RHODA YABES ALVAREZ

(808) 589-7380
(808) 845-3425
(808) 523-1100

Practice Areas

• U.S. Immigration Law
• Family Law
• Business Law
• Workers’ Compensation
• Car Accidents
• Bankruptcy
• Philippine Law

LOCATION

BIOGRAPHY

Atty. Rhoda Yabes Alvarez is a Honolulu based Family Law, Business Law and Immigration attorney with offices in Hawaii and the Philippines.  She is a partner of the Yabes & Yabes-Alvarez and Associates Law Office which offers civil and corporate legal services for individuals and companies in the Philippines.

Atty. Yabes Alvarez is admitted to practice law in Hawaii, New York and the Philippines.  She earned her JD at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in the Philippines and a Master of Laws in Commercial and Corporate Law at the University of London.  

Atty. Yabes Alvarez gained extensive legal experience working in cross-national and cross-cultural settings.  She had worked with Citigroup Private Bank in New York City where she gained experience in international finance. Atty. Yabes Alvarez is passionate about education in her capacity as founding dean of the St. Louis College of Law in the Philippines, lecturer at law at the University of Hawaii Richardson College of Law and at the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial College of Law.  She hosts a weekly radio program “Legal Pinoy”, that addresses the intertwine of Philippine law, Hawaii state law and U.S. immigration law as it affects the Filipino-Americans today.  It was recognized in 2010 as best radio show in the Migration Advocacy and Media Award of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.  Atty. Yabes Alvarez also writes a column under the same title for the Hawaii statewide publication, The Filam Courier.   

Atty. Yabes Alvarez provides legal services in Ilocano, Tagalog and English.  

She is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA), Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

EDUCATION

• University of London
  • 1997
• Ateneo de Manila, School of Law, Manila, JD, LLM

BAR ADMISSION

• Hawaii, 2008
• New York, 2002
• Philippines, 1995

PRO-BONO ACTIVITIES

• Volunteer Legal Services of Hawaii (VLSH), Volunteer

LANGUAGES

• English
• Filipino
• Tagalog
• Ilocano

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• Hawaii State Bar Association, Member, 2008 to Present
• Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Member, 1995 to Present

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT POSITION

• Attorney-at Law

PAST POSITIONS

• Philippine Supreme Court, Accredited Mediator
• The Law Offices of Yabes & Alvarez, La Union, Philippines, 1994 to 2008
• St. Louis College, La Union, Philippines, Dean, 1991 to 1995
• Metro La Union Water District, La Union, Philippines, 2005 to 2008
• Integrated Bar of the Philippines, La Union Chapter, Director, 2004 to 2005
• Rotary International, Member, 1994 to 2000

ANCILLARY BUSINESSES

• Radio Host of Legal Pinoy, a legal program that addresses intertwine of Philippine Law, Hawaii State Law and US Immigration Law
• Columnist, Legal Pinoy, Filam Courier

HONORS

• Best Radio Show, Migration Advocacy and Media Awards, Commission on Filipino Overseas

CLASSES & SEMINARS

• Law of the Philippines, University of Hawaii, Richardson School of Law