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Finally, in March 1959, word came from Washington of the passage of the statehood bill, and bonfires were lit in Hilo, as elsewhere, to mark the celebration. Carl S. Carlsmith, newcomer in 1898 who must have joined the crowds of people then swarming in downtown Hilo to talk of the passage of the Annexation Bill and its implications for the future, died in 1959, the year of statehood for Hawaii.

Through their client base, the firm was ready to participate in the post-statehood development of Hawaii. Even before that landmark political event, Wendell Carlsmith had been spending much of his time in Honolulu. The Carlsmiths had opened a Honolulu office in 1957 with Charlie Wichman as lead attorney, and in 1959 the firm was renamed Carlsmith Carlsmith Wichman and Case. From then on, growth was explosive. Jim Case, who had trained all young lawyers in the Hilo office in a kind of "apprentice system" moved to Honolulu in 1965 to become managing partner. Full partners were added, associates hired, and the firm outgrew its first two Honolulu office facilities at astonishing speed.

In the late 1970s, a long-range planning committee under the leadership of Tom Van Winkle and Larry Okinaga studied the possibilities for an international firm concentrating especially on opportunities arising from the new economic connections of "Pacific Rim" countries. As a consequence, the firm increased its stake in the larger arena, and has represented many Asian clients doing business in Hawaii.

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