John Midori Hamasaki

John represented me in San Francisco County for a civil matter, and prevailed in two separate hearings related to the same matter in which I was the petitioner. John and his associate were incredibly compassionate, kind, supportive and responsive during a time that was difficult and concerning for me, which helped greatly to mitigate the stress of the situation and court procedures. Their work product was very thorough and high quality and obviously resulted in favorable outcomes for me. John was also very supportive and helpful with technical questions as situations continued to develop before and after our hearings. Overall my experience with John and his team exceeded expectations and I am happy to provide him a very strong and positive reference!

In late 2014, our family was hit by what seemed like the perfect storm. Our business was barely holding on, we began caretaking my grandfather post-stroke, and my grandmother was terminally ill. And when we thought things couldn't get harder, my father, a small businessman with a strong reputation in local SF community, was arrested based on false accusations. A man with no criminal history and has owned his business in the same location for over 25 years was charged with committing a criminal threat against a troublesome customer and brandishing a weapon when in reality it was self defense. Although he has worked in the same location for so many years, it hasn't been the safest. Our store has been victim to many troublesome customers and robberies, including armed robberies, throughout the years. The day my father was arrested, he brandished a firearm in self defense because a hostile customer was challenging him to fight. Accused him of damaging items he barely touched and escalated to wanting to fight. When my dad wouldn't fight and instead brandished the firearm, the customer left and it seemed like the end of it. Then the nightmare came. The customer had called the police and made up a story of how my father threatened his life with the firearm. And when the surveillance was pulled, there was no audio. My father was arrested and we began almost a year and a half journey of court hearings and worry. We hear all the time of innocent people wrongly convicted and incarcerated. What if my father became a statistic? We spent a long time searching for the right lawyer as we were in a vulnerable position, skeptical of others especially after how the police handled the situation. We spent searching for a little over 2 weeks and John Hamasaki was our choice. From the very first phone call to our first meet, John was always very straightforward about our options and made it clear that it would be a process we would have to go through, but he would do everything he could to make sure we fought this case the right way. John was very attentive to all the details of the case and made our family feel that our case was of priority, which we appreciate a lot. We know lawyers are extremely busy handling multiple cases but John was never too busy to answer our countless questions. Everyone who worked in his office was always more than courteous and welcoming. And we never made it to trial. The felony was dismissed at the preliminary hearing and the DA offered to dismiss the misdemeanor while we were scheduling for trial. I credit this solely to Johns strategic decisions in scheduling our hearings and talking with the DA. Our family felt each move in our case was well calculated and that's when you know you're working with a great lawyer. We can't thank the office of John Hamasaki enough for what they have given us, which is a new start. My father is 63 years old and with all the stress finally lifted, he can now focus on his well being which is a better quality of life to spend with loved ones. And that is something no words could express how grateful we are of John Hamasaki. Thank you John, truly.