Morrison & Foerster Partner Moves to Mori Hamada

Jessica Seah

The Asian Lawyer

Former Morrison & Foerster Tokyo partner Tony Grundy has joined Japanese law firm Mori Hamada & Matsumoto as a senior of counsel in Singapore.

Grundy, who focuses on capital markets, structured finance and bank lending, mainly advises financial institutions, borrowers and trustees.

He joined Morrison & Foerster in 2008 from Linklaters, where he was a partner for more than two decades. From 2000 to 2007, Grundy was managing partner of Linklaters' Tokyo office, which he helped launch in 1987. He also previously headed the U.K. firm's Singapore office and worked stints in its London and Hong Kong offices.

Mori Hamada opened its Singapore office in 2011 to target Japanese companies expanding in Southeast Asia. The Tokyo-based firm, which has 336 lawyers, now counts six lawyers in Singapore, including Grundy.

In a separate move, Mori Hamada has announced that the former head of Japan's top competition authority is joining the firm as a non-lawyer adviser in its Tokyo headquarters.

Kazuhiko Takeshima served as chairman of the Japan Fair Trade Commission from 2002 until last year. During that time, he successfully pushed for more aggressive prosecutions and stiffer penalties for antitrust violations. Prior to leading the JFTC, Takeshima also held a series of other senior government positions, including heading the national tax agency and serving as director general of the economic planning agency.