Morgan Lewis Announces New Joint Venture with TMI Associates, The Sixth Largest Law Firm in Japan
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09/28/2005 -
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Unique Partnership to Support Increasing Cross-Border Transaction Activity in Japan
PHILADELPHIA, PA — September 28, 2005 — Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, a global law firm, today announced a new joint venture with TMI Associates, one of the top law firms in Japan, effective immediately. The new partnership, named Morgan Lewis-TMI, will focus primarily on cross-border corporate transactions in Japan.
The joint venture solidifies a long and successful working relationship between the two firms by combining leading transactional attorneys from their respective corporate practices, creating a third entity in which each firm has an equal stake. Through this new entity, clients of both firms will have access to high-quality service, coordination and communications.
“This joint venture will enable clients of Morgan Lewis and TMI Japan to stay ahead of the curve by combining the kind of local expertise and global reach they need to effectively conduct cross-border transactions in Japan’s evolving legal and business market,” said Francis M. Milone, chairman of Morgan Lewis. “Through Morgan Lewis-TMI, clients on both sides of the Pacific will have access to the same breadth of resources and consistently high levels of legal service as they already enjoy at home.”
The creation of this unique joint venture will provide Morgan Lewis and TMI clients with an unparalleled breadth and depth of resources that will enable them to capitalize on the changing business environment in Japan. This change in Japan’s business landscape, brought on by legislation intended to further open the marketplace and facilitate an increase in mergers and acquisition activity, is creating new opportunities for international companies to invest in Japan, as well as for Japanese corporations interested in overseas expansion.
“Tremendous changes are underway in Japan’s legal, regulatory and business environment as part of a trend towards greater ‘internationalization’ of Japanese legal and business standards,” said Katsuro Tanaka, managing partner of TMI Associates. “As a result, the legal needs of Japanese corporations are becoming increasingly global. The Morgan Lewis-TMI joint venture has been created to answer those needs today, and in anticipation of the needs of our clients tomorrow.”
Through Morgan Lewis-TMI, clients of both firms will have access to an integrated platform of more than 100 Japanese and U.S. attorneys in Japan. The joint venture, unmatched in scope in the Japanese market, covers a wide range of practice areas and leverages the strengths of each firm in key areas such as M&A, corporate and finance law, as well as in the private equity, technology, life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. Morgan Lewis-TMI was designed to service clients’ advanced cross-border needs, with special attention given to key capabilities such as due diligence, industry-specific expertise, effective communications and speed. The joint venture will be managed by co-managing partners, Greg Salathé and Kunio Namekata.
“The Japanese market is already experiencing an acceleration in M&A activity, in terms of volume and size. During the first half of 2005, the number of deals announced rose by 10 percent compared to the previous six months, while announced deal values shot up 85 percent,” said Philip H. Werner, a managing partner and member of Morgan Lewis’ management committee who has been closely involved in the creation of Morgan Lewis-TMI. “The Morgan Lewis-TMI joint venture will offer companies involved in cross-border deals a leading combination of sophisticated local knowledge and the reach of a global firm, enabling them to successfully complete even the most complex corporate transactions.”
For more information about Morgan Lewis-TMI, please visit www.morganlewis-tmi.jp.
About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morgan Lewis is a global law firm with more than 1,200 lawyers in 19 offices located in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Chicago, Palo Alto, Dallas, Harrisburg, Irvine, Boston, London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.morganlewis.com.
About TMI Associates
TMI Associates was established in 1990 with the goal of providing professional legal services to meet the demands of the increasingly complex and international legal marketplace. Since its establishment, the firm has pursued a philosophy of fostering internationalism and enhancing today's borderless society. The firm is dedicated to encouraging the development of lawyers who provide cutting-edge expertise in specialized areas of law, and constantly increasing the depth and breadth of its capabilities to serve clients' total legal needs across all areas of the law. For more information, please visit www.tmi.gr.jp.