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August 08, 2023

Hawaii lawyer Marvin S.C. Dang becomes ABA secretary

DENVER, Aug. 8, 2023 — Marvin S.C. Dang, managing member of the Law Offices of Marvin S.C. Dang, LLLC in Honolulu, Hawaii, today became secretary of the American Bar Association at the conclusion of the 2023 ABA Annual Meeting.

As secretary, Dang will take office for a three-year term as one of five officers on the ABA Board of Governors.

An attorney for 44 years, Dang founded his firm in Honolulu in 1981, concentrating on civil litigation, creditors’ rights, governmental relations, real estate transactions, estate planning and probate. He also is a partner in the Law Offices of Nelson & Kennard, a Sacramento, California, law firm doing business in eight states. Dang co-manages the Hawaii office, focusing on civil litigation.

Beyond private practice, Dang was elected in 1982 to the Hawaii House of Representatives, where he was elected assistant minority floor leader and served on six legislative committees. From 1984-1995, he was senior vice president and in-house counsel for Rainbow Financial, a minority-owned FDIC-insured financial institution in Honolulu.

An ABA member since 1975, Dang is a member of the Board of Governors, serving on the Profession, Public Service and Diversity Committee and as its liaison to the Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Senior Lawyers Division and Fund for Justice and Education. He also serves in the House of Delegates.

Dang has held numerous leadership positions in the Law Student Division, Young Lawyers Division, Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division and Senior Lawyers Division. He has been appointed to 11 committees, commissions and entities during nearly 50 years of membership in the ABA.

Dang is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association, National Creditors Bar Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the Hawaii chapter of NAPABA, as well as a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He received the Stockton Guard Award (2018) from the George Washington University Law School for extraordinary service and dedication to the betterment of the law school and the Small Firm Practitioner Merit Award (2006) from the ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division.

Dang earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawaii and his law degree from George Washington University Law School.

A biography of Dang can be found here.  A high-resolution photo of him can be found here.

The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.