DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho > Tokyo, Japan > Firm Profile

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho Offices

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho
MEIJI SEIMEI KAN 7F
2-1-1, MARUNOUCHI, CHIYODA-KU
TOKYO 105-0005
Japan
Visit website 81 3 4550 2800 81 3 4550 2801

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho > The Legal 500 Rankings

Japan > Labour and employment: International firms and joint ventures Tier 1

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho’s employment group in Tokyo offers a comprehensive service to a broad client roster that includes several household names, covering investigations, exits, contracts, and disputes, among other matters. Practice head Keiji Nasuda handles a wide range of contentious and transactional mandates, including union negotiations, harassment investigations, post-merger integration work, and reductions in workforce. Koji Ohtani is noted for advising international clients in relation to reductions in force, harassment claims, and investigations. Masaki Kurosawa’s practice encompasses unfair labour practice claims, severance negotiations, and harassment investigations, while Timothy Magarry primarily assists multinational tech companies with investigations.

Practice head(s):

Keiji Nasuda

Other key lawyers:

Koji Ohtani; Masaki Kurosawa; Timothy Magarry

Testimonials

‘Keiji Nasuda and Masaki Kurosawa are both experienced lawyers. Even with limited information and time, they excel in providing services promptly and efficiently.’

‘We work mainly with Tim Magarry and Masaki Kurosawa and appreciate Masaki’s attention to detail and Tim’s ability to demystify local regulations and norms and frame them in ways that non-Japanese clients can appreciate.’

‘Most of the time, we were assigned two experienced lawyers for advice, which made a significant difference. Compared to other firms, they excelled in providing quick responses, delivering appropriate advice, and encouraging decision-making.’

Key clients

Adobe Inc.

Cisco Systems

Gilead Sciences, Inc

Domo, Inc

Work highlights

Japan > Corporate and M&A: International firms and joint ventures Tier 2

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho’s corporate practice in Tokyo advises both domestic and international clients on cross-border matters, including in- and outbound energy-related M&A. Practice head Masahiko Ishida acts for both Japanese and international clients in a wide range of M&A and joint venture transactions, including in the tech and life sciences sectors. Peter Armstrong has been working in Japan on M&A, joint ventures, and foreign investments for over a decade. Beelian Tay advises on cross-border mergers, joint ventures, and corporate reorganisations in the healthcare, manufacturing, food, and clothing sectors.

Practice head(s):

Masahiko Ishida

Other key lawyers:

Peter Armstrong; Beelian Tay; Maika Kawaguchi

Testimonials

‘Masahiko Ishida stands out in the sense that he understands the client’s business deeply and offers appropriate advice based on the client’s business.’

‘Masahiko Ishida and Maika Kawaguchi are both excellent M&A lawyers.’

‘Masahiko Ishida gets to the point quickly without having to explain in detail. He also advises us on points of concern that we are not aware of.’

‘They were reliable and knowledgeable in corporate law, IP, and technology law during the M&A process.’

‘As individuals, they have extensive experience and legal knowledge in M&A, and they are excellent in terms of being easy to communicate with.’

‘DLP Piper has a global team for M&A projects.’

‘They have an excellent commercial ability to understand the client’s needs.’

‘The team has a good understanding of business and extensive experience in overseas renewable energy investment projects. There is smooth coordination with overseas offices and the team offers prompt and accurate responses.’

Key clients

ENEOS Corporation

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)

Marubeni Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation

Sequoia Capital India Investments

Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Asahi Shuzo Co., ltd.

Kansai Electric Power Company

Tokuyama Corporation

Yaskawa Electric Corporation

Octopus Energy Group Limited

Rakuten Symphony

Work highlights

  • Advising Renesas Electronics Corporation on its AUD 9bn acquisition of ASX-listed Altium Limited.
  • Advising KEPCO on its minority investment into Odfjell Oceanwind, a Norwegian floating wind engineering and construction company.
  • Advised JBIC on its joint investment with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. in Wellesta Holdings Pte. Ltd., a company headquartered in Singapore.

Japan > Real estate and construction: International firms and joint ventures Tier 2

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho’s real estate group in Tokyo continues to assist domestic and international clients with acquisitions and disposals, investments, financings, commercial leases, project developments, and construction matters. Practice head Mitsuharu Kataoka advises on the full range of real estate mandates, including in relation to office, residential, retail, and digital infrastructure buildings. Beelian Tay’s varied practice encompasses M&A, joint ventures, and reorganisations in the real estate and construction spaces.

Practice head(s):

Mitsuharu Kataoka

Other key lawyers:

Beelian Tay

Testimonials

‘Mitsuharu Kataoka was always available and responded to emails very quickly. This was particularly impressive given the time zone differences between Japan and the UK.’

‘Mitsuharu Kataoka gives first-rate advice from the client’s point of view. Responses are quick and the document review process is speedy.’

‘The partner in charge is very knowledgeable and has good business sense. He is also very approachable and has good English.’

‘The firm gives sincere and appropriate advice.’

‘Each person in charge communicates carefully and we can entrust our projects to them with peace of mind.’

‘As an international lawyer, negotiating a lease in Japanese requires trust with local counsel. I was reliant on DLA to negotiate the lease on our behalf and then summarise succinctly any key, material issues. DLA were able to do all of the heavy lifting which allowed me to focus on the main points. Legal advice was provided on points of contention but DLA made the decision making process easy by also providing practical, commercial views.’

‘This team is superior to others in providing professional advice based on legal and retail matters.’

‘They are not only professional in their work, but also operate in the right time frames.’

Key clients

American Eagle Outfitters

Wellspring Realty Investments

Cimpress

Audemars Piguet

Marriott International

IWATE HOTEL& RESORTS

Bristol Myers Squibb

Hyperion Investment

Laox Real Estate

Marriott Vacations Worldwide

AirTrunk

Envocore

LEGOLAND Japan (Merlin Entertainments)

Lizmontagens

The Bank of New York Mellon

Work highlights

  • Advised Audemars Piguet on several office and store lease agreements with Japanese institutional landlords.
  • Advised the Masonic Foundation of Japan on a land lease to an SPC established by CBRE Investment Management.
  • Advised Horizon Hotels on several commercial agreements, as well as regulatory, customer and employment issues.

Japan > Intellectual property: International firms and joint ventures Tier 3

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho’s intellectual property team in Tokyo is noted particularly for its experience handling data privacy matters for Japanese and international companies with operations in Japan. With a varied practice covering IP licensing, trade mark/copyright, and data privacy matters, Tomomi Fujikouge leads the group. Naoto Kosuge, Shingo Okada, and Fumiya Matsumoto provide key support.

Practice head(s):

Tomomi Fujikouge

Other key lawyers:

Naoto Kosuge; Shingo Okada; Fumiya Matsumoto

Work highlights

Japan > Tax: International firms and joint ventures Tier 3

DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership Gaikokuho Kyodojigyo Horitsu Jimusho > Firm Profile

Global co-chairs: Jon Hayes and Frank W Ryan
Co-chief executive officers: Charles Severs and Frank W Ryan
Number of partners: 1,500+
Number of lawyers: 6,000+
Offices: Lawyers located in more than 60 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Please see https://www.dlapiper.com for further information about the firm.

Firm Overview:

Tenacious and driven, DLA Piper people translate legal complexities into commercial clarity: providing the right minds at the right time to help clients to navigate both risk and opportunity. Our lawyers deliver pragmatic actionable solutions to your pressing business challenges, in every part of the globe, so you can understand, decide, and act.

Our people are as adept at spotting opportunities as they are in protecting you against risk. Our culture encourages fresh thinking, to anticipate what’s next, supported by continuous investments in legal and business technology.

The result is joined-up legal counsel and informed commercial advice across multiple geographies and all sectors: creative solutions that draw on an international platform with the power to scale up and down, flexing to meet any client aspirations. We measure success one relationship at a time, serving you locally and in any location: we bring the world closer for our clients.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate: DLA Piper’s corporate lawyers support the world’s leading enterprises, emerging startup companies and financial institutions in their development and investment activities. From mergers and acquisitions and venture capital to private and public equity and debt offerings, the firm assists clients through all stages of their transactions to ensure successful deal outcomes.

Employment: DLA Piper’s employment practice advises clients worldwide on employment legislation, helping them meet their workforce objectives.

The firm partners with its clients, wherever they do business, to find solutions and manage risk in relation to their employment, incentives and pensions legal challenges and objectives. The firm assists with acquisitions, outsourcings, expansions or reductions-in-force, local or international employee relations, data privacy or data protection, local, cross-border or collective litigation, local or multi-jurisdictional compliance, risk management. Its clients range from startups to emerging multinationals and some of the biggest and best-known global brands in the world.

Finance: DLA Piper’s Finance group offers comprehensive, cross-border advice on financing, restructuring, and projects, leveraging one of the largest teams of dedicated finance lawyers globally. We support clients, including public and private companies, asset managers, financial institutions, and government entities, in realising their financial strategies across various sectors and markets. Often involved in pioneering deals, our work spans lending, debt securities, derivatives, energy and infrastructure projects, and handling distressed situations and insolvencies.

Intellectual Property & Technology: DLA Piper is one of the most widely recognised providers of a full range of commercial, intellectual property law, privacy, sourcing and technology law services for leading businesses worldwide. Its lawyers provide both litigation-related (contentious) and strategic commercial advice to a wide range of industry sectors, helping clients from emerging technology and pharmaceutical companies to established banks and financial institutions achieve their objectives wherever they do business.

Litigation & Regulatory: DLA Piper’s lawyers are skilled in litigation, arbitration, investigations and ADR and will deploy that experience to help devise the best strategies. The firm has the local knowledge to apply the regulatory, economic, political and cultural context to legal issues and develop case strategies. It regularly handles technically challenging and complex multi-jurisdictional matters.

DLA Piper’s International Trade, Regulatory and Government Affairs team provides advice at all stages of the regulatory process. Advising on regulatory law, the firm focuses on areas such as international trade, antitrust and competition, global governance and more.

Real Estate: DLA Piper’s market-leading real estate group offers a full range of real estate services, including single asset and portfolio acquisitions and dispositions, single asset and multi-property/programmatic joint ventures, fund formation, operating company investments, cross-border investments, REITs, financing, construction and design, leasing, zoning/land-use, environmental law, real estate litigation and tax.

Tax: DLA Piper provides advice on local and national tax, and a commercially integrated approach to cross-border structures and tax efficiency. It offers the full range of tax services that address the challenges of international commerce and business operations, including arranging operations to reduce effective global tax rates, transfer pricing, tax disputes and post-acquisition integration.


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