Akihiro Hironaka

Practice Areas

Akihiro’s experience covers product liability, contract claims, mass tort claims, and tax disputes in a variety of areas, with particular focus on the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. He has handled disputes involving or arising from M&A transactions, construction sites in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and termination of cross-border distribution agreements. He has achieved significant results in international arbitrations, including emergency arbitration proceedings under the rules of the ICC, SIAC, AAA-ICDR, and JCAA. In addition, he advises clients in connection with U.S. civil actions, including class actions and product liability litigation, and with Japanese judicial assistance for foreign court proceedings.

Career

Partner (2007-); Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C. (2003-2004); Judge of the Yokohama District Court (1998-2000).

Professional Memberships

Admitted in Japan (1996, voluntarily deregistered in 1998 and readmitted in 2000) and New York (2004); Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2019-)

Publications

Yasuhei Taniguchi, et al. (eds.), Civil Procedure in Japan, 3rd ed. (contributor, Juris Publishing, 2018); International Arbitration and Corporate Strategy (co-author, Yuhikaku, 2014, in Japanese); Is the Opt-in System Doomed to Fail? An Experience with the New Japanese Legislation on Collective Redress, Disp. Resol. Int’l, Vol. 14 No. 1 (co-author, 2020); Exploring Practicality: Using Japanese Courtrooms for Evidence Gathering in International Arbitration, Disp. Resol. Int’l, Vol 9 No. 2 (2015).

Work Highlights

Representing a pharmaceutical company in one of the largest product liability lawsuits in Japan; Representing an automotive company in a mass tort claim case in which a number of claimants allege that they are suffering from asthma caused by diesel exhaust gas.

Education

Awards

Experience

Akihiro has extensive experience dealing with various large-scale and complex dispute resolution matters, both cross-border and domestic. He is particularly renowned for his successful representation of clients in multiple large-scale disputes. He succeeded in defending a notable Japanese corporation in six large lawsuits amounting to JPY 48.3 billion in total damages, filed by claimants including an affiliate company of a US-headquartered investment bank and a prominent US hedge fund. He also represented a Japanese insurance company in contesting a tax assessment concerning complex cross-border reinsurance transactions that transferred earthquake-related risks, and succeeded in recovering JPY 6.7 billion for his client. He also has achieved significant results in large-scale international arbitrations (including emergency arbitrator proceedings) in Japan and elsewhere, under the rules of ICC, SIAC, AAA-ICDR, and JCAA, as well as in complex product liability lawsuits, mass tort claims, cross-border disputes concerning M&A transactions and termination of distribution agreements, insurance claims, and construction disputes relating to delays at foreign construction sites located in Middle Eastern, Asian, and African countries, among others.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Japan; the U.S.

Clients

Pharmaceutical companies; Automotive companies; Automotive component companies; Trading companies.

Languages Spoken

Japanese and English