HOWARD L. HILLS
949-715-4069
howard.hills@me.com
Employment History
Howard Hills & Associates, Legal and policy research/advocacy on constitutional, international and domestic legal and government affairs. 2014 to Present.
District Representative 48th Congressional District Office, Huntington Beach, California. Concentration on citizenship and nationality law, home mortgage crisis, impact of federal, state and local government policies on private sector development. 2010 to 2013.
Law Office of Howard Hills – Civil rights, citizenship and nationality law; International claims negotiation, including $45 million nuclear testing settlement with DOJ and Congress. Washington D.C. 1995 to 2010.
Stroock, Stroock and Lavan -- Of Counsel to 120 year old Wall Street law firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington D.C. and Budapest. Practice focused on corporate risk management, foreign government sovereign debt management, complex nationality law cases. Washington D.C. 1993-1995.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) -- Vice President General Counsel, chief legal officer in federal agency providing finance and political risk insurance for U.S. investments in 130 countries exceeding $7 billion annually, lead responsibility for Congressional affairs, federal agency personnel, budget execution and financial compliance issues, domestic and international organized labor and NGO affairs. Washington D.C. 1989-1993.
U.S. Department of State* -- Counsel for Interagency Affairs, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Lead Counsel for Interagency Group with oversight of U.S. foreign policy and implementation of political status treaties and military base rights. Also, assigned to senior staff, Office of the President-Elect (Nov. 1988-Jan. 1989). Washington D.C. 1986-1989.
National Security Council and Executive Office of the President* -- Legal Advisor and Dept. of Defense Representative, NSC Treaty Negotiations -- Legal counsel and Department of Defense member for NSC treaty negotiating team, testified in over 20 Congressional hearings and appeared at trial and appellate level in federal courts on base rights and claims settlement treaties, drafted State Department and INS field instructions on complex special immigration treaties. Scholarly publications on constitutional and international law issues connected to treaties have been cited and quoted extensively in Federal Court opinions and Congressional Committee reports. Washington D.C. 1982- 1986.
* Active Duty, U.S. Navy, Lieutenant Commander, Navy Judge Advocate General Corps. Executive Office of the President, NSC and State Department specialist in international law and economic development components of national security policy; Awards: Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal.
Additional Employment Information
Asst. Executive Director, Guam Law Revision Commission, 1980-1981; Asst. Legal Counsel, House of Representatives, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 1980; U.S. Peace Corps, Legislative Advisor, Congress of Micronesia, Legislative Counsel, Kosrae District, U.N. Trust Territory of Pacific Islands 1977-1978; Civil Rights Law Intern, Legal Services Corporation, Appalachia program, 1976. Member in good standing, Washington D.C. and Guam bar.
Education and Advanced Professional Training
Laguna Beach High School, Associated Student Body Award (Diploma Awarded: 1970)
California State University Sonoma, B.A. Psychology "With Honors"(Diploma Awarded: 1974)
California Western School of Law, San Diego CA, Juris Doctor, Dean's Award (Diploma: Awarded 1977)
Peace Corps Training Program, Pohnpei Island, Micronesia PCV (1977)
Officer's Indoctrination School, NETC, Newport, Rhode Island, Military Scholarship Award, USNR (1981)
Naval Justice School, Newport, Rhode Island, JAG (1982)
Senior Managers in Government Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, SMG (1990)
Scholarly Publications
“Citizens Without A State” Constitutional study of American federalism and territorial annexation/de-annexation, Foreword by former U.S. Attorney General, Laguna Beach, CA, Pacific Noir Press 2016.
“Legacy of Empire: American territorial policy in the 20th Century," Advisor/Researcher/Writer for former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, constitutional and territorial law case study published by Center for International and Strategic Studies, 2007, (CSIS topical series title "Puerto Rico's Future: Time to Decide").
“Free Association for Micronesia and the Marshall Islands: A Transitional Political Status Model”, University of Hawaii Law Review, Vol. 27, No. 1, Winter 2004.
"Compact of Free Association for Micronesia: Constitutional and International Law Issues" Vol. 18, No. 3 International Lawyer, ABA Section on International Law, Summer 1984.
“Negotiations for the Future Political Status of Micronesia” Vol. 78, No. 2, American Journal of International Law, with J. Armstrong, April 1984.
"Micronesia - Our Sacred Trust” The Center Magazine, Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1980.
"Society's Outcasts” (Civil rights of mental patients), The Center Magazine, Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1977.