Morrison & Foerster, Tokyo is the largest and most diversified international law firm in Japan, with over 120 attorneys including over 50 bengoshi in Tokyo, a major hub in our global network of 16 offices staffed with 1,000 lawyers worldwide. Our Tokyo office was one of the first international law firms to be licensed in Japan, opening our doors in 1987. Today, we are one of Japan’s 10 largest law offices, domestic or international, in which 70 of our Tokyo-based attorneys are either Japanese or fluent in Japanese.
Our objective, simply put, is to provide our clients with commercially-based legal solutions which enable them to achieve their strategic agendas in the sometimes opaque world of Japanese law and business. We do this by deploying our vast breadth and depth of experience and expertise in a nimble, integrated and focused fashion, so that our client receives considered recommendations and actionable criteria in a language and format they can easily digest and quickly implement. One thing we do not do is simply regurgitate the law and tell our clients that their objective is “not possible.”
Unlike other international firms that might concentrate on one area of practice, we cover a diverse range of areas, particularly litigation, where we are very active in Intellectual Property (IP) litigation, M&A, capital markets, and antitrust. Whilst each practice area is a discrete center of expertise in its own right, we generate significant added value for our clients through the constant synergy of ideas among practice groups.
Morrison & Foerster’s Tokyo office has the most active M&A practice of any global firm in Japan. The Tokyo corporate lawyers have extensive experience in representing both Japanese and non-Japanese companies in a broad range of transactions, including M&A, public and private acquisitions, complex carve-outs and divisional spin-outs, private equity fund formation, venture financing and Asia investments, and the formation of strategic alliances and joint ventures, both in Japan and around the world.
Our finance group is recognized as having one of the leading project teams in Tokyo, representing sponsors, lenders, and construction contractors in greenfield development projects and M&A transactions across industry sectors. It is particularly focused on power, oil & gas, infrastructure development, and transportation projects.
In the area of capital markets, we field one of the most experienced teams of lawyers who are uniquely positioned to provide advice under U.S., Japanese, and U.K. law, to represent clients in domestic and international debt and equity offerings.
Our real estate group boasts one of the leading practices in Japan, representing clients at all stages of the real estate investment cycle—from fund formation, project acquisition and financing, project and portfolio sales to public offering of real estate vehicles.
Our technology transactions lawyers advise clients on complex technology transfers, including license and settlement agreements, joint development agreements, technology joint ventures, and M&A. The group handles transactions in all technology areas, including semiconductors, computer hardware and software, and biotechnology, offering a combination of strong cross-border transactional and litigation experience, and in-depth knowledge of applicable intellectual property and regulatory issues.
Morrison & Foerster is the only global firm with a dedicated litigation team in Japan. We have over 25 full-time litigation attorneys in Tokyo, more than half of whom are fluent in Japanese. Our trial lawyers in Japan work seamlessly with our firm’s U.S. attorneys to provide creative and strategic approaches in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation in courts, administrative agencies, and arbitration venues.
Our goal here at Morrison & Foerster is to assist our clients in understanding the issues they face with a global transaction, provide them with focused and practical advice and protect them against risk.
For more information, please contact:
tel: 813-3-3214-6522
email: tokyomarketing@mofo.com
web: www.mofo.com
Atsumi & Partners
A mix of foreign & local partners for global expertise
Atsumi & Partners is a multi-award winning independent full-service Tokyo law firm, and the only one with non-Japanese partners. Operating as an integrated international team, we advise international and domestic companies and financial institutions on all aspects of finance and business law utilizing our Japanese expertise and the international know-how of our foreign partners, who together have more than 50 years’ experience with major law firms.
Building from our established reputation as Japan’s premier securitization and structured finance law firm, Atsumi & Partners now provides full-service capabilities, and was recently voted Japan’s “Most Responsive Firm” in a survey of over 15,000 in-house counsels. In addition to our core Japanese law practice, we are also able to advise on the laws of New York, England, Germany, the State of Victoria, Australia, the PRC and Ohio.
Atsumi & Partners recently announced a new addition to its team—New York- qualified Hideki Akiyama is now a Partner. Mr. Akiyama was admitted in New York in 1998 and is a Registered Foreign Lawyer (New York law) in Japan. Mr. Akiyama advises leading Japanese corporations and trading houses on transactions in the U.S., including cross-border mergers & acquisitions and joint ventures, commercial agreements, general corporate matters and alternative dispute resolution.
Before joining Atsumi & Partners, Mr. Akiyama worked in the U.S. for over 10 years and was most recently a partner at the New York office of a leading U.S. law firm. He is a Japanese national, but is completely bilingual and bicultural.
Atsumi & Partners now has four foreign Partners, Mr. Akiyama joining fellow New York attorney Bonnie Dixon, English solicitor Daniel Hounslow and Ohio lawyer John Shanahan—a team with over 50 years’ combined experience with major law firms.
For more information contact:
Atsumi & Partners
tel: 03-5501-2111
email: info@aplaw.jp
web: www.aplaw.jp
The IP Factor
Intellectual property can make or break a deal, as Soga & Co. well knows
Intellectual property—as protected by patents, trademarks and designs—is at the core of such successful businesses as Apple, Pfizer and Boeing, and it also motivates many entrepreneurial start-ups to innovate.
Intellectual property can also be seen as the prize in a number of M&As when one party seeks to boost their own IP portfolio or obtain a diamond in the rough.
Conversely, it can also be a deal breaker in some M&A deals when a selling party does not wish to give up valuable proprietary information, as seen recently with General Motors and their Saab brand.
Founded in 1914 by Sugao Soga, S. Soga & Co. has continued to provide steady and reliable service to foreign and domestic clients of all sizes in pursuing protection for their intellectual property.
Fully staffed in all technical fields, as well as in trademarks, Soga utilizes the vast experience of veterans in the IP field while grooming a core group of young engineers.
Soga has been involved in most facets of IP work, assisting clients not only in prosecution, but also the assignment and transfer issues that are so often a major part of M&A activity.
With a solid network of foreign associates covering the globe, and a staff of patent attorneys well-versed in international issues in IP, Soga can provide clients with a full range of services customized to meet their needs and expectations.
For more information contact:
tel: 813-3-3216-5811
email: mail@sogapat.com
web: www.sogapat.com
Expert Guidance, Qualified Support
Legal technologies, investigations and transaction support services from Kroll
Kroll, the world’s leading risk consulting company, provides a broad range of legal and litigation support, computer forensics, eDiscovery, electronically stored information and investigative support to help clients make better informed decisions, reduce risks, solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. Kroll has provided support for the legal community worldwide for over 35 years, and for the last 17 years in Tokyo.
We excel in investigating IP infringers, trade secret or privacy data loss, providing detailed reputational due diligence reports on target acquisitions, conducting computer forensics and eDiscovery support, leading internal fraud investigations (including FCPA concerns), conducting forensic accounting and other compliance audits, supplying crisis leadership support, and many other critical services to international and local law firms and corporations in Japan.
Kroll has offices in more than 55 cities in over 27 countries, with a strong presence throughout Asia, especially in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Australia and Mumbai. Kroll has more than 3,000 employees that serve a global clientele.
Kroll is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC), the global professional services firm.
For more information please contact:
tel: 03 3218 4558
fax: 03-3213-7346
web: www.kroll.co.jp
