MARK T. SHKLOV, ATTORNEY AT LAW
Mark Shklov began practicing law in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1976. He also obtained a Hawaii Real Estate Broker’s license in 1978. Mr. Shklov’s law practice concentrated on commercial and real estate transactions and business litigation and representation of business clients. He acted as “in-house counsel” for many corporate clients with diverse and varying needs, including numerous foreign companies doing business in the United States. He was also admitted to practice law in New York State. Mr. Shklov retired from the active practice of law and real estate in 2019.
Mr. Shklov grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. His college education took place in the United States and Japan. He attended Jochi Daigaku (Sophia University) in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 through 1971, where he participated in the Notre Dame Year Abroad Program. While at Jochi, he studied Japanese history, literature, culture, and language. Mr. Shklov graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 1972 with a double major, English and History. During college summer vacations, he taught English at the Soto Buddhist Mission in Honolulu. Mr. Shklov obtained his Juris Doctor in 1976 from the University of Puget Sound School of Law (which is now Seattle University School of Law) in Washington State.
In 1985, Mr. Shklov felt there was a need to establish a formal relationship between lawyers in Hawaii and Japan and he founded, along with several other lawyers and bengoshi, the Japan-Hawaii Lawyers Association (“JHLA”), a non-profit transnational legal group, of which he was its first President. The JHLA was the forerunner of several similar legal networks which have since developed in the Asia-Pacific Region. The JHLA’s inaugural Convention, of which Mr. Shklov was Chairman, was held in Hiroshima, Japan in April 1985.
Mr. Shklov was one of the founding members and was the first President of the International Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association. He was the Co-Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee which drafted Rule 14 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii, which was added in May 1986, and which provides for licensing of foreign law consultants in the State of Hawaii.
Mr. Shklov was on the Steering Committee which organized the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (“IPBA”), the preeminent international bar association of commercial and business attorneys that was established in Tokyo in 1991. Mr. Shklov was one of the original At-Large Council Members of the IPBA.
In June 2008, Mr. Shklov received the Mayor’s Award of Achievement and was recognized by Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii for providing pro bono legal assistance to the community. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Collection Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association, where he chaired its Continuing Legal Education Program Committee. He was the designated attorney Member of the Hawaii Board of Certified Shorthand Reporters from 2006 to 2009. Mr. Shklov has authored or co-authored articles which have appeared in various legal journals, including, “Behind the Great Wall: HSBA Members in China”, in Vol. 10, No. 13 of the 2007 Hawaii Bar Journal, which was an interview of Hawaii lawyers who were living and working in China.
Mr. Shklov was one of the founders and actively involved as an Advisor, with other lawyers in Hawaii and China, of the China-Hawaii Lawyer Exchange Program, which provided learning opportunities for young lawyers from China. Mr. Shklov was one of the founding Members of the U.S.-China Legal Network which developed professional and business relationships between the United States and China.
Mr. Shklov worked with other Hawaii lawyers in the development of formal professional association agreements between the Hawaii State Bar Association and the Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association, the Shanghai Bar Association, the Seoul Bar Association, and the Suzhou Bar Association. Mr. Shklov received the 2017 Greeley-Key Award for Innovation from the Hawaii State Bar Association for his work in promoting Hawaii’s international legal presence and relationships with legal professionals in other countries.
Although he is retired, Mr. Shklov is still a member in good standing of the Hawaii State Bar Association and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association.
Mr. Shklov was a Member of the Board of the Friends of Iolani Palace (“FOIP”) for several years and served as its Interim Executive Director in 2019 while the FOIP searched for a permanent Executive Director. The FOIP’s mission is “to preserve, restore, interpret, share, and celebrate the unique cultural, historical, and spiritual qualities of Iolani Palace and its grounds for the benefit of native Hawaiians, the people of Hawaii, and the world.”
Mr. Shklov is the Host of an online streaming program, sponsored by ThinkTech Hawaii, titled “Law Across the Sea”, which program is devoted to international law, international lawyers, and international legal matters, as well as Special Programs related to Hawaii, life, and world issues. ThinkTech Hawaii is a Hawaii 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded in 2000 to provide a platform for civic engagement and raise public awareness about the importance of tech, energy, diversification, and globalism to the future of Hawaii. The link to Mr. Shklov’s Law Across the Sea Playlist is: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQpkwcNJny6nbbMit_-n62DnNpcNhhXbI