Partner Brad Yamauchi was recently elected to the executive committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section of The Bar Association of San Francisco. The Section provides a forum for neutrals and management, labor and employee attorneys to meet and discuss current developments affecting their practices, offers continuing legal education programs, and sponsors an annual conference in Yosemite National Park to discuss, in-depth, issues and developments. At the most recent Yosemite conference, Brad served on a panel discussing the ramification of the Supreme Court decision in the Pyett case, in which the Court ruled that an arbitration clause in a collective bargaining agreement waiving employees’ right to file statutory discrimination claims was enforceable.
Partner Donald Tamaki was a panelist at the California Primary Care Association’s 2010 Health Information and Technology Summit, held in Napa, Calif., in February. Don’s panel focused on helping community clinics and health centers prepare for negotiations with software vendors by understanding the realities of the implementation process and indentifying areas of risk. The California Primary Care Association (CPCA) formed in 1994 to represent and unify the statewide voice of California’s community clinics and health centers and their patients. CPCA represents more than 800 not-for-profit community clinics and health centers that provide comprehensive, quality health care services, particularly for low-income, uninsured and underserved Californians, who might otherwise not have access to health care. Don’s expertise also garnered him a new client, Clinica Sierra Vista, one of the largest, private, non-profit, community based and governed agencies in California, operating eight community clinics in Kern, Fresno and other Central Valley counties.
Partner Dale Minami keynoted two events in February commemorating the annual Day of Remembrance, one in Los Angeles, Calif., and another in Denver, Colorado. You can read about Dale’s L.A. presentation here. He was also invited by the Mile-Hi Chapter of the JACL and the University of Denver Law School to deliver the keynote address at their Day Of Remembrance, which marks the date on which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ultimately authorizing the incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry without notice of charges, the right to counsel or the right to trials during World War II. Dale talked about the lessons to be learned from internment — and the need to create a lasting victory of continual activism and education by telling the stories of the hardships and loss of civil rights in new ways. He also stressed the importance of presenting the horror of the imprisonment through fresh eyes and new voices by linking our stories with those of other groups.
Associate Bethany Caracuzzo was inducted into the Rotary Club of Oakland on April 15. The Club was established in 1909, and is the third oldest Rotary club in the world. Oakland Rotary is part of Rotary International, one of 32,000 clubs worldwide, with over 1.2 million members. The Rotary Club of Oakland is a diverse service club of over 340 professionals, businesspersons, and other community leaders dedicated to fighting hunger and disease, and promoting health, education and other humanitarian causes in Oakland and around the world.
Associate Olivia Serene Lee participated on a panel of immigration attorneys held February 9 at Santa Clara University Law School. The panel was geared towards providing information to law students interested in pursuing careers in immigration law. Olivia and the other panelists reflected on their daily work lives, examples of the types of matters they each work on and shared suggestions on what students can do to become marketable in immigration law after they graduate.
Associate Lisa Charbonneau participated on a panel about careers in social justice held April 5 at the University of California Hastings College of Law, sponsored by the school’s Career Services office. The event attracted more than 60 attendees.
Associate Sean Tamura-Sato participated on a February 26 panel at Hastings on “Transitioning from Law Student to Lawyer” that shared advice with students on how to successfully transition from law school to becoming a practicing attorney. Panelists shared their perspectives on experiences in the first year out of law school, reflections on how to best prepare for the first year as an associate and the impact of the economic downturn on careers.
Dale Minami 