# Atsumi & Sakai

Atsumi & Sakai (渥美坂井法律事務所, Atsumi Sakai Hōritsu Jimusho) is a law firm in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1994 as Atsumi & Usui. Under the name of Atsumi & Partners, the firm formed a foreign law joint venture in April 2005 in response to the increasingly international needs of clients' business activities. In November 2010, the current name Atsumi & Sakai was adopted following our affiliation with a group of lawyers led by Yutaka Sakai. With over 240 lawyers (as of December 2024), by number of lawyers, Atsumi & Sakai is a Big 6 Japanese law firm that mainly practices corporate and cross-border matters and is ranked a Top 5 Japanese law firm by a certain Western legal publisher.
In addition to its head office in Tokyo, Atsumi & Sakai has affiliated offices in New York (Atsumi & Sakai New York LLP), London (Atsumi & Sakai Europe Limited), Frankfurt (Atsumi & Sakai Europa GmbH - Rechtsanwälte und Steuerberater*)(* A corporation registered in Germany providing legal and tax advisory services), Brussels (Atsumi & Sakai Brussels EU), and Ho Chi Minh City (Atsumi & Sakai Vietnam Law Firm). In December 2020, Atsumi & Sakai established a Kojimachi Office as a secondary office in Tokyo, and established a Fukuoka Affiliate Office (A&S Fukuoka LPC)* (*Although A&S Fukuoka LPC is affiliated with Atsumi & Sakai Legal Professional Corporation, it is a separate corporation and is not a branch office of Atsumi & Sakai Legal Professional Corporation.) in September 2022 (The Kojimachi Office became an independent entity under the name Atsumi Law Office in January 2023, and is currently an affiliate of Atsumi & Sakai).
In June 2022, Atsumi & Sakai established the Policy Research Institute as a platform to bring together lawyers and experts from various companies, organizations and public institutions. The Policy Research Institute engages in research, drafting of policy proposals, and publication activities with the aim of bridging gaps between policy and practice that have not been addressed by either public or private institutions.
Atsumi & Sakai has been awarded "Overseas Practice Law Firm of the Year" by Thomson Reuters' Asian Legal Business (ALB) for three consecutive years, in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In ALB's February 2022 edition, Atsumi & Sakai was featured as one of ten law firms that are furthering diversity and inclusion (D&I) in Japan's legal industry. ALB reported in the same article that 27% of all lawyers and 23% of partners at Atsumi & Sakai were women, and that the firm had set a goal of raising both ratios to 30%.
In 2023, Atsumi & Sakai was ranked 5th in the overall ranking of Japanese law firms by Top Ranked Legal in the UK following the traditional "Big Four" firms Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Nishimura & Asahi, and Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu. The Lawyer, a London-based magazine, has also mentioned Atsumi & Sakai as a member of the "Big Five".
Top Ranked Legal rates Atsumi & Sakai highly in a total of 17 practice areas, including five in the highest Band 1 (Banking & Finance, Capital Markets: Structured Finance, FinTech, Projects, and TMT) and an additional eight in Band 2 (Capital Markets, Capital Markets: Securitisation, Corporate Investigations, Funds, IP, Real Estate, Restructuring & Insolvency, and Shipping).
Legal 500 rates Atsumi & Sakai in Tier 1 in Banking and Finance, FinTech, and Investment Funds, and Tier 2 in Antitrust and Competition, Corporate and M&A, Intellectual Property, Projects and Energy, Real Estate and Construction, Risk Management and Investigations, Shipping and TMT. IFLR 1000 ranks Atsumi & Sakai as Tier 1 in structured finance and securitization and Tier 2 in banking and project development and project finance. Chambers and Partners ranks founding partner Hiroo Atsumi among "Senior Statespeople" in the area of banking & finance.

## Practices

With a large number of qualified Japanese and foreign lawyers, Atsumi & Sakai can advise on the laws of the US States of New York and California, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, India, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, England and Wales*, and the Australian States of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
The firm is a so-called full-service law firm and covers all major areas of law with its advice. The lawyers of Atsumi & Sakai has abundant practical experience and know-how in a wide range of fields including finance, M&A / investment projects, antitrust law, various funds, labor law, intellectual property, IT/TMT, international trade, litigation / arbitration / bankruptcy / business revitalization, life sciences, energy, sports / entertainment, and innovation fields such as crisis management and Fintech/IoT/AI.
$^*$Atsumi & Sakai is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for England and Wales.

## History

* 1994 - Established as “Atsumi & Usui”
* 2003 - Changed the name to “Atsumi & Partners”
* April 2005 - Formed a foreign law joint venture
* July 2013 - Entered into a Foreign Law Joint Enterprise with Janssen Foreign Law Office; Janssen Foreign Law Office changed its name to “Janssen Foreign Law Joint Enterprise with Atsumi & Sakai”.
* August 2014 - Opened Berlin Affiliate Office
* January 2015 - Opened London Office as Atsumi & Sakai Europe Limited
* December 2015 - Berlin Affiliate Office relocated to Frankfurt (Atsumi & Sakai Europa GmbH - Rechtsanwälte und Steuerberater)。
* December 2020 - Opened Kojimachi Office of Atsumi & Sakai Legal Professional Corporation (Secondary office of Atsumi & Sakai Legal Professional Corporation)
* February 2021 - Opened Atsumi & Sakai New York LLP
* September 2022 - Opened Fukuoka Affiliate Office (A&S Fukuoka LPC)
* January 2023 - Kojimachi Office became independent under the name Atsumi Law Office (becoming an affiliate office of Atsumi & Sakai Legal Professional Corporation)
* May 2024 - Opened Brussels Office (Atsumi & Sakai Brussels EU)
* July 2024 - Opened Ho Chi Minh City Office (Atsumi & Sakai Vietnam Law Firm)