Colin Yost began his legal career in 1998 and is admitted to practice law before the courts of Hawai'i, Oregon and the Federal Courts. His current practice with Cruise & Yost focuses on civil litigation in the areas of consumer law, civil rights, energy and environmental law, Native Hawaiian rights, small business advocacy, real estate matters and administrative proceedings before the Hawai'i Public Utility Commission.

Prior to becoming a founding partner of Cruise & Yost, Colin worked for three years as an associate attorney with the Honolulu firm, Paul Johnson Park & Niles, handling a wide variety of civil litigation matters, including complex commercial litigation and Native Hawaiian property rights actions.

From 1998 to 2003, Colin served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Financial Fraud/Consumer Protection Section of the Oregon Department of Justice, where he led the State of Oregon's investigation and prosecution of western energy companies, including Enron, Duke Energy and the Williams Energy Companies, for matters relating to the west coast electricity crisis of 2000-2001 and secured settlement agreements worth $32 million to the State of Oregon. Colin also regularly advised the Attorney General of Oregon on energy and environmental marketing issues and prosecuted a diverse range of consumer fraud cases, including telecommunications services, price-fixing and other antitrust law violations, racketeering, immigration services fraud, false credit offers and the sale of unregistered securities.

Prior to his work as an Assistant Attorney General, Colin received national recognition from the National Association of Public Interest Law for his work with the Cultural & Natural Heritage Project to preserve Native American sacred sites in Oregon and Arizona, which included federal court trial and appellate litigation on behalf of the White Mountain Apache Tribe to protect a sacred mountain (Mount Graham) from a planned expansion of the University of Arizona's astronomical observatory. Colin also worked with the National Voting Rights Institute in Boston, MA, and assisted with federal court litigation to proactively reduce the influence of special-interest money in federal and state elections.

Education

Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, J.D. in 1998; Cornelius Honor Society

University of Pennsylvania, B.A., cum laude, in 1992; double major in English and Environmental Studies

Professional and Community Activities

Member of the Hawai'i State Bar Association and the American Bar Association Inactive member of the Oregon State Bar Association

Board member of Hawai`i Clean Elections in 2005, currently an advisor to Voter Owned Elections Hawai'i

Member of the 2006 Hawai'i ACLU Amicus Club Campaign Committee

Recipient of an Oregon Department of Justice Outstanding Service Award in 2001

Recipient of the Marion-Polk County Pro Bono Government Lawyer of the Year Award in 2000

Recipient of an Exemplary Public Service Award from the National Association of Public Interest Law in 1996

Trustee, Board of Trustees of Neskowin Valley School, 1995-2002 Vice-Chair of the Board, 2000-2002