May 13, 2022
In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Kobre & Kim is reflecting on the achievements of Asian Americans in and out of the legal industry. Today, we honor Dale Minami for his leadership and accomplishments working on behalf of Asian Americans.
Dale Minami is a senior counsel at Minami Tamaki LLP. Throughout his career, Mr. Minami has been extensively involved in protecting the civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans. Forty years after the landmark Supreme Court case, Korematsu v. United States, Mr. Minami led the legal team that successfully overturned and voided Fred Korematsu’s criminal conviction for refusing to obey exclusion orders directed at people of Japanese descent during World War II. Mr. Minami was also on the legal team that filed an amicus brief on behalf of the adult children of Fred Korematsu in Trump v. Hawaii, which directly repudiated the 1944 Korematsu decision. He has also represented groups of Asian Americans in various class action lawsuits, including Chann vs. Scott, a class action lawsuit against the San Francisco Police Department to enjoin the unconstitutional arrests and detention of young Asian Americans; 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; and 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.
During his career, Mr. Minami has received numerous recognitions and accolades for his work and advocacy of Asian Americans and other minorities. In 2019, Mr. Minami was awarded the ABA Medal, the American Bar Association’s highest honor, and was the first Asian American to receive the award.