Happy New Year!
We, Tokyo International Law Office would like to express our sincere gratitude for your ongoing support during the past year.

■　Review of 2023 and Outlook for 2024

In 2023, while the global economy stagnated due to the prolonged Russian invasion of Ukraine, the slowdown of the U.S. and European economies, and the bursting of the real estate bubble in the Chinese economy, the Japanese economy continued its gradual recovery trend despite the effects of high prices and other factors. In this environment, our firm has gained the trust of many of our clients, and we have been able to support them on a large number of matters. We would like to thank you all once again.

In 2024, Japanese companies will face changes and uncertainties in the external environment, including declining population and shrinking domestic market, technology innovation (e.g., generative AI), climate change and energy shift, globalization and de-globalization, geopolitical risks and economic security. Under these circumstances, corporate executives must read the changing times and take advantage of the currents, formulate and implement growth strategies, and enhance their competitive advantage while meeting the demands for stronger governance and compliance. We will do our utmost to support our clients in these ever-evolving and uncertain times.

Below are our New Year announcements for 2024 and a summary of plans for our practice.

■　Notice of office relocation due to business expansion

・　Office relocation due to business expansion (February 14, 2024)

In order to significantly expand our practice to meet the increasingly sophisticated and complex legal needs of our clients, we are moving to the following address, effective from February 14, 2024:

ARK Mori Building, 24F
1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6024, Japan

・　5th anniversary of establishment on April 1, 2024

On April 1, 2024, we will celebrate the 5th anniversary of our founding, and as of January 2024, we will have approximately 30 lawyers and foreign lawyers, with a total of more than 40 people including back-office staff. As a "global firm from Japan," we will do our utmost to support our clients' business success in these times of discontinuity and uncertainty by providing high value-added legal services to meet the legal needs of Japanese and global companies in response to the changing times and to address their business challenges.

・　New Year's resolution

We are committed to creating a rewarding workplace where all members of our firm can fully engage in work that fills them with pride and satisfaction, and where they can experience growth and feel happiness as professionals, thereby ensuring that all members of our firm are fully prepared to do our utmost in providing optimal service to our clients. We will do our utmost to build a system that enables us to provide services that exceed our clients’ expectations for your success.

■　M&A, Litigation/Arbitration, EPC/Infrastructure/Renewable Energy, Crisis Management/Fraud Investigations - Latest Topics

・　Increase in overseas M&A (Europe, U.S., Asia, etc.)

In 2023, we saw a significant increase in the number of Japanese companies engaging us on their overseas M&A activities. Including both concluded and aborted deals, we assisted Japanese companies with numerous acquisition, divestiture, and investment projects in the U.S. and other North American countries, India, China and other Asian countries, and the U.K. and Europe. We have established a unique network of more than 200 local law firms partnering with us in approximately 50-60 countries and regions, mainly in Europe, the U.S., and Asia, and have built a system to support overseas M&A activities of our clients. We also apply the same billable rates to overseas M&A as we do to domestic deals, which we believe is a great advantage for our clients.

・　Domestic M&A - Increase in consultations regarding MBOs and takeover bids (TOB) for listed companies

With respect to domestic M&A of Japanese companies, we have assisted listed companies in many acquisition and divestiture transactions, as well as investment transactions. In particular, in 2023, we saw an increase in the number of consultations regarding management buyouts (MBO) of listed companies, consideration of takeover bids without consent or competing takeover bids by operating companies for listed companies, and TOBs targeting listed companies, including those that were not publicly announced.

・　Two attorneys ranked in the Top 20 M&A Lawyers (Overall) by Nikkei, 2023

Our M&A experience has been highly valuated in the market, and two of our attorneys (Mikiharu Mori and Koki Yamada) have been ranked in the top 20 overall in the Nikkei, 2023 M&A Attorney Ranking. We would like to thank you again for your support.

・　Increase in the number of lawsuits and arbitrations

In 2023, the Litigation/Arbitration team was strengthened, resulting in an increase in the number of complex litigation and international commercial arbitration cases, and a number of victories and favorable settlements. We have also handled a provisional injunction case concerning a dispute over control of an unlisted company (consecutive victories at the Tokyo District Court and the Tokyo High Court), a US lawsuit over trademark infringement in the US (won), a litigation concerning contract disputes between companies (successful settlement), a dispute concerning an M&A transaction (successful settlement), several large securities lawsuits, a dispute over the value of shares in a listed company (petition for determination of the purchase price of shares), and an international transaction dispute over the value of shares in a listed company. We have assisted our clients in a variety of dispute matters, including: a petition for determination of the purchase price of shares, a product liability and tort litigation between companies involved in international transactions, negotiation support for a dispute with a local subcontractor in a construction project in Southeast Asia, and multiple international arbitration cases.

・　Increase in EPC, infrastructure and renewable energy projects

Reflecting the energy shift trend, we consulted on a number of infrastructure and renewable energy projects (plant construction, solar, wind, biomass projects, etc.) and assisted our clients with EPC contract negotiation support and corporate PPA projects in connection with the transition from the FIT system to the FIP system.

・　Crisis Management and Fraud Investigations

In order to meet the growing needs of our clients for risk management and fraud investigation response, we have strengthened our team by adding a Certified Fraud Examiner and a former Fair Trade Commission and a former prosecutor to our team. The firm is unique in our ability to handle global compliance, fraud investigations, and the establishment of risk management systems. In the area of risk management and fraud investigation, we assisted a client company as a member of an independent committee, conducting an investigation in a fraud case involving a listed company, and in advising a Japanese company on how to respond to an overseas leak of personal information and establish a personal information protection system.

・　Remote In-House Services

In response to the challenges of a shortage of human resources in corporate legal departments and startups, we offer “TKI Remote In-House Services,” in which our attorneys and others act as members of our clients' legal department to support their work. Since the introduction of this service in 2023 we have been serving a number of clients in this capacity. We also work with foreign law attorneys to handle international and global legal affairs of our clients. We will also continue to improve our service offerings to satisfy the needs of legal departments, including training of junior legal department members at our client’s request.

In 2024 we will continue to showcase the know-how and insights gained from our diverse practice and strive to provide optimal quality information and contents that will benefit our clients through newsletters, seminars, and attorney interviews.

We look forward to working with you again in 2024.

New Year’s Day 2024