Vanguard Lawyers Tokyo‘s team offers comprehensive advice on all aspects of employment and benefits matters, including offer letters, work rules, executive compensation structuring, and incentive schemes. Led by Akiko Yamakawa, the team also offers labour and employment counsel related to corporate transactions, covering due diligence, union negotiations, and the integration of working terms and conditions. Yamakawa focuses on managing poor performance, redundancies, dismissals, and overtime issues, while Kazuki Okada advises on matters involving employee and union relations. Another key member, Masahiko Kinoshita, handles commercial litigation, termination disputes, and overtime claims.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Akiko Yamakawa is an exceptional lawyer who can handle very complex contentious employment matters. She is committed and we have never been disappointed by her in complicated employment matters. She has excellent communication skills, and we are comfortable for her to communicate directly with our top management.’
‘Our go-to firm for human resource matters, dispute resolution and internal investigations. They have strong bilingual capacity and give practical commercial advice.'
‘Exceptionally good team of lawyers. They quickly understood our goals and challenges and showed us the best way forward. Very practical advice based on deep knowledge and experience.’
'The team gave us practical and business-focused advice. We can fully rely on them for information and advice that helps us make decisions in a timely manner.'
‘Kazuki Okada takes into account the company's circumstances and provides realistic proposals.'
'Akiko Yamakawa is the best lawyer I have ever encountered.'
'The team has expertise in labour and employment and provides appropriate and realistic advice based on a specific case.'
'Akiko Yamakawa understands our business and gives very practicable and workable advice.'
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Practice head
Akiko Yamakawa
Other key lawyers
Kazuki Okada; Masahiko Kinoshita