Firm History

TERESA TICO engages in cases involving Personal Injury, Environmental Injury, Wrongful Death, Products Liability, Medical Negligence, Motor Vehicle Collisions, Consumer Fraud, and Employment Rights. She is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego (1972, summa cum laude) and the University of San Diego Law School (1976). She was admitted to the California State Bar in 1976 and the Hawaii State Bar in 1977. She is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and Consumer Attorneys of California, among other professional organizations.

Ms. Tico opened a solo law practice in the County of Kauai in 1977 and handled over 2,000 cases statewide. From 1983 to 1985 she was the Counsel to the Kauai Grand Jury. From 1988 to 1992, she served as Per Diem Judge in the Fifth Circuit Family and District Courts. She was President of the Kauai Bar Association in 1992, and has served as a Board member for various non-profit organizations including Legal Aid Society, Kauai Academy of the Performing Arts, Hawaii Children's Theater, Ka Imi Nauao o Hawaii Nei, Nawiliwili Yacht Club, and Save Our Seas.

During her legal career, Ms. Tico has successfully tried numerous criminal and civil cases to jury verdict. She has won verdicts or settled claims against large corporate defendants such as United Airlines, Chrysler Corporation, McDonalds, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Sheraton Hotels, Alexander & Baldwin, and AmFac JMB, as well as claims against governmental entities including the State of Hawaii Department of Health, State Mental Health Hospitals, State Department of Education, State Department of Transportation, and County of Kauai Police Department. She won a settlement for her clients and played a "key role in one of the nation’s most notable environmental criminal cases" in the Marvin v. Pflueger civil case.

Significant case law Ms. Tico helped establish includes the first decision by the Department of Labor & Industrial Relations to recognize Multiple Chemical Sensitivity as a compensable injury or illness in worker's compensation claims; the first decision by the State Insurance Commissioner awarding income loss to no fault claimants based on proof of income other than tax returns; and the landmark Hawaii Supreme Court decision in Corbett v. Wailua Bayview Apartments establishing a property owner's duties to guests