Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

What Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation does

Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) is a nonprofit public interest law firm founded in 1974 and headquartered in Honolulu, Hawai'i, with a secondary office in Kailua-Kona. It is the only law firm in the United States dedicated exclusively to addressing legal challenges facing Native Hawaiians as individuals and as a community. NHLC serves Native Hawaiian ʻohana, cultural practitioners (kiaʻi), and broader Native Hawaiian communities across the Hawaiian Islands, providing free or reduced-cost legal representation.

NHLC operates six core legal services programs covering family relations (Ola nā Iwi), homestead and family land rights (I Honua Ola), water rights (Mana ka Wai Ola), culturally significant places (I Koe ke Kuleana), cultural intellectual property (Hoʻohua Hou), and disaster recovery (Kani Hou ka Iwi). Additional services include quiet title defense, family land trust creation, ceded lands trust representation, Hawaiian Home Lands advocacy, burial protection, access rights, traditional and customary practices, and the Pilipuka Expungement Project. The organization also co-leads the Kalana Ola Coalition for Compassionate Release. In 2025, NHLC reported handling 560+ matters, 170+ cases managed, and 6,900+ legal service hours provided.

NHLC is funded primarily through donations, grants, and charitable contributions and does not charge fees to qualifying clients. Its go-to-market is community-led: clients access services by phone or via a web-based request form, and the organization cultivates awareness through blog content, a monthly Ask NHLC column in Ka Wai Ola (partner of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs), email newsletters, the Huʻeaʻo student program, and coalition partnerships with Indigenous-led and national organizations including NARF, Hobbs Straus, Perkins Coie, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Center for Biological Diversity. There is no proprietary technology product; the offering is professional legal services delivered under a public interest mission.

Name

Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

Legal name

Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

Website

https://nativehawaiianlegalcorp.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation is a Honolulu-based nonprofit public interest law firm, founded in 1974, that provides free legal advocacy to Native Hawaiians across six programs covering family, land, water, burial, cultural site, and disaster recovery matters statewide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Interest Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), All Other Legal Services (541199)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Minority, Indigenous & Disability Rights (BPADAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations (BPAGAHAI)

Keywords

• Public interest law
• Nonprofit legal services
• Indigenous rights advocacy
• Land and water rights
• Cultural property protection

Headquarters

HQ city

Honolulu

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: NHLC is a nonprofit organization funded primarily through donations, grants, and charitable contributions. The organization accepts financial gifts from donors to support its mission of protecting and advancing Native Hawaiian identity and culture through legal advocacy.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation is a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides free or reduced-cost legal representation, advocacy, and advice to Native Hawaiian individuals, families, cultural practitioners, and community organizations. Its core work spans family relations, homestead and family land rights, water rights, protection of culturally significant places and burials, cultural intellectual property, disaster recovery, compassionate release, and expungement services.

Product overview

Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation is a nonprofit public interest law firm (not a technology product company) that operates 6 core legal services programs and provides additional specialized legal services. The organization offers a portfolio of interconnected legal programs including: Ola nā Iwi (family relations), I Honua Ola (homestead and family land rights), Mana ka Wai Ola (water rights), I Koe ke Kuleana (culturally significant places), Hoʻohua Hou (cultural intellectual property), and Kani Hou ka Iwi (disaster recovery). Additional services include quiet title defense, family/land trust creation, ceded lands trust representation, Hawaiian Home Lands advocacy, burial protection, access rights, and protection of traditional and customary practices. The organization also manages the Kalana Ola Coalition for Compassionate Release and the Pilipuka Expungement Project. This is a service-based nonprofit legal organization, not a technology product or software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Huʻeaʻo Student Program: An experiential learning program that provides law students from across the globe with the opportunity to learn about Indigenous legal advocacy within an Indigenous-led, Indigenous rights legal practice.
• Kalana Ola Coalition for Compassionate Release
• Pilipuka Expungement Project

Products and services

• Ola nā Iwi A legal services program focused on protecting pilina (relationships) within healthy families and addressing family law matters affecting Native Hawaiian communities.
• I Honua Ola A legal services program protecting ʻohana homestead and family land rights, including family land trust creation and DHHL-related matters.
• Mana ka Wai Ola A legal services program focused on protecting water rights, including streams, groundwater, and aquaculture resources in accordance with Native Hawaiian traditional practices and public trust doctrine.
• I Koe ke Kuleana A legal services program focused on protection of wahi pana and culturally significant locations sacred to Native Hawaiian communities.
• Hoʻohua Hou A legal services program focused on protecting cultural and intellectual property, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions of Native Hawaiian communities.
• Kani Hou ka Iwi A legal services program enabling ʻohana and communities to recover from disasters and build disaster resiliency, including heirs' property and title issues.
• Kalana Ola Coalition for Compassionate Release A coalition-based program assisting paʻahao (incarcerated individuals) who may be eligible for compassionate or medical release, working with partner organizations to advocate for reunification of elderly and seriously ill clients with their families.
• Pilipuka Expungement Project A program assisting individuals with criminal record expungement, helping Native Hawaiians clear their records to access housing, employment, and other opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 560+ matters served, 170+ cases managed, 6,900+ legal service hours provided in 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Native American Rights Fund (NARF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2026NHLC partnered with NARF and Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP to file a Motion to Intervene on behalf of Papa Ola Lōkahi to defend the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program in federal lawsuit. NARF is described as the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian Tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide.
• Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2026NHLC partnered with Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP and NARF to defend Papa Ola Lōkahi in federal lawsuit challenging the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program. The firm has represented Tribal interests in federal Indian law for more than forty years.
• Kalana Ola CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025NHLC joined the Kalana Ola Coalition in 2025, a coalition formed to assist paʻahao (incarcerated individuals) who may be eligible for compassionate or medical release. The coalition works to pair eligible individuals with advocates and collaborates to support systemic improvements to compassionate release in Hawaiʻi. NHLC participates alongside Hawaiʻi Correctional System Oversight Commission, Hawaiʻi Office of the Public Defender, UH Richardson School of Law Pro Bono Program, Waikiki Health, and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM).
• Center for Reproductive RightscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024NHLC partnered with the Center for Reproductive Rights and law firm Perkins Coie to challenge Hawaiʻi law restricting midwifery. The litigation and legislative advocacy resulted in repeal of restrictions that threatened Native Hawaiian traditional birthing practices.
• Center for Biological DiversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHLC works in partnership with the Center for Biological Diversity to ensure any future activity at Punaluʻu respects the rights of lāhui, honors cultural connections, and protects fragile ecosystems. The Center is a national nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members.
• ʻIewe Hānau O Ka ʻĀinamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHLC partnered with ʻIewe Hānau O Ka ʻĀina as intervenors in contested case hearings regarding the Punaluʻu development. This community organization represents cultural practitioners protecting Kaʻū.
• Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHLC collaborates with Ka Huli Ao Center at William S. Richardson School of Law for research assistance and student mentorship. Multiple NHLC staff serve as research assistants for the Center.
• Office of Hawaiian AffairscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHLC partners with Office of Hawaiian Affairs to publish monthly articles in Ka Wai Ola responding to community legal questions. OHA also provides genealogy verification services referenced in NHLC's kuleana land tax exemption guidance.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Earthjustice: The largest nonprofit environmental law organization in the U.S., which has litigated Hawaiian water, cultural, and natural-resource cases; overlaps NHLC's environmental/cultural advocacy (e.g., Pōhakuloa) but operates nationally with a much broader practice.
• ACLU of Hawaii: The Hawaii affiliate of the national ACLU, providing broader civil rights and civil liberties legal advocacy with constitutional litigation capacity that overlaps NHLC's rights-protection work but spans a much wider portfolio beyond Native Hawaiian issues.

Direct peers

• Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii: Hawaii-based nonprofit that coordinates pro bono legal services through volunteer attorneys for low-income residents; directly comparable as a Hawaii-focused legal services nonprofit providing free representation through community partnerships.
• Legal Aid Society of Hawaii: Hawaii's largest nonprofit civil legal aid provider serving low-income residents across the islands with free legal services; closest statewide geographic peer in terms of nonprofit legal-services delivery model in the same operating geography.
• Native American Rights Fund (NARF): The oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending rights of Indian Tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide; an explicit NHLC co-counsel partner with near-identical public-interest mission and Indigenous-rights specialization across a different tribal geography.
• Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice: A Hawaii-based public interest law and advocacy nonprofit working on systemic poverty, equity, and justice issues through impact litigation and policy; directly comparable as a small, Hawaii-rooted advocacy nonprofit using legal tools for community outcomes.

Emerging players

• Center for Biological Diversity: A national nonprofit conservation organization (1.8M+ members) that partners with NHLC on cultural and ecosystem cases like Punalu'u; comparable as a values-driven nonprofit pairing litigation with advocacy across overlapping cultural/environmental matters.

Others

• First Nations Reparations Commission / Native Hawaiian cultural-legal organizations: Other Native Hawaiian and broader Indigenous nonprofit advocacy organizations operating in policy, education, and cultural preservation adjacent to NHLC's legal advocacy mission; comparable as ecosystem partners in the Native Hawaiian organizational landscape.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hawaiianlegal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation