Since joining the firm in 1973, Harumichi Uchida has been involved in broad areas of practices for corporate clients in their important projects, transactions and dispute resolutions. Based on such experience he advises and represents clients in dispute resolutions (negotiation, litigation, arbitration) of international or complex nature, by forming a team, not only in his specialty areas (M&A, Antitrust, IP), but in other areas as well.

• Details

Yoshio Iteya has been a partner at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto since 1992 and has a thorough knowledge of international legal affairs. Since 2005 he has served as the chief representative of the Shanghai office of Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and handled numerous transactions and cases involving China, including dispute resolution, M&A and contract negotiation for Japanese companies entering the Chinese market. There have been several cases in which he has represented parties that had lost their case in the first instance but for whom he was able to get the decision reversed in the second instance. He has also been appointed an arbitrator of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC). He was selected as one of the best lawyers in Japan for dispute resolution in Chambers Global 2009 and was ranked No.1 four years in a row in the best lawyers in international practice reported by Nikkei Business. In addition to his work as an attorney, he is a visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi University, Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy where he teaches international corporate strategies, negotiation skills, and Chinese business law. He has also written a number of books such as "Dispute Resolution System for Chinese Business" and "That's What You Want to Know About Chinese Law."

• Details

Since joining the firm in 2001 (Mori Sogo at that time), Chisako Takaya has been involved in dispute resolution cases in Japan for the foreign basis companies and those of in overseas countries for the Japanese companies especially in the area of employment and labor.

• Details

As a specialist of litigation (dispute resolution), government regulations, transactions (including M&A) and IT related matters, Koichiro Iida has been developed his practice through a number of material issues and litigations inside or outside Japan. He has represented a wide variety of important litigation in courts throughout Japan and taken on first-chair responsibility for resolving up-to-date problems in the great confidence of many clients.

• Details

Mugi Sekido has been engaged in litigation and other dispute resolution in the Japanese courts since he joined this law firm in 1998. The areas of the disputes inlude mergers & acquisitions, corporate management, J-REIT, real estate, product liability, securities, anti-trust, and bankruptcy. In addition, he works on international cases where he makes use of his academic experience at the University of Chicago Law School and work experience at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP in Houston, Texas. He has published many articles and also lectures regarding international dispute resolution. He serves as a member of the Civil Litigation Practice Committee of the Tokyo District Court and the Civil Litigation Committee of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, and chairs the Civil Practice Division of the Legal System Research Group of the Daini-Tokyo Bar Association.

• Details

Junichi Tobimatsu has been widely involved in commercial disputes and corporate bankruptcy/restructuring cases, both domestic and international. He especially focuses on alternative dispute resolutions including ICC international arbitration, as well as settlement negotiations and court litigations. He handles cases involving a wide range of legal issues, but is particularly specialized in legal disputes arising in connection with corporate insolvency and M&A matters and corporate scandal. Mr. Tobimatsu also represents debtors, creditors and sponsors in various corporate insolvency matters such as Civil Rehabilitation proceedings (minji-saisei), both domestic and cross-border. Mr. Tobimatsu served as a Deputy Secretary of the Japan Association of Arbitrators (JAA) from 2004 to 2006. In addition, he has been serving as an Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo School of Law since April 2010.

• Details

Dr. Yuko Noguchi engages intensively in international dispute resolution supported by wide legal knowledge about international legal systems, excellent language skills and strong network with lawyers and scholars abroad. She has rich experience in domestic and international litigation and other forms of dispute resolution in a wide variety of areas, especially in the field of intellectual property and antitrust law, as well as contract disputes, product liability, labor, international trades. With solid understanding regarding legal and technological issues, she has particular strength in patent/know how disputes and copyright/IT disputes related to the Internet. Her high communication skills and negotiation skills has been highly appreciated by many clients in domestic and abroad.

• Details

Tomoya Fujimoto has extensive experience in intellectual property right matters and related licensing matters, as well as general business transactions and domestic/international disputes. In the field of intellectual property rights law in particular, he has represented broadcasting companies and publishers in copyright infringement litigations; and negotiated on behalf of clients to obtain licenses for broadcasting, film production, and merchandizing, from content holders (or its agent) in foreign counties. He is also engaged in related practice areas, including matters involving the Broadcast Act, Telecommunication Business Act, Act Concerning Broadcast on Telecommunications Service, Anti-Monopoly Act, and the Consumer Contract Act. Through his postgraduate training in California, he has established a broad network with Californian attorneys who are highly experienced in meeting the needs of a broad range of clients.

• Details

Atsushi Okada has been involved in numerous IP litigations and transactions, as well as assisting in a broad range of general corporate disputes. Since returning from his studies at Harvard Law School (LLM) and Harvard University (Certificate of Applied Sciences) and his engagement in US patent litigation at Weil, Gothsal & Manges LLP in Silicon Valley, he has been actively engaged in international dispute resolution. He also lectures in corporate law.

• Details

Kana Manabe has been involved in wide range of domestic and international practice involving dispute resolution, insolvency and antitrust issues. She has been especially active in cross border cases, making use of her excellent English communication skills attained though long-term overseas experience.

• Details

Akira Takakuwa is an expert in private international law (conflict of laws), international civil procedure, commercial arbitration and maritime law and advises clients on a broad range of international commercial transactions and dispute resolution matters. He has also served as an arbitrator in international arbitrations involving commercial and maritime matters. He began his career as an Associate Judge in the Tokyo District Court. After pursuing graduate study at Columbia Law School on a Fulbright Scholarship, he resumed government service where, as a member of the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice and the Treaties Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served as a Japanese delegate to UNCITRAL (for unifying international commercial laws) and to UNIDROIT (for unifying private international law) and to the Hague Conference for the harmonization of the law of international civil procedure. He subsequently served as a professor of international trade law at Kyoto University prior to joining Mori Hamada & Matsumoto. He is a member of the International Law Association (ILA), Comité Maritime International (CMI) and British Institute of International Comparative Law (BIICL), and an honorary member of the International Law Society of Japan.

• Details