Mr. Yokomizo rejoined Monteleone & McCrory, LLP as Of Counsel in August 2018. Mr. Yokomizo specializes in real estate, construction, employment, and general business matters.

Mr. Yokomizo was previously a partner of the firm, having worked at Monteleone & McCrory, LLP from 1985 to 1996. During his prior tenure, he specialized in construction, real estate, and general business litigation matters, including construction contract claims (including for extra work and differing site conditions); mechanic’s lien, stop notice, and payment bond claims; public contract bidding disputes; unfair competition and antitrust matters; and employment disputes.

Mr. Yokomizo left Monteleone & McCrory to become a member of the executive team for a Southern California-based grocery company. During his over 20-year tenure with the company, he held the positions of Vice President Real Estate (2006-2017), Vice President Real Estate and General Counsel (2000-2005), and Director of Human Resources (1996-1999); during this time, the company grew from an 80-store regional chain to a 475-store national chain. For almost his entire tenure, Mr. Yokomizo had primary responsibility for all aspects of the company’s retail real estate portfolio, including strategic planning; site selection; contract negotiation (including leases, purchase and sale agreements, CC&Rs, easements, SNDAs, and other ancillary agreements); due diligence, entitlements, permitting and licensing; design; construction supervision; store expansions, renewals, and relocations; disposition of excess space; and lease administration.

Mr. Yokomizo initially was responsible for managing the company’s Human Resources department. During this time, he updated the company’s employment policies and procedures and was responsible for handling all employment disputes, including claims for wage-and-hour violations, sexual harassment, discrimination, worker’s compensation, and unemployment. Mr. Yokomizo also was part of a team that revamped the company’s purchasing process; as part of that revamp, he drafted the company’s Master Vendor Agreement, which is still in use to this day.

More recently, Mr. Yokomizo has been working with a real estate development company, with responsibility for site selection, land-use analysis, contract negotiation and administration, due diligence, entitlements, and licensing.

Mr. Yokomizo earned his juris doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco in 1985. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Claremont McKenna College in 1982.