Dispute resolution: Independent local firms

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto Tokyo Office

Client Satisfaction

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto Tokyo Office regularly represents clients in cross-border dispute matters, including both litigation and international arbitration. Clients benefit from their ‘high-level language skills, deep understanding and extensive experience’, and the firm’s strong expertise in related practice areas, such as corporate, employment, and tax. The team is jointly led by Mugi Sekido, Kana Manabe, and Yoshinori Tatsuno, who are well-versed in international litigation and arbitration across Japan and Southeast Asia. Daniel Allen is praised for representing both Japanese companies and sovereign states in the specialised field of investor-state dispute settlement, while Koichiro Iida is trusted by clients in general dispute matters.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Daniel Allen is the best arbitration advocate in Japan, hands down. He is very thorough and persuasive to arbitrators and gets the work done.'
'It is an up-and-coming practice group which has up and become one of the best in Japan. The team has very strong advocacy skills and excellent teamwork.'
'Mugi Sekido is a great lawyer and litigator. He is always responsive, very proactive and has a good sense for the needs of the clients.'
'The team is very creative and solid in their legal theories, and we work with them in many complicated matters that need serious fights. They are good at producing public comments on critical legislative proposals that governments are looking into, and their work based on solid litigation experience is exceptional.'
'We trust Mr. Koichiro Iida for general disputes and legislative comments. He is very strategic and candid in his feedback and opinions, which is helpful for his clients.'
'The team provides timely, accurate and business-oriented legal advice. The team is highly collaborative and has excellent teamwork skills.'
'The team has high-level language skills, deep understanding and extensive experience in handling international conflict for many Japanese clients. Mugi Sekido acted like a glue between Japan and the US in our case and we appreciate we had someone like him who enabled us to make quick and adequate decisions.'

Key clients

SoftBank Corp.
Japan Post Co., Ltd.
Yamato Transport Co., Ltd
Hitachi, Ltd.
Toshiba Corporation
Daio Paper Corporation
BICCAMERA INC
Eksportfinans ASA
Tokyo Boeki Materials, Ltd.
Coincheck, Inc.

Work highlights

Advised Japan Post Co., Ltd. in defence of claims brought under the Labour Contract Act by a high number of fixed-term employees over differences between the terms and conditions of their employment contracts and those of employees who are employed permanently.
Advised Toshiba Corporation in defence of claims brought by former or current shareholders in tort alleging “improper” disclosure of financial information by Toshiba in past years.
Represent Coincheck, Inc. in respect to lawsuits seeking compensation launched by investors after the client was hacked in January 2018, resulting in the theft of approximately JPY58billion in cryptocurrency NEM.