Our Experience

WILG attorneys have long and deep experience advising American companies doing businesses in Japan and with Japanese companies. The following are some of our Japan-related experiences:

  • Represented a leading international provider of prepaid products headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is a subsidiary of one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, in its formation of a Japanese corporate entity, employment of Japanese executives, and legal and administrative compliance in Japan.
  • Represented a Los Angeles-based manufacturing/distributing company in its dispute with a financially-troubled licensee in Japan with respect to the operation of a Japanese franchise that the licensee operated under a licensing agreement. Advised how to resolve the dispute and achieving the client’s corporate objectives in Japan. Coordinated with Japanese legal counsel in an affiliate law firm in Tokyo to comply with Japanese contract law and bankruptcy protection law. Negotiated and prepared a document to memorialize the resolution of the dispute.
  • Represented a Ohio-based company conducting on-line businesses for retirees and their family members with respect to its technology and other intellectual property rights licensing to a Japanese start-up company. Assisted a successful negotiation of licensing terms and drafted a licensing agreement.
  • Represented a Seattle-based IT company with advanced data storage technologies in its expansion to Japan. Advised various international business, tax and employment law issues. Drafted service, agency and employment agreements to be used in Japan. Coordinated with Japanese legal counsel in an affiliate law firm in Tokyo to organize a subsidiary corporation in Japan.
  • Represented a multi-state bank headquartered in Seattle in its joint venture with a Hong Kong investment company to provide services to corporate and individual customers in Japan. Advised the structure, formation and operation of the JV that was in the business of foreign currency trading. Negotiated and drafted the JV agreement. Drafted service agreements with Japanese customers.
  • Represented a publicly traded New York/DC based Internet and computer security company in its internal reorganization in Japan and joint venture with the largest Japanese trading company to provide services in Japan and other Asian countries. Advised the structure of the reorganization and the JV, and analyzed the U.S. and Japanese tax issues regarding the transactions.
  • Represented a publicly traded global publisher of print and electronic products based in New Jersey in its expansion of Japanese operation, hiring of contractors in Japan and transferring of American employees to Japan.
  • Represented a publicly traded domestic-products and publishing company based in New York in its expansion to Japan. Analyzed and advised the U.S. and Japanese tax ramifications associated with the formation and operation of the Japanese entities.
  • Represented a Seattle-based national department store chain in its expansion to Japan and joint venture with major Japanese department store chains regarding new clothing brands. Provided general corporate counseling regarding the choice and formation of new corporate entities, partnership arrangements, hiring of new employees and regulatory compliance in Japan. Reviewed various business agreements.
  • Represented a Denver-based publicly traded mining company in its $225 million investment in Uzbekistan for multi-stage mining projects. Drafted various agreements with joint venture partners including a large Japanese international trading company.
  • Represented a Denver-based privately held auto-parts company with subsidiaries in Japanese and other foreign countries in its $1.2 billion stock-for-stock acquisition by a U.K. conglomerate. Conducted international due diligence investigations in Japan in connection with the acquisition.