The law firm Mitsui Yasuda Wani & Maeda will partly be absorbed by Linklaters of Britain next year, the first takeover of a major Japanese law practice by a foreign counterpart, a Mitsui Yasuda partner said Monday.
Linklaters, one of world's leading law firms in the field of mergers and acquisitions, will cash in on the revision of a law governing foreign attorneys, which will allow overseas concerns to directly employ lawyers with Japanese certification.
About 20 to 30 of the 70 or so lawyers at Mitsui Yasuda & Wani will be absorbed by Linklaters, said Takuhide Mitsui, a Mitsui Yasuda partner.
Mitsui Yasuda, Japan's sixth-largest law office, is known for its M&A expertise, financing and corporate restructuring. It is scheduled to be disbanded in December, he said.