowledge of construction, design, and insurance issues arising in such disputes.

In his practice, Mr. LaPorte has routinely represented clients in mediating and arbitrating disputes, assisting his clients in reaching amicable resolution of disputes with an emphasis on avoiding wasteful litigation.

Mr. LaPorte has received an AV Preeminent Peer Review rating from Martindale-Hubbell since 2004; has been identified as Litigation Star in General Commercial Litigation by Benchmark Litigation since 2009; has been listed as Best Lawyers in areas of Construction Law and Litigation, Real Estate Law and Litigation since 2014, and been listed in Chambers & Partners since 2020.

Court Annexed Arbitration Program

Mr. LaPorte has periodically served as an arbitrator for several decades in arbitration cases referred from Hawaii’s First Circuit Court to the Court Annexed Arbitration Program.