TMI Associates

Senior Managing Partner: Katsuro Tanaka
Senior Partners: Eizo Matsuo, Tomohiro Tohyama, Yoshiyuki Inaba (Patent Attorney), Ryosuke Ito
Number of attorneys: 421 (109 partners)
Number of patent/trademark attorneys: 80 (15 partners)
Asia Pacific Offices: Cambodia (Phnom Penh), China (Beijing, Shanghai), Japan (Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo), Myanmar (Yangon), Singapore, Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City)
International Offices: UK (London), USA (Silicon Valley)
Languages:Japanese, English, Chinese, French, Hindi, Myanmar, Vietnamese

Firm Overview:
Established in 1990 by ten attorneys and one patent attorney, TMI Associates has experienced rapid growth in both numeric and geographic terms. The firm now boasts a total of 501 attorneys and patent/trademark attorneys, growing to become the second largest law firm in Japan as of November 2018. The firm provides a wide range of legal services through its Chinese, French and Indian practice groups located in its Tokyo office and its JV relationships with major international law firms.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate/M&A:
TMI provides highly professional advice for a wide range of corporate/M&A related matters, including large-scale cross-border transactions, going-private transactions, private equity investments, venture capital investments, joint ventures, responding to activist shareholders and formulating takeover defences. Since the firm is renowned for its IP practice area, the team is extremely strong in IP-oriented industries, not only in traditional life science, pharmaceutical and IT industries but also in the fast-growing FinTech, health-IT and renewable energy industries. After the opening of the Silicon Valley office in 2014, TMI has become renowned as a leading Japanese law firm in of investment in start-ups and provides valuable advice to domestic and global venture capital and corporate venture capital investors.

Banking/Finance:
TMI provides cutting-edge solutions in areas such as asset financing for real estate and project financing for urban development, renewable energy and social infrastructure, in addition to more conventional financial services such as banking and capital markets, investment fund and asset management, derivatives and structured products, and leveraged financing. TMI’s core expertise also extends to providing advice on financial regulations and investigations, both domestic and international. Working closely with its international network, TMI is able to provide seamless services on cross-border matters to a full range of financial market participants. Additionally, TMI is the first Japanese law firm to establish a FinTech Desk in its Tokyo office.

IP/Media/Entertainment/Telecommunications & Technology:
TMI is a leading local and international firm in the practice areas surrounding IP, media, entertainment, life sciences, telecommunications and technology through its unique and unparalleled ability to form teams with a combination of expert patent and IP attorneys. TMI also has unrivalled experience and achievements in matters concerning sports, movies, television, music and other entertainment areas. TMI is a pioneer of providing IP services concerning brands, trade secrets and content protection activities for its clients. Clients include many of the world’s best-known brand companies, various international and domestic entertainment companies, major advertising agencies, newspaper companies, sports organisations, professional teams and Internet companies.

Dispute Resolution/Risk Management:
TMI is one of Japan’s leading litigation law firms, handling hundreds of cases including commercial litigation, IP litigation, tax disputes, administrative disputes, and other types of matters worldwide. TMI is able to look at the nature of each case and form teams of lawyers who are qualified as specialists in related fields, such as medical doctors, architects, accountants and patent attorneys. TMI is highly regarded for its prominent legal services on risk management, including advice on PR legal practices, crisis management, corporate fraud investigations, dealing with anti-social forces and white-collar crimes.

Antitrust/Competition:
TMI provides a wide range of services, from advising on M&A transactions and counselling on business and operational compliance with Japan’s antimonopoly laws, through to providing support in response to large-scale investigations. TMI has significant experience in handling international antitrust and competition matters, such as international cartel cases, both throughout the Asian region and on a global basis.

Labour:
Attorneys provide practical, problemsolving legal advice to clients facing difficult and complex situations. TMI’s services cover the entire spectrum of labour and employment-related matters in Japan, including employment litigation, negotiation with labour unions, employment-related support for M&A deals and reorganisations, and investigations into harassment and other misconduct.