Adds Premier 4-Lawyer Team in Tokyo, including Shareholders Mizuho Yamada and Ayako Kawano, Local Partner Kazuo Kasai, and Counsel Hiroshi Hara
TOKYO – Jan. 29, 2024 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP – already a market leader in Japan – further expanded its Japan real estate capabilities with the addition of four highly regarded lawyers from White & Case in Tokyo.
Mizuho Yamada, who previously led White & Case’s Japan real estate practice, and former White & Case Partner Ayako Kawano join Greenberg Traurig as Real Estate shareholders in the firm’s Tokyo office.
With more than four decades of combined legal experience, Yamada and Kawano work across the spectrum of real estate transactional matters, from construction and development to joint ventures, complex financings, and acquisitions and sales. They additionally advise on real estate- and corporate-related bankruptcy matters, restructurings, and workouts, as well as real estate corporate M&A transactions. Also joining are Local Partner Kazuo Kasai and Counsel Hiroshi Hara.
“We are delighted to welcome this highly regarded team to our Tokyo office, which will take our award-winning Global Real Estate Practice to another level as an industry leader in Japan and beyond. Recognizing the opportunities that growing markets such as Japan present for sophisticated real estate professionals and investors, Greenberg Traurig is focused on attracting top-tier legal talent to strategically expand our service offerings worldwide and help clients succeed,” said Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig’s Executive Chairman. “Real estate has long been a core strength of ours at Greenberg Traurig and remains one of our largest practice areas, with more than 700 attorneys throughout Asia, Latin America, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, including new locations in Dubai and Riyadh.”
The new additions cap a period of significant growth for Greenberg Traurig’s Tokyo office. Over the past year, the Tokyo office also has added Real Estate Shareholder Yuko Ino, Corporate Shareholder Hiroshi Miura, Real Estate Of Counsel Koh Ueda, and Senior Counsel Akihiro Wani, a well-known financial markets regulation attorney.
“Mizuho, Ayako, and the rest of the team will undoubtedly help the Tokyo office broaden our client base and expand existing relationships at a critical time when Japan’s real estate market continues to grow and attract global investors’ attention,” Tokyo office Managing Shareholder Koji Ishikawa said. “On a personal note, I have been friends with Mizuho since we both were associates at White & Case in Tokyo nearly 20 years ago. I look forward to working with him again and helping to grow Greenberg Traurig Tokyo along with the rest of the team.”
“Our new colleagues are a perfect fit for our team in Tokyo and will substantially add to the depth and breadth of our full-service real estate offering in Japan,” said Joel H. Rothstein, chair of the firm’s Asia Real Estate Practice. “They have a wealth of experience and successes that will complement and build on the team’s ability to guide international investors and Japanese institutions through complex cross-border transactions, both inbound to Japan and outbound to the rest of the world. We have deliberately created a team in Tokyo that can offer clients one legal point of contact for all components of their real estate transactions, which sets us apart from most other law firms operating in Japan.”
Since its founding in 2015, Greenberg Traurig Tokyo has received numerous awards and accolades, including a 2023 Japan Law Firm Award from Asia Business Law Journal and listings in the Chambers and Partners 2024 Asia-Pacific Guide for its Japan real estate and energy teams. In addition to Tokyo, Greenberg Traurig’s Asia presence includes offices in Seoul, Shanghai, and Singapore.
Yamada, a licensed bengoshi, focuses his practice on corporate, real estate, non-performing loans, and structured finance transactions. He has wide-ranging experience advising international and domestic investors and investment fund managers on deals involving all classes of real property, including hotels, logistics, and data centers in Japan. His practice also includes representing financial institutions as lenders in complex real estate finance deals. He is admitted to practice law in Japan and New York; he has his LLM from New York University School of Law and an LLB from Keio University.
“Greenberg Traurig offers an unmatched global reach that can help serve my clients both in Japan and internationally,” Yamada said. “This platform, along with the firm’s collegial and collaborative culture, will enable me to grow my practice and deliver excellent service to clients.”
Kawano focuses her practice on real estate transactions, financings, fund formations, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and REIT matters. Her experience includes advising both international and domestic clients on acquisitions, dispositions, and the restructuring of distressed assets and loan portfolios. She also counsels on private equity investments, cross-border bankruptcy-related mergers and acquisitions, J-REITs, and complex financing deals. Additionally, she has deep experience advising on the complexities of international finance and has participated in cross-border transactions involving clients with interests across Japan, Asia, the United States, and Europe. A member of the Daini Tokyo Bar Association, Kawano has an LLM from Harvard Law School and her LLB from Osaka University.
Kasai focuses his practice on real estate transactions, asset finance, renewable energy projects, and investment funds. He also handles non-performing loans and disputes for a diverse clientele, including equity investors and financial institutions. Prior to White & Case, he practiced in-house at a leading Japanese IT service provider. He is licensed to practice law in Japan and New York. He has his LLM from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his LLB from Tokyo University.
Hara focuses his practice on real estate law as well as mergers and acquisitions, and is qualified as a judicial scrivener. He has a BL from Keio University, Faculty of Law, and is a member of the Daini Tokyo Bar Association.
Greenberg Traurig’s Japan real estate practice, one of the largest in Japan amongst international law firms, is fully integrated and interlinked with the firm’s global real estate platform of over 700 attorneys worldwide, enabling the Japan team to advise on the most complex cross-border transactions and ventures, both inbound to Japan and outbound from Japan to the rest of the world. This team consists of Japanese trained and licensed bengoshi and international real estate lawyers with years of experience representing global investors in real estate transactions.
About Greenberg Traurig's Global Real Estate Practice: The Greenberg Traurig Real Estate Practice is a cornerstone of the firm and a recognized leader in the industry. The firm’s real estate attorneys deliver diversified and comprehensive counsel for property acquisition and investment, development, management and leasing, financing, restructuring, and disposition of all asset classes of real estate. The team draws upon the knowledge and experience of more than 700 real estate lawyers from around the world, serving clients from key markets in the United States, Europe & the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. The group’s clientele includes a broad range of property developers, lenders, investment managers, private equity funds, REITs, and private owners. The real estate practice advises clients on a variety of matters across a broad spectrum of commercial, recreational, and residential real estate, including structured equity and debt and hybrids.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2650 attorneys in 47 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI “Highly Recommended Law Firm” for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab and is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy as a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: www.gtlaw.com.