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Quinn Emanuel Launches Tokyo Office
The Recorder
December 12, 2007
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges is hoping the firm's new Tokyo office -- its first stake overseas -- will help it court new Japanese clients litigating in the United States.
"We have a lot of clients there, and having lawyers on the ground there is going to raise our profile," said firm founder John Quinn.
The firm has absorbed Koda & Androlia, a three-lawyer L.A. firm that focuses on intellectual property matters for Japanese clients. Quinn Emanuel sent new partner Henry Koda, a Japan-qualified lawyer and member of the California Bar, to Tokyo to launch its new outpost last week.
Koda and William Androlia, who have now become partners at Quinn Emanuel, have specialized in patent and trademark prosecution and international intellectual property litigation for Japanese clients for the last 30 years. They've worked with Quinn Emanuel for several years, referring clients for IP litigation matters.
When Koda recently decided to go back to Japan for a law professor post, it appeared the right time to combine forces.
"We had someone who could open an office who is a well-known figure in Japan," Quinn said. "And he's someone we knew who practiced in an area we're interested in."
Koda will co-lead Quinn Emanuel's Tokyo office with Ryan Goldstein, a Quinn partner who is fluent in Japanese and who will spend half of his time there. The other two new attorneys coming over from Koda & Androlia will work for Japanese clients from Los Angeles.
Quinn's Japanese clients include Seiko Epson, Sony Electronics and Isuzu Motors.
Goldstein said he's seen firsthand how important it is to be on the ground for Japanese clients. Two years ago when he was working in Japan for a nine-month stint, a Japanese lawyer referred him to a new client, in part, because he could make a 10 a.m. meeting the next day.
It also helps to have people on the ground who speak Japanese, he said, adding "almost all clients, even if they can speak English, prefer to express more subtle issues in their native language."
He said he hopes their litigation focus will distinguish the firm in a market in which many U.S. firms practice corporate law.
"Based on the trend we've been seeing, we're hoping we can make an impact starting out just the two of us," he said.
But formidable players like Morrison & Foerster -- the U.S. firm with the largest Japan practice -- said they're not threatened. MoFo has 100 attorneys in Japan, including 15 American litigators.
"At the risk of sounding smug, we have an incredible head start, and we're quite confident in our market position," said Chairman Keith Wetmore, who said his firm has been in the country for 20 years.
That office drives significant work for the firm because Japanese companies, especially tech companies, frequently find themselves in U.S. courts, he said.
Quinn Emanuel is focusing on Japan, as opposed to following the rush to China, because Japan is much further ahead when it comes to patents they own, Quinn said, adding, "They are very sophisticated."
It's a smart move to invest in Japan, said Carl Leonard, a San Francisco-based consultant with Hildebrandt International.
"The Japanese economy has really started to move -- there's a lot of activity and law firms follow that, just like they're plunging into Dubai," he said.
Along with firms like Quinn that are targeting Japanese companies doing work in the United States, Leonard has also seen more and more American firms looking to represent U.S. companies doing business in Japan and Japanese doing business in China.
Quinn said he hopes to expand the Tokyo office as the firm attracts new clients and engagements. The firm is hoping to find talent with Japanese language skills and knowledge of IP law, as well as with qualifications to practice in both the United States and Japan -- a tall order, Quinn acknowledged.
Along with the IP focus, the firm also plans to work in other areas, such as white-collar and unfair competition litigation.
Quinn Emanuel has more than 375 attorneys with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and the Silicon Valley -- and now Tokyo.
