Philip S. Uesato
Partner
Email: philip.uesato@hawadvocate.com

Mr. Uesato joined the firm in May 1991, and has concentrated his practice in the areas of workers' compensation and advising and defending employers in employment-related matters, including unlawful discharge, discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. He also has served as arbitrator of many public sector collective bargaining grievance cases.

Education

Mr. Uesato attended the University of Hawaii, then completed his undergraduate education at the University of California at Los Angeles, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1968. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the National Law Center, George Washington University in 1974. He was admitted to the Hawaii Bar in 1975.

Experience

Mr. Uesato began his legal career as a Deputy Attorney General, State of Hawaii, in 1975, advising and representing the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and supervised the Labor Section of the Department of the Attorney General from 1977 to 1980. He entered private practice as an associate of Richard K. Griffith, Esq., in 1980, and in 1983, became a partner in the firm of Griffith, Uesato and Amano. In 1984, he opened a solo law practice emphasizing workers' compensation defense and employment-related matters.

Prior to his legal career, Mr. Uesato did personnel work for a medical research laboratory affiliated with the New York University Medical Center. He later worked as a staff member for U.S. Representative Patsy T. Mink, and for the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives.

Affiliations

Mr. Uesato is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association. He presently serves on the panels of arbitrators of the First Judicial Circuit, State of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, State of Hawaii.

Mr. Uesato has been an active member of the Hawaii Okinawan Community. He has served in various offices for his ancestral Okinawan village club, the Gushichan Sonjinkai, and has served as a director for the Hawaii United Okinawan Association.