A native of Orange County (and whose family first settled in Fountain Valley in 1906), Kerry graduated from the University of California with honors and obtained his JD from Loyola Law School (Los Angeles). Admitted to the Bar in 1979, he started his own law firm in 1990 and has specialized in Construction law/litigation for the last 3 decades. Something of an expert in his field, he has authored 18 articles in various publications (among others, California Geotechnical Engineers Association, Southern California Builders Association and Builder & Developer Monthly) and spoken before the State Convention of the Consulting Engineers & Land Surveyors of California, National Association of Women in Construction, Construction Financial Managers Association, National Electrical Contractors Association, McDonald’s Corporation, Association of Credit Executives, Century 21, Associated General Contractors and the Southern California Electrical Showcase on Mechanic’s Lien Law and Construction Law developments.
Active in the community, Kerry has worked as Special Counsel for the Orange County Buddhist Church (Temple Construction Project), Founder, Director and General Counsel (Asian Business Association of Orange County and the Inland Empire), Director (Asian Business Association of LA, Keiro Adult Day Care Home OC Advisory Board and the OC Japanese American Lawyers Association), past Director and General Counsel ( Asian Community Development and Chinese Association of Construction Professionals), Mediator (Los Angeles County Bar Association Attorney-Client Relations Office), Past Director (Asian Pacific Cultural Association and Asian Pacific American Lawyers of Inland Empire), Community Ambassador (Orange County Transportation Authority), and panel member, OC Minority Business Council-Asian Task Force (Orange County Business Consortium). For his contributions, he has been recognized by the US Congress, California Assembly and State Senate, County of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino, and received multiple awards recognizing his community service (ABAIE -President’s Award, the Lion’s Club International – Outstanding Legal Professional of the Year, etc).
In reflecting on the unique niche of ABAOC which he helped found in 1992, he has watched it grow into this generation’s strongest minority non-profit in Orange County. It has bridged the gap that lies between Government and Big Business, on one hand, and Asian Small Business on the other. For Kerry Osaki, it never gets old – it is, as it has always been, about the journey and the wonderful people that he has met along the way.