Wataru Murata joined Mori Hamada & Matsumoto as of September 1, 2022 in the role of special counsel.

Until his retirement from the position of presiding judge at the Tokyo High Court in December 2020, Mr. Murata was at the forefront of judicial practice and handled a great number of cases, in addition to possessing outstanding experience and a strong legacy in legal training and education, having served as a professor in charge of civil trials and a Senior Professor in the First Division at the Legal Training and Research Institute and a professor at law school.

By welcoming Mr. Murata as a special counsel, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto will further endeavor to provide our clients with even higher levels of legal services in the field of dispute resolution focused on civil litigation.

Message from Mr. Murata

Having served the court for over 36 years, I retired from my final position as presiding judge at the Tokyo High Court upon reaching retirement age on December 14, 2020. From April 2021, I taught as a professor at Chuo Law School (specializing in the Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure), and now I am honored to be joining Mori Hamada & Matsumoto as a special counsel. After being newly appointed assistant judge in April 1984 and assigned to Tokyo District Court, I initially oversaw criminal cases, and following this I oversaw mainly civil and family cases, handling many cases at various district courts in Japan, and in doing so I was given many opportunities to observe litigation activities, etc. by various attorneys and consider the state of justice in Japan. During this time, I also taught younger colleagues in the legal profession as professor and senior professor in charge of courses on civil trials, as well as senior professor in charge of training judges, at the Legal Training and Research Institute  and was involved in judicial administration as director of district courts. In performing my duties, I have been fortunate to meet many people and gain broad  and invaluable experience. I now look forward to utilizing the knowledge and experience I have gained to do my best to diligently perform my duties as an attorney-at-law at the firm.

Wataru Murata, September 2022