TMI Associates

TMI Associates
Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan
No. of offices 8
No. of attorneys 380 (Feb. 2014)[1]
No. of employees 626 (Feb. 2014)[1]
Major practice areas General practice
Date founded October 1, 1990
Company type Partnership under Japanese law
Website
http://www.tmi.gr.jp/english/

TMI Associates (TMI総合法律事務所 TMI Sōgō Hōritsu Jimusho) is the fifth-largest law firm in Japan.

The firm was founded in 1990 by ten intellectual property specialists who left the law firm of Nishimura & Partners. It grew quickly in ensuing years, with 33 attorneys as of 1998 and 84 attorneys as of 2004.[2]

TMI is headquartered in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It has branch offices in Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Singapore and Yangon.[3] It opened its first domestic branch office in Nagoya in 2012.[4] It was the first Japanese law firm to open an office in Myanmar.[5]

The firm has joint ventures with the American law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the British law firm of Simmons & Simmons and the German law firm of ARQIS Rechtsanwälte. The Simmons & Simmons venture, begun in 2001, was the first registered joint venture between a major Japanese law firm and an international law firm under the attorney at foreign law system.[2][6] TMI's Singapore office is also shared with Simmons & Simmons.[7]

The firm is particularly known for its intellectual property practice, being ranked one of the top 3 trademark firms in Japan by World Trademark Review[8] and winning the "Best Japanese IP Firm 2013" award at the International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards.[9] In 2010, the firm hired a former head of the Intellectual Property High Court as an advisor.[10] Chambers & Partners ranks TMI as a second tier firm in intellectual property and as a third tier firm in corporate/M&A and dispute resolution.[11]

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 292 Japanese attorneys at law, 5 registered foreign attorneys, 23 unregistered foreign attorneys, 59 patent attorneys and 1 foreign patent attorney. "組織構成". TMI Associates. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 Chan, Kay-Wah (2005). "Foreign Law Firms: Implications for Professional Legal Education in Japan" (PDF). Journal of Japanese Law (20): 56–79.
  3. http://www.tmi.gr.jp/english/global/index.html
  4. http://www.tmi.gr.jp/english/about/nagoya.html
  5. "TMI、ミャンマーに弁護士事務所 日系進出に対応". 日本経済新聞. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  6. http://asia.legalbusinessonline.com/law-firms/tmi-associates-secures-third-jv/1083/22331
  7. "Simmons & Simmons to open shop in Singapore". Managing Partner. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  8. "Japan". World Trademark Review. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  9. "Winners 2013". ILA Summit. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  10. "TMI総合法律事務所、知財高裁所長ら顧問に迎え入れ". 日本経済新聞. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  11. http://www.chambersandpartners.com/uk/Firms/3574-254185

External links

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