Tokyo
Latham & Watkins Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise, the Tokyo office of Latham & Watkins, provides high-quality, cutting-edge legal and strategic advice to Japanese and international companies and financial institutions in their operations throughout Asia, the US and elsewhere in the world. The Tokyo office has developed a strong team of six US-qualified attorneys and seven Japanese-qualified attorneys who understand our clients' needs, priorities and challenges locally and globally. Attorneys in the Tokyo office combine local expertise with the strength of a worldwide network and experience to provide fully integrated Japanese, US and other international legal services to our clients. Latham's Tokyo-based attorneys are highly experienced with both Japanese and US corporate matters including business practices and, in addition to handling matters in Japan, regularly represent Japanese clients with business interests in the US and around the world.
Practice Areas
Clients of the Tokyo office include numerous multinational companies and financialinstitutions and our representations include mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, employment, banking, all aspects of corporate finance, capital markets, project finance, aircraft finance and structured finance, intellectual property, telecommunications, antitrust and trade regulation, arbitration and other general corporate matters. Attorneys in the Tokyo office have been at the center of merger and buyout activity, representing some of the largest and most active dealmakers in the region and around the world. Our Tokyo attorneys also provide counsel to both Japanese and international clients related to emerging companies work that is generated in the US, Europe and Asia. In addition, the firm's network of offices in Asia — Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai — regularly act as lead counsel for the borrowers or lenders on major financings, including many of Asia's landmark power, petrochemical and oil and gas projects.
Latham & Watkins' high-profile work involving the Tokyo office includes advising Lion Power Holdings Pte Limited, a consortium comprising Marubeni Corporation, The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., Kyushu Electric Power Co., Japan Bank for International Cooperation and GDF SUEZ S.A., in its S$3.65 billion acquisition of Senoko Power Limited, the largest power generation company in Singapore, from Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited. This was the largest infrastructure investment in Asia in 2008 and was honored as a top-10 deal for 2008 by CFO Asia in its 2008 “Deals of the Year” award.
Community Ties
Latham & Watkins has a strong commitment to pro bono, a commitment that extends to our Tokyo office. For instance, our attorneys in Tokyo secured a rare grant of asylum in Japan for a pro bono client. The client was from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the client's original request for asylum had been rejected by the Japanese Immigration Bureau. It was one of the few applications of asylum that were granted in 2005.