Diane C. Haar

Diane C. Haar founded and operates Hawaii Disability Legal Services, LLLC, a private, public interest law firm with offices in Honolulu and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii focusing on representation and legal reform for the benefit of individuals with disabilities throughout the state of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Philippines, and some of the other Pacific countries.

She represents those who have become gravely disabled, including veterans, homeless individuals, and others before the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Hawaii Federal District Court, the Court of Appeals of Veterans Claims, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is also barred in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Diane recently finished a three-year term as a Hawaii Federal District Court Delegate, continues to serve on the Veterans Treatment Court Advisory Committee, the Hawaii Legislature’s Mental Health Task Force, and the board of the ARC in Hawaii. She also assists in interviewing and training Veterans Services Officers at the Hawaii Office of Veterans Services.

Diane meets with Hawaii State and Federal Representatives on issues of interest and concern to the individuals she serves. She met with the Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska delegations to seek to get a bill for SSI passed for Guam in 2017, and issue she continues to champion. She also testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs regarding issues of importance to veterans in 2023.

Diane has give continuing legal education courses for the Hawaii State Bar Association, NOSSCR, and other lawyer groups, primarily in solo lawyering, leveraging technology, new advances in technology, cybersecurity, and ethics. She previously taught at the University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law.

She received the Eileen P. Sweeny award from NOSSCR in 2023. She is a finalist in 2024 for a Clio Community Champion Reisman Award for her and her firm's pro bono and public interest work throughout the Pacific.

Prior to her work in Social Security and Veterans Disability, Diane practiced war crimes litigation before the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission in The Hague. Diane received her B.S. with Highest Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and her M.P.H. and J.D. from Yale University. She is also barred in California, Nevada, and before the U.S. Supreme Court.

I represent folks on all of the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, American Samoa, the Philippines, and other countries in the Pacific region. I have offices in Honolulu and Kailua Kona, but also regularly travel to all of the areas where my clients are located. I do initial applications and can represent you in any and every appeal needed to win your claim. I will work with you from start to finish. My fee is simple. I have to win your case, or I do not get paid. Social Security or VA calculate how much I am owed and pay me directly. For Social Security cases, up through your Social Security hearing, I receive either 25% of the benefits you are owed until you are approved or $7,200 - whichever is less. If we go to federal court, I receive 25% of your back pay, but I will ask the government to pay a portion of this for you. For VA Disability cases, I receive 20% of your back pay on every claim I get approved for you on appeal.