Morrison & Foerster has the largest dispute resolution team in Japan among international firms, with more than 30 dedicated litigators on the ground. The firm is particularly strong in intellectual property and commercial disputes, including international arbitration, construction and consumer class action disputes. It also has internal investigation expertise covering product mislabelling, construction defects and white-collar crime.
One of the firm’s key individuals is Louise Stoupe, who has particular strength in international arbitration and litigation. She is known to represent some of the biggest technology companies in the world in their complex commercial disputes. Robert Hollingshead and Max Olson are well-known IP practitioners. Other names to note include Chie Yakura and Yukihiro Terazawa.
In the life sciences sector, the firm successfully represented Chugai Pharmaceutical, one of Japan’s leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with strengths in biotechnology products, in its multibillion-dollar patent case against Alexion Pharmaceuticals over infringement of Chugai’s technology for recycling antibodies, a key advancement in antibody medications. The $775 million settlement reflects one of the biggest amounts awarded in a pharma-related patent case in recent years.
Key clients of the firm include Fujitsu America, Fujitsu Semiconductor, Rakuten Mobile and Socionext.
In January 2023, the firm promoted Tomoki Kodama to partner.
