Greenberg Traurig Boosts Japan Real Estate Team With Hires From White & Case

Greenberg Traurig is expanding its Japan practice with the hire of four former White & Case team holders, including Mizuho Yamada and Ayako Kawano, who are joining the global law firm as real estate shareholders based in Tokyo.

Yamada, who had headed White & Case’s Japan real estate practice for the past two decades, took on his new role at Greenberg Traurig’s Tokyo office last month alongside colleague and former White & Case partner, Kawano.

Joining the duo were Kazuo Kasai and Hiroshi Hara, who took on their new roles as local partner and counsel at Greenberg Traurig, respectively. The new hires are expected to bolster the US-based law firm’s presence in Japan as Asia’s second-largest economy becomes a favoured destination for institutional real estate investors globally.

“Mizuho, Ayako, and the rest of the team will undoubtedly help the Tokyo office broaden our client base and expand existing relationships at a critical time when Japan’s real estate market continues to grow and attract global investors’ attention,” Koji Ishikawa, the firm’s Tokyo office managing shareholder, said in a statement on Monday.

Advisors Added

Yamada and Kawano bring four decades of legal experience in Japanese real estate to Greenberg Traurig, including having advised on acquisitions, sales, development projects, joint ventures, and M&A, as well as bankruptcy and restructuring matters.

Yamada, a New York University School of Law graduate who formerly worked alongside Ishikawa at White & Case, focuses his practice on corporate law, real estate, non-performing loans, and structured finance transactions. He provides counsel on property deals to fund managers, foreign investors and local players across asset classes in Japan.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Kawano’s practice extends to fund formations, J-REITs, cross-border transactions and private equity investments as well as financing deals.

Kasai, as a local partner, will represent clients in real estate deals and advise equity investors and lenders in real estate financing, while Hara is qualified as a judicial scrivener and will be focusing on real estate law as well as mergers and acquisitions.

“We are delighted to welcome this highly regarded team to our Tokyo office, which will take our award-winning global real estate practice to another level as an industry leader in Japan and beyond,” said Richard A. Rosenbaum, executive chairman of the US-based firm.

Japan in Focus

Greenberg Traurig’s Japan real estate practice is reinforcing its position as one of the largest international law firms in the country as these latest hires build on a recruitment drive over the past year.

Among the firm’s key hires last year were Yuko Ino and Hiroshi Miura who joined as real estate and corporate shareholders, respectively.

Real estate investment in Japan plunged 53 percent year-on-year to $4.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, although the country still ranked as the second most active property market in Asia Pacific behind China, according to an industry tracker by JLL.

The property consultancy said the possibility of Japan’s central bank ending its negative interest rate policy has spooked property investors, leading to a tapering in transactions.