Law Firms
Quinn Emanuel Opens Japan Office
Posted Dec 12, 2007, 06:32 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges has acquired a three-lawyer Los Angeles boutique and is sending one of the partners from the new acquisition to Tokyo to launch a new office.
The lawyer, Henry Koda, focused his practice on patent and trademark prosecution and international intellectual property litigation for Japanese clients, the Recorder reports.
Firm founder John Quinn told the legal publication that Quinn Emanuel has many clients from Japan “and having lawyers on the ground there is going to raise our profile." He said the firm wants to expand in Japan, rather than China, because the country is more sophisticated about intellectual property matters.
The chairman of Morrison & Foerster, Keith Wetmore, told the Recorder he’s not threatened by the new competition. The firm has more than 100 lawyers in the country, making it the largest Japanese practice of a U.S. firm. "At the risk of sounding smug, we have an incredible head start,” he said.