Summary: The law firm of Greenberg Traurig has announced the opening of a new office in Tokyo, Japan.
Greenberg Traurig, LLP has announced the opening of a new office in Tokyo, Japan, according to a press release from the firm.
This is the third office for the firm in the region and will work with the offices in Seoul, South Korea and Shanghai, China.
It is the 37th office for the firm across the globe. The office will be led by Greenberg Traurig Horitsu Jimusho, which is an affiliate of Greenberg Traurig, P.A. and Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
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The new office will be known as Greenberg Traurig Tokyo Law Offices.
The managing shareholder of the office will be Koji Ishikawa, who comes to the firm from DLA Piper. Other shareholders include Koichiro Ohashi and Yuji Ogiwara, who are the co-chairs of the firm’s Japan Practice. They come from White & Case.
Chief executive officer of the firm, Richard A. Rosenbaum, said the following in the press release:
“The Greenberg Traurig brand stands for excellence, value and collaboration globally. This is the perfect time for us to enter Tokyo with our own full service office. While so-called “Abenomics” has been effective, structural reform is still needed through further deregulation and a decrease in corporate taxation. With his recent landslide victory in the lower house election, re-charging Abe’s political capital, many expect an acceleration of structural reform, and a further increase, over time, of business generation from and with Japanese businesses.”
Rosenbaum also added the following:
“The time has therefore come to bring Greenberg Traurig’s unique value proposition to Tokyo in order to serve the expected increase in demand. First, it is the right time: a large and stable global economy is at the beginning of its next leg up. Second, there is a niche we can fill: our space will be between the outposts of so-called ‘elite’ global firms at very high prices which do certain work but are perceived as unresponsive to most client needs; and global firms with a local presence that have been in the market for quite some time by acquiring existing Japanese local practices and rebranding them but not integrating them into their platforms or being nimble or responsive to the full range of client needs. Third, and perhaps most importantly, we have found the right people to trust: our founding shareholders are next-generation, recognized leaders of the Japanese bar who are focused on delivering excellence and value and want to be fully integrated with our culture and global platform.”
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The trio leading the new office said the following in the announcement:
“Contrary to its appearance, Japanese clients are not well served by international law firms in Tokyo. We often hear from Japanese clients that so-called “elite law firms” are too expensive and their practice areas are too narrow to meet their needs. Also, Japanese clients appear to have some frustration that other established U.S. and foreign firms are too independent from their firms and do not provide good synergy with or access to their global operations. We will not suffer from these issues and will deliver not only an elite level of excellence but the true value that Japanese clients seek today.”
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