Interview with: Ryota Miura, Partner

It has been three years since Miura & Partners was established. What have been accomplished over the past three years?

The number of attorneys has increased from 30 at the time of establishment to 74 at present, and we are confident that we now have the professionals necessary to achieve our founding goal of becoming a viable new option in Japan for our corporate clients. We are not adding lawyers at random. We have members who have experience serving as in-house counsel and as public servants at government agencies, who are qualified both in common law and civil law jurisdictions, as well as foreign lawyers, all of whom are highly diverse in their experience in all areas of practice. This allows us to provide our clients with the best legal services to appropriately reflect the trends of the authorities both domestic and overseas, and also allows us to reflect diverse opinions in the management of the firm, which we feel makes us a stronger organization. In addition, we have realized our core value of Full Coverage and Top Quality, and will continue to do so to assist our clients in the recent complex legal society. This is illustrated by many evaluations from our clients such as “Miura & Partners was able to promptly assign attorneys with appropriate knowledge and experience depending on the nature of the case and respond to the client’s needs”.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate M&P from your competitors?

Our lawyers are top professionals in their respective practice areas with expertise acquired through a broad range of experiences. Many of our members have dealt with high profile matters at top Japanese or international law firms. Our priority is to provide our clients with top quality legal advice. Not only do we offer one-stop legal solutions, we also cover all stages from startups to listed companies.

Our team has extensive experience working in international business environments. Many of our partners are qualified both in common law and civil law jurisdictions. We have professionals working in foreign countries including China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Some of our partners also have experience as legal counsel at international companies and as such, our team has a deep understanding of the political, economic, and cultural environments of different jurisdictions. Our close relationships with renowned law firms around the world allow us to operate smoothly on multi-jurisdictional matters.

You have stated “Diversity & Inclusion” as one of your core values. What kind of initiatives are you implementing?

If only people with the same ideas and experiences gather together, the output will be homogenized, and growth as an organization cannot be expected. We believe that by acknowledging differences in ideas and positions (Diversity) and embracing those differences (Inclusion), we can create a chemical reaction that will ultimately improve the quality of our output for our clients.

The backgrounds of the attorneys at Miura & Partners are very diverse, including experience at major top four law firms in Japan, foreign law firms, medium-sized law firms, government agencies and companies, and overseas studies and secondments. In terms of work experience alone, our attorneys have worked for more than 31 different government agencies, as well as corporations ranging from trading companies to start-up companies.

In terms of gender, the firm also values diversity. 27% of our attorneys are women, and 33% of our partners are women. This is a high percentage compared to other major top five corporate law firms in Japan and is highly regarded by international corporations and foreign law firms that value diversity. We believe that the presence of role models at the partner level is important for raising the next generation of female leaders.

We also value diversity in terms of work styles, and many of our lawyers, regardless of gender or office location, are able to balance their legal careers with raising children. Unlike other Japanese law firms we encourage our lawyers to take parental leave, and the first attorney at our firm to do so was a male associate in his fifth year at the firm.

We believe that our diverse workforce will enable us to become a professional firm for the new era, free from existing boundaries.

What are the characteristics of the offices that Miura & Partners currently has?

Miura & Partners currently has five offices in Japan (Otemachi, Shibuya, Kanda, Nagoya, and Hiroshima). Each office is unique in that it is staffed by attorneys who are rooted in the respective region. For example, the Nagoya office is staffed by attorneys who have long practiced locally, have experience working for the Nagoya Regional Taxation Bureau, and have a deep understanding of companies located in Aichi Prefecture, the third largest economic zone after Tokyo and Osaka. The firm also works closely with the Otemachi office, which has the largest number of attorneys on staff, allowing for a coordinated response when necessary for highly specialized or large-scale matters.

We also have great strength in cross-border matters. Not only do we have foreign attorneys among our members, but we also have a large number of lawyers qualified in foreign jurisdictions, despite being a medium-sized firm. In addition, last October, we co-founded a general consulting firm, M&P Asia Corporation, with three founders led by attorney Ryoichi Inoue, who is also the head partner of our Southeast Asia and South Asia Practice. This consulting firm was created in response to the desire of clients expanding into Asia to have a one-stop advisor who can provide not only legal services, but also tax and financial support.

The main feature of the firm is that it aims to provide Full Coverage and Top Quality services to cover a wide range of client requests, both in Japan and overseas.

What are the growth engines for Miura & Partners?

Since the firm’s establishment, Miura & Partners has been committed to “Full Coverage and Top Quality” with the goal of becoming a new option alongside the major law firms in Japan. In order to achieve this, we believe that the growth engine of the firm will be to enhance our practice groups and develop new practice areas in accordance with the latest trends in each industry and the diversification of our clients’ needs.

In addition, we encourage not only a small number of partners, but also associates and staff to participate proactively in the development of the firm. We hold regular firm meetings, where any member of the firm can raise issues and participate in discussions. Based on the “Practice of Diversity & Inclusion” mentioned above, each and every one of us contributes to the growth of our firm by operating in a way that recognizes and accepts a variety of opinions.

What are the future goals of Miura & Partners, which will celebrate its 5th anniversary next year?

The core values we set forth at the time of our founding were “Realization of Full Coverage & Top Quality” and “Practice of Diversity & Inclusion”. I believe that these two values should continue to be our goal no matter how many years have passed since the firm was established. This is because we believe that as times change, the scope of corporate legal services will change, and the legal services required by clients will also change. In our fifth year of operation and beyond, we will continue to expand our members to meet the needs of our clients in a timely manner and implement measures to enhance our international presence.