Big Four Japanese firm Anderson Mori & Tomotsune (AMT) has opened an associated office in France, as it continues to expand across Europe.
AMT said the new office would enable it to offer integrated legal support covering Japanese law, French law and EU law to Japanese companies engaged in M&A, investments and disputes in France, as well as French companies operating in Japan.
The new location will operate as an associated office with MTS Law Office, founded in Paris in 2022 by former AMT associate Manami Toyota Sirvent.
Toyota Sirvent, who is dual qualified in Japan and France, pointed to Paris’s status as a hub for Japanese businesses in Europe and as a leading, and frequently top-ranked, centre for start-ups in Europe, often competing with London for the number one spot.
“In recent years, with the opening of Station F, one of the world’s largest start-up campuses, and the annual hosting of Viva Technology, a major international technology event, the city has played a central role in shaping one of the world’s leading start-up ecosystems,” Toyota Sirvent said. “Through our Paris office, we are committed to providing sophisticated legal services, grounded in local expertise, to clients seeking to enter or expand in the European market.”
The office is AMT’s third in Europe after the bases it opened in London and Brussels in 2022 and 2024 respectively, as it sought to broaden its ability to offer Japanese law advice to clients across the region. It gives AMT the distinction of being the only firm among Japan’s Big Four to have an on-the-ground presence in the French capital, though its rivals have also been busily opening bases in Europe in recent years to support a surge in cross-border M&A deals and navigate complex new EU regulations around tech and data.
Nishimura & Asahi became the first of the Big Four to establish an on-the-ground presence in Europe in 2020 when it opened two offices in Germany, avoiding London at the time due to concerns over Brexit. It opened in Brussels and London last year, while Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu launched its first European office in London last summer.
Last September, Mori Hamada also announced it would debut in Europe later this year with an office in London that will serve as its hub for the region, having focused its international growth on the US in recent years, where, since 2023, it has opened in New York and San Francisco.
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