Michael Henry Garbarino

Michael Henry Garbarino is the founder and owner of GARBARINOLAW LLLC, delivering client-centered legal services across Hawaii's Big Island. He offers free initial consultations and makes house calls to ensure accessibility and convenience for his clients.

With over two decades of experience, Michael has served in both private practice and public service, initially in Texas and now in Hawaii. His public service roles in Texas included significant positions of responsibility.

From 2006 to 2011, Michael was the Director of the Office of Inspector General at the Texas Health & Human Services System in Austin, Texas. In this role, he served as Deputy Chief Counsel, Director of Sanctions, and Director of Policy & Outreach. His duties involved combating waste, fraud, and harm on behalf of taxpayers, acting as a litigation advisor, liaising with state and federal offices, and coordinating agency policies.

Between 2002 and 2006, Michael served as General Counsel for Texas Health & Human Services in Austin. He provided legal advice on program policy, public assistance eligibility, Medicaid, and elder law, guiding agency staff and programs through legal complexities and new legislation.

From 1999 to 2002, he was Senior Managing Counsel and Assistant Attorney General at the Texas Office of the Attorney General. His responsibilities included managing decisions on government open records and sunshine laws, as well as drafting formal opinions for the Attorney General.

Michael holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, earned in 1995, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Texas, completed in 1994. He is admitted to the State Bar of Hawaii (#10474) since January 2016, and the State Bar of Texas (#797775), though currently inactive, since September 1996.