Debevoise opens Tokyo office

Debevoise & Plimpton has opened an office in Tokyo to provide on-the-ground assistance to clients in corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, financings and other transactional and investment matters, the firm said.

The office, which officially opened on Tuesday, will be the firm’s ninth globally and “represents a further commitment to the firm’s long-standing relationship with Japan”, according to the statement. Debevoise also has offices in New York, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The Tokyo office will be led by Christopher Smeall and Naomi Aoyama. Smeall and Aoyama are relocating to Tokyo from the firm’s New York office, along with associate David Martinez.

Smeall, who is qualified in New York and registered with the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association as gaikokuho jimu bengoshi (attorney at foreign law), is a corporate partner who has been assisting clients with matters relating to Japan for more than 30 years, including corporate governance issues, acquisitions, joint ventures, financings and other commercial transactions.

Aoyama began her career at a Japanese law firm in Tokyo and has spent 15 years working in Debevoise’s New York office on corporate transactions. She is a Japanese bengoshi (attorney at law), a member of the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association and also qualified in New York.

“Our clients in Japan and elsewhere can expect the same level of focused, dedicated and commercially sophisticated legal advice and service from our Tokyo team as they have long been receiving from Debevoise globally,” Smeall said in the statement.

The firm said it represents major Japanese companies, and, companies involved in Japan-related matters, such as trading firms, financial institutions, investment management firms and manufacturing firms in a wide range of sectors.

As well as providing on-the-ground assistance to clients, the Tokyo office will help clients “tap into the market-leading capabilities provided by other Debevoise offices” such as crisis management, dispute resolution, corporate investigations, civil and criminal enforcement proceedings, and cybersecurity.

“Our firm has had a significant Japan-related practice for decades, and opening an office in Tokyo will allow us to provide even better support and service to our clients located in Japan or engaged in matters relating to Japan,” said presiding partner Michael Blair in the statement.

The new office follows the expansion of its Hong Kong team in December with the hire of M&A lawyer William Y Chua, who joined from Sullivan & Cromwell’s Beijing office, as reported by Private Equity International.