Japan’s ‘Big Four’ law firm Anderson Mori picks London for first European venture
One of Japan’s biggest law firms, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, has opened a new office in London, in its first venture outside of Asia.
The launch of the ‘Big Four’ Japanese firm’s London office marks Anderson Mori’s first venture outside its home continent, after the firm opened its first international offices, in Beijing, in 1998.
In a statement, Anderson Mori said its new London office will help it offer “timely” advice to UK and European companies operating in Japan, and to Japanese companies operating in the West.
“London is one of the world’s leading financial cities and a main hub in Europe for financial companies as well as many other companies,” the law firm said.
Anderson Mori’s new London offices will share a building with Rupert Murdoch’s News UK media empire, in finding a home on the third floor of the News Building, on 3 London Bridge Street.
First established in the early 1950s, Anderson Mori has grown to become on of Japan’s four largest international law firms, alongside its ‘Big Four’ rivals Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, and Nishimura & Asahi.
Anderson Mori’s decision to pick London comes after Nishimura & Ashai last year made its first venture into Europe through the launch of two offices in the German cities of Frankfurt and Düsseldorf.
The new London office comes as Anderson Mori’s eighth international office, alongside its offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, and Singapore.
The law firm also has two other Japanese offices in the cities of Osaka and Nagoya.
The firm currently employs more than 600 staff across its 11 offices, as one of Japan’s most diversified firms.