Anderson Mori & Tomotsune

Litigation, Arbitration and Other Dispute Resolution

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune has a wide-ranging litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution practice that encompasses the many facets of business in Japan. We have extensive experience in areas that closely reflect the international nature of our client base, and the international experience and diversity of our people. We are able to provide a complete litigation service to our client’s ranging from preliminary advice aimed at early resolution and prevention of disputes to the conduct of complex trials. Our attorneys have experience working in overseas jurisdictions and include two former judges, including a Supreme Court Justice. As well as engaging in the day-to-day conduct of litigation, some of our attorneys are also involved in imparting their experience to students through university lecturing. The types of disputes in which we are regularly involved in protecting our client’s interests include:

Litigation in Japan

Litigation in which we are involved within Japan often involves:

	International trade cases, cross-border business cases (including issues of jurisdiction, forum, governing law, and interpretation and application of treaty or foreign laws);
	Intellectual property cases (including injunctions, damage claims, interlocutory or provisional remedies, administrative litigation against decisions by the Patent Office);
	Labor cases (including individual employment cases involving alleged wrongful termination and damages claims, collective worker-management cases, Labor Relations Commission proceedings and administrative litigation relating to labor disputes, negotiations with labor unions and employers, visa related issues, sexual harassment, labor accidents);
	Financial transaction cases (including damage claims and unfair enrichment claims arising from swap and derivative transactions);
	Insolvency proceedings including acting on behalf of Bankruptcy trustees/administrators, and undertaking debt consolidation administrator matters;
	Corporate Insolvency and Bankruptcy cases (preference denial proceedings by bankruptcy trustees, petitions for determination of the scope of credits and collaterals which come under the corporate reconstruction plan, and claims relating to collateral valuation under the Civil Rehabilitation Law);
	Tax cases (including appeal procedures against administrative decisions, and procedures seeking the revocation of administrative decisions);
	General commercial cases (including loan and other debt collection claims, rent review claims, petitions for injunctive remedies in defamation claims or undermined creditability claims, claims for removal from property and commercial non-litigation cases);
	Product liability cases, expert liability cases, representative shareholders actions against companies, representative resident actions against local governments, anti-monopoly cases, civil conciliations, petitions for civil preservation measures, petitions for enforcement measures, probation of estate in succession, defense advocacy in criminal proceedings, petitions for prosecution under the Criminal Code of Japan and other actions;
	Anti-trust law (including advising clients during investigative processes by regulators and defense of regulatory proceedings); and
	Real Property disputes involving enforcement of mortgages and other securities.

International Focus

	Orientation advice to Japanese clients concerning legal proceedings abroad, and introduction to and liaising with foreign local counsel representing Japanese clients abroad;
	Service of court documents in litigation abroad (including advice on the effectiveness of personal service and the postal service, and support for procedural compliance with consular agreements and the Hague Convention for service of court documents);
	Evidence collection support for litigation abroad (including preparation of affidavits, discovery procedures (submission of documents and preparation of witness statements) carried out in Japan, taking of depositions of Japanese nationals at Embassies and Consulates located in Japan, and carrying out witness examinations under international agreements for mutual assistance in judicial proceedings);
	Advice on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral decisions in Japan, and related enforcement proceedings; and
	Cross border and multi jurisdictional Intellectual Property proceedings.

Commercial Arbitration

	Representing clients or acting as an arbitrator in institutional arbitrations filed with and administered under the rules of the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA); International Chamber of Commerce (ICC); American Arbitration Association (AAA); London Court of (LCIA) and the Daini Tokyo Bar Association; and
	Representing clients or acting as an arbitrator in Ad Hoc Arbitration/ADRs.

Our Firm’s Representative Litigation and Dispute Resolution Experience:

	Counsel for a foreign government against over 20 Japanese construction companies in a bid-rigging conspiracy case.
	Counsel for a US and a Brazil company against a Japanese company in an international commercial arbitration.
	Counsel for a Swiss-based bank against a Japanese trading house in a damage claim case (the claimed amount is over JPY 20 billion, which is one of the highest amounts currently disputed before the Japanese courts).
	Assistant counsel for a Japanese company in a billion dollar insurance arbitration/litigation in the US.
	Counsel for a US company (defendant) against an administrator in a corporate reorganization (plaintiff) in a voidance case (the plaintiff is asking the court to nullify a JPY 20 billion mortgage and JPY 5.9 billion of receivables held by the defendant).
	Acting as an expert witness for the United States Internal Revenue Service in a tax grievance petition by an American company which resulted in the Tax Court dismissing the case.
	Counsel for an American airline in a suit about equal protection under the Constitution of Japan regarding the payment of family allowance only to married employees. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case and the Tokyo High Court dismissed the appeal.
	Counsel for an American airline in a suit by a former employee alleging that his contract was unlawfully terminated. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case and the Tokyo High court dismissed the appeal.
	Counsel for a Swiss Financial institution in a restitution lawsuit. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, and was subsequently upheld by both the Tokyo High Court and the Supreme Court.
	Counsel for an American high-tech company in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by an employee. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case as being beyond the reasonable control of the company.
	Counsel for a European media company in an unlawful termination case brought by a former employee. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case as it found the termination to be lawful.
	Counsel for a European company regarding a business dispute with its Japanese joint venture partner. The Tokyo District Court granted a preliminary injunction which allowed our client to recover control over the joint venture subsidiary.
	Counsel for a Japanese financial institution in a suit by a bankruptcy trustee to recover an allegedly fraudulent asset transfer. The Tokyo District Court found no fraudulent transfer to our client and dismissed the trustee’s claim.
	Counsel for a Japanese financial institution in a suit by a trustee of a trading house under the corporate reorganization law. The trustee argued that our client was unjustly enriched when various forward foreign exchange transactions were automatically terminated due to the corporate reorganization. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the trustee’s claim for restitution, holding that our client was not enriched.
	Counsel for a Japanese retailer in a commercial arbitration brought by an American architect to the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA) for alleged unpaid design fees. Our client filed a counterclaim for damages. The panel of three arbitrators dismissed the architect's claim, and honored our client's counterclaim.
	Counsel for a Korean manufacturer in a commercial arbitration brought by a Japanese company to the JCAA. The JCAA appointed a prominent law professor as the sole arbitrator. We argued that JCAA had no jurisdiction because the arbitration clause was poorly drafted. The arbitrator agreed with us and dismissed the arbitration.
	Counsel for a Japanese company in a confidential private mediation to resolve a dispute between a bank and a lease company. The core issue was who should bear swap breakage costs incurred by restructuring the U.S.-based aircraft lease transaction. Both parties jointly appointed a retired judge as the sole mediator, and the dispute was resolved within a month as a result of expedited proceedings.
	Counsel for heirs of a famous foreign author and affiliated　companies in a suit which we filed with the Tokyo District Court. We　alleged that the defendants, who were book publishing business, etc.,　had infringed upon the copyrights, moral rights, and trademark rights　of our clients and also violated the Unfair Competition Law. The Tokyo　District Court admitted almost all parts of our allegations, and　rendered the cease and desist order, destruction order, and damage　compensation award. The defendants, as well as us as counterclaimants,　appealed to the Tokyo High Court, which made only minor　changes (small reductions) in the damage compensation amount.　The defendants further appealed to the Supreme Court, but it did not　allow the further appeal.
	Counsel for a subsidiary of international manufacturer (to be　confirmed) in various lawsuits filed by the holders of promissory　notes. Those promissory notes had been stolen from the safe of our client and thereafter alleged bona fide third parties purchased them. In total nine plaintiff filed suit. We won all of the cases at the district court level (Tokyo District Court and Niigata District Court),　except for the ones voluntarily withdrawn. One case was appealed to the　Tokyo High Court and we reached a settlement under conditions　favourable to our client.
	Counsel for an international securities company in a suit filed by　its former customer. The former customer demanded compensation for the damage allegedly caused by the misconduct of the employee of our client. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case. The plaintiff appealed to the Tokyo High Court, but thereafter voluntarily withdrew it.
	Counsel for an international public relations agency in a suit filed by its former employee who demanded the retirement allowance based upon the allegation that our client had promised to pay. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case. The plaintiff appealed to the Tokyo High Court, and we entered into a settlement agreement with terms and conditions favorable to our client.
	Counsel for a Japanese securities company in a suit filed by its customer. The plaintiff had purchased a certain foreign bond from our client, but the issuer of the bond became insolvent. The plaintiff demanded an unwinding of the transaction because of the insufficient and inappropriate explanation by our client, but the Tokyo District Court dismissed the case.
	Counsel for a certain employee who started working for an international medical device company. The plaintiff, a former employer of the defendant, alleged that there were restrictions in the employment agreement that prohibited the employee from working for a competing company for a certain period after the retirement, and demanded a preliminary cease and desist order. We defended the employee saying that the post retirement agreement is against the public order, at least in this specific case, and should be regarded as null and void. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case.
	Counsel for certain employees who started working for an international financial institution. The plaintiff, a former employer of the defendants, alleged that there was restriction in the employment agreement which prohibit the employees from working for a competing company for a certain period after the retirement, and demanded a preliminary cease and desist order. We defended the employees saying that such post retirement agreement is against public order at least in this specific case and shall be regarded null and void. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the case.
	Counsel for an (Israeli) medical device company in a suit which we filed with the Tokyo District Court against a purchaser of certain products to seek the payment of the accounts receivable. The defendant admitted the fact of purchase, but alleged that it had a counterclaim against our client and would set off. We disavowed the alleged counterclaim, and the Tokyo District Court rendered an award in favor of our client.