Debevoise & Plimpton Opens in Tokyo

Debevoise & Plimpton has opened an office in Tokyo, where it has advised Japanese corporations for decades. But the firm is not doing so by bringing onboard outside lawyers. Instead, it has relocated three attorneys from New York City.

Leading the office is Christopher Smeall, a corporate partner who advises on joint ventures, financing, acquisitions and other corporate governance issues, and Naomi Aoyama, a Japanese bengoshi who is qualified in New York where she has practiced for 15 years. She began her career at a Japanese law firm in Tokyo.

Smeall is registered in Tokyo as a gaikokuho jimu bengoshi, ...