Coates Frey & Hackett, AAL LLLC

“Our practice is infused with our passion for community and the aloha spirit. Our attorneys are welcoming, courteous and thoughtful.” I was told I would get a call back 4 times and I never did. I would expect with all the claims of kindness and decency on their web page they would at least return a call to help me during this unfortunate time in my families life. I wasted a whole month and a half unanswered. I even picked this law office because they said they can handle military divorce.

LIFE CHANGING & THE HARDEST BATTLES OF OUR LIVES!!!! No case is the same & everyone's legal journey is different..... Need that someone to have your back 100 & treat you like 'ohana? Well...TRUST ME when I say look no further. No amount of money could ever show my appreciation to Greg Frey & Shannon Hackett! Their entire team is UNMATCHED! Greg represented me and a few years later Shannon represented my husband and we both were beyond blessed at our final hearings! All the hard work put into both cases was worth every second & penny! In my case I was served papers and never felt so scared in my entire life that my daughter could be taken from me. I felt helpless but gathered myself together & Greg popped into my head. We met in person I had binders, notebooks, cell phones (all types of evidence)... let me just say we didn't need to open any of it during court cause he's just thaaaat good. He fought for everything and more for me! It's sad to hear that FATHERS think "oh the state favors ONLY the MOTHERS" oh boy would you have loved to sit in my husband's hearings cause not 1 but 2 different judges RIPPED the other party multiple times (satisfying when the other party got power trips lol). Judges admit they hear sad stories all the time but when you have FIRE LAWYERS defending you and your rights you have that PEACE OF MIND knowing whose got you and know exactly how to do what they do in the "Legal World". I encourage more FATHERS to FIGHT for their keiki and their parental rights! When it's for your keiki you do anything & everything for them! Mahalo Nunui to Greg, Shannon, & their entire team....we have keiki that are sOo happy we did what we had to do for them. Doing whats best for your keiki is PRIORITY.

One of the worst legal experiences I’ve ever had. ZERO STAR I hired Stefanie L. Prinsloo, Esq. at Coates Frey & Hackett, AAL LLLC for my divorce, and it was one of the biggest regrets of this entire process. Instead of helping me, she made everything worse. She didn’t advocate for me, didn’t fight for my rights, and frankly, left me feeling more alone, confused, and unprotected than before I had legal representation. She is a new and inexperienced lawyer she even had to Google basic military-related legal questions during our meetings. It felt like she was more concerned about staying neutral or pleasing the opposing party than standing up for me. She constantly forgot details I had shared with her, including what I wanted in my divorce decree. I had to catch her mistakes and ask her to fix them. She gave me zero guidance on how to handle custody or scheduling with my children’s father. For two years, I’ve been trying to get through this divorce, and I still haven’t made it to my first rebuttal hearing. She rescheduled that hearing to pursue mediation but although she technically requested it, she didn’t fight to make it happen. She sent only two emails to the opposing party and then gave up when they didn’t respond no follow-up, no urgency. That delay alone wasted over four months. I was left stuck, thinking I had to give my kids to their father whenever he asked, because I had no legal guidance and didn’t want to seem like I was withholding them. Because of her lack of proper guidance, I was forced to handle my child’s father on my own. He was stuck at his military duty station and needed my help because our child was enrolled in the EFMP (Exceptional Family Member Program). He needed me to bridge the gap between EFMP in Texas and Hawaii. I had every legal right not to help him especially considering how emotionally abusive and manipulative he had been toward me. But my lawyer advised me to assist him: to help with paperwork, get a physical done, and make sure everything was submitted so he could get transferred to Hawaii. Big mistake. After he relocated here, he became even more toxic claiming my home was unsafe, saying he should be the primary parent, trying to avoid child support, and refusing to give me access to the money we saved over our 7-year marriage. Helping him only opened a new door of hell. He has now gone as far as making vile accusations including claiming our child was molested just to gain control. He took the kids whenever he wanted for four months straight without a custody schedule, all because I followed my lawyer’s weak and dangerous advice. After hiring a new attorney, I was told I never should’ve helped him with his military transfer, and I should’ve refused to let him take the children without a proper agreement in place. I spent $2,000 just on rescheduling the rebuttal, and $9,000 total with absolutely nothing to show for it. No progress, no support, and no peace of mind. Honestly, this law firm doesn’t fight for you they just push paperwork. That’s all they do. They will drag your case out just to nickel and dime you. You’re better off using ChatGPT to understand your legal rights and handle your own filings than wasting your money here. For nearly $10,000, I got stress, delays, and no real representation. I understand that divorce is expensive and that good legal help comes at a price. What I don’t accept is spending thousands only to be left defending myself, scared, and manipulated while my lawyer sat back and did nothing. She wasted my time, increased my stress, and left me to face everything alone. I would not recommend her to anyone, especially if you are dealing with a complex or emotional case involving custody, abuse, or military matters. You deserve better.

I was a client in 2022, and in 2025, I requested a copy of my custody agreement from your firm, only to be informed that there would be a $250 fee to retrieve my records from storage. Following this, I sought a consultation with a different law firm, which not only retrieved my case from the courts for a significantly cheaper fee but also provided a complimentary consultation. Consequently, I have chosen to retain the services of this new firm. I would like to express my appreciation for the results I achieved in 2022 with the assistance of my attorney from Coates & Frey, who was truly exceptional; however, he has since retired.

Got what I wanted and a little extra😉 The office gives early 2000’s disorganized musty school office but it’s there. Jeffy jeff was such a treat. I made this to remember him always 🤍🖤🤍 RIP to your pro bono family lawyer, but he’s built different 😘🤤

Super professional, and quickly completed our court case hearing. Yes, they were pricey, but we paid for quality work. I would always recommend this law firm to others. They helped get the adoption of our son done in a timely and efficient manner. They communicated with us constantly, and kept us in the loop. They provided all the essential paper work for us, as well as helped navigate the filling out of certain documents. Very knowledgeable attorneys, and satisfied with the work that was completed.

We worked with Shannon and it’s crazy to think anyone would have negative things to say about her or this law firm. They have been nothing but efficient and professional in helping with my son’s adoption case. Yea we paid a pretty penny but truthfully it was worth every cent. 10/10 would recommend. Mahalo nui for all of your guys help!

Nothing is ever easy in a divorce, but having dependable and reliable legal counsel makes the process much more bearable. I really appreciated the honesty and professionalism that Shannon Hackett provided. Her knowledge and expertise were brilliant and she was very thorough. Her team was quick with follow through and clear in communicating. I would definitely recommend Coates, Frey and Hackett in the future.

I was referred to Shannon Hackett by another attorney. Through years of searching for an attorney on island who had time for my case, I found Shannon to be the most available and prompt. Highly recommend! Shannon is further proof that women should run the world.

Shannon and her staff were awesome during a difficult time in my life. If I was able to offer more than five stars I certainly would.

I've worked with Shannon Hackett for the last 2 years and what and honor and privilege. She is quick on her feet in court, wise, thorough and makes the time to understand the breadth of the situation so she can represent you well. Her paralegals are great and it's been a pleasure working with her and her team. I appreciated how Shannon is efficient, a hard worker, a good communicator and that she cares. I highly recommend working with her if you have the opportunity to.

Great experience with Shannon. My divorce was done in a quick and efficient manner. Mahalo Nui Loa

I was in a situation I didn't think I would need to deal with. The knowledge, compassion and patience Shannon Hackett and her team has made it easier to cope with and the case went by quickly. Hopefully I will not need them in the future, but if I do I will definitely contact them again.

Shannon was AWESOME. We were needing help with a legal guardianship and she was responsive, compassionate, thorough in her explanations of the steps, and patient with my lack of understanding with the legal system. Moana, her assistant, was attentive, professional and timely with every request. We couldn't be happier with the whole experience and Shannon and her team will be the ones we call when we are ready to take the next steps. God bless you and your associates.

Shannon Hackett handled my adoption case and I couldn’t be happier! Great communication and set realistic expectations for our case every step of the way. Great experience from day 1 and have already recommended this firm to friends and family.

I enjoyed my experience with this firm. They were cooperative and very communicative, facilitating my divorce, and eventual, reconciliation. If the need should arise, I would absolutely go back to this firm. More specifically, hire Mrs. Hackett again.

Attitude problems… wants money but doesn’t want to provide correct and proper representation for you the only thing one star is for their polite assistant / receptionist girls also i don’t how the other lawyers in firm are but mine specifically I regret! She screwed me over when I really needed legal help in my paternity case…

I hired Coates, Frey, Tanimoto, and Gibson for a Child Support proceeding and have regretted the decision ever since. Tom Tanimoto was more concerned with handing the opposing party what they wanted than fighting for a fathers rights. His lack of communication is painful. I am now cleaning up the messes he made and doing a better job In my opinion, this is a less than average law firm. IF YOU ARE A FATHER, I strongly suggest finding a different firm to defend you.

I found them to be weak at representation and it was also strange that they were not giving me advice on the divorce decree parameters, like they wanted to avoid me later saying that they mislead me. I am an attorney but not a divorce attorney so I really needed advice or at least some discussion. My divorce was a long time ago, so maybe this aspect of their practice has evolved; or maybe not.