Dale Minami, a partner with Minami Tamaki LLP in San Francisco, specializes in personal injury and entertainment law.  He was born in Los Angeles, California, on October 13, 1946, and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1972. He was also admitted to practice in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.  In 1982, he was admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court.  

Mr. Minami received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1968.  He received his J.D. in 1971 from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California.  

His practice focuses on the area of Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, involving claims by persons who have suffered injury or the death of a close relative through the negligence of another party.  Mr. Minami has handled personal injury and wrongful death cases for over 35 years, including claims resulting from auto accidents, pedestrians, defective products, slips and falls and other situations where persons were injured through the negligence of others.  A number of these cases have resulted in verdict and settlement results of more than $1 million.

Mr. Minami has been recognized as one of the top personal injury lawyers in the Bay Area.  He was selected by Law & Politics Magazine as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in 2005 and 2007, one of the Super Lawyers for 2004, 2005 and 2006 in Northern California in the Personal Injury category, one of the Top Lawyers in the Bay Area in the Personal Injury category by Bay Area Lawyer Magazine in 2006, and one of the 500 Best Lawyers in America by Lawdragon Magazine in 2005.  He received an "AV" rating by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating for competence and ethics issued by that publication, and reserved for attorneys designated as outstanding in their fields.

He has been involved in significant litigation involving the civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans and other minorities, including: Korematsu v. United States, a lawsuit to overturn a 40-year-old conviction for refusal to obey exclusion orders aimed at Japanese Americans during World War II, originally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in landmark decisions; United Pilipinos for Affirmative Action v. California Blue Shield, the first class action employment lawsuit brought by Asian Pacific Americans on behalf of Asian Pacific Americans; Spokane JACL v. Washington State University, a class action on behalf of Asian Pacific Americans to establish an Asian American Studies program at Washington State University; and Nakanishi v. UCLA, a claim for unfair denial of tenure which resulted in the granting of tenure after several hearing and widespread publicity over discrimination in academia.

Mr. Minami also represents clients in the entertainment industry including 1992 Olympic Gold Medal skater Kristi Yamaguchi, CNN's Erica Hill, KPIX anchors Sydnie Kohara and Wendy Tokuda, KPIX reporters Anna Duckworth and Simon Perez and weekend weatherman Lawrence Karnow, KGO's Carolyn Tyler, Vic Lee, Heather Ishimaru and David Louie, KDTV anchor Leticia Maria Gomez, playwright Philip Kan Gotanda and Oscar award winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki.  He is counsel to several community organizations, including the Center for Asian American Media (formerly the National Asian American Telecommunications Association) and the Asian American Journalists Association.

He was a co-founder of the Asian Law Caucus, Inc., a community-interest law firm, a co-founder of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the first Asian American Bar Association in the United States, the Asian Pacific Bar of California and the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, a registered political action committee.

Mr. Minami has been involved in the judicial appointment process and in establishing or influencing public policy and legislation.  He has served as a member of the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission and has chaired the California Attorney General's Asian Pacific Advisory Committee, advising the State's Attorney General on key issues.  He has also served as a Commissioner on the State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominee's Evaluation, Senator Barbara Boxer's Judicial Screening Committee, which made recommendations for federal judicial appointments, and was appointed by President Clinton as Chair of the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund in January 1996.

Currently, Mr. Minami serves on the Board of Kristi Yamaguchi's Always Dream Foundation, the Advisory Board of the Asian American Justice Center and the Advisory Board of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.  He was a founder and is a member of the Judge Robert M. Takasugi Fellowship, dedicated to providing stipends to law students who commit to public interest work.  He has taught at U.C. Berkeley and Mills College in Oakland and was the Co-Executive Producer (with Philip Kan Gotanda) of "Drinking Tea" and "Life Tastes Good," both of which were screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

In recognition of his achievements, Mr. Minami has received numerous awards including the 2008 Citation Award from U.C. Berkeley School of Law, American Bar Association's 2003 Thurgood Marshall Award, the American Bar Association's "Spirit of Excellence" Award, the 2003 ACLU Civil Liberties Award, the State Bar President's Pro Bono Service Award, an honorary Juris Doctor degree from the McGeorge School of Law, designation of a dormitory at the University of California at Santa Cruz as the "Queen Liliuokalani-Minami" Dormitory, a public interest fellowship in his name established at U.C. Berekley's School of Law, awards from the Coro Foundation, and awards from the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, the Harry Dow Memorial Fellowship in Boston, the Fred Korematsu Civil Rights Fund, the Organization of Chinese Americans, the Japanese American Youth organization of the Japanese American Citizens League,  the Japanese Community Youth Council and Centro Legale de la Raza, among others.