Firm Profile

Our firm's mission is to provide the highest quality bilingual legal assistance to corporations, law firms and individuals in their business dealings and disputes relating to Japan.

The firm’s principal, Mr. Freeman, is among a handful of lawyers capable of negotiating, drafting, and advising equally capably in Japanese and English. The first American to pass the Japanese bar examination, Mr. Freeman has legal degrees from the prestigious University of Tokyo (LL.B) and the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan. He also spent seven years in New York, receiving a J.D. from Columbia Law School where he was a James Kent Scholar and a Notes Editor of the Columbia Law Review, and practiced law at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP for five years prior to establishing this firm.

The range of our firm’s work is significantly enhanced and supported by two brilliant Japanese attorneys.

Ms. Ayako Tsuru, who joined in 2014, is a highly regarded attorney who practiced at the acclaimed litigation department of Mori, Hamada & Matsumoto, Japan’s premier corporate law firm. Ms. Tsuru graduated with an LL.B. from the University of Tokyo, and a J.D. from the University of Tokyo, School of Law. Ms. Tsuru advises clients on a wide range of business transactions and disputes, including international arbitration matters and her advice is considered indispensable by many of our clients.

Aided by their diverse and solid backgrounds, our firm is willing to take on complex, one-of-a-kind legal matters, including in areas in which a fundamental understanding of the Japanese and US legal systems provides particular value.

The firm maintains a broad network of Japanese and international law firms, including with the top-tier Japanese firms, to meet particular client needs.

Location

Our new office is conveniently located in the Toranomon area newly developed as a global business center in Tokyo and is adjacent to the Japanese traditional landscaped gardens of the Hotel Okura Tokyo.

Please see our map and directions.