Nishimura & Asahi Selected for Global Arbitration Review’s GAR 100 for the Eighth Consecutive Year

Hiroyuki heads our international dispute resolution practice. He specializes in international commercial litigation, arbitration, and mediation, and has represented many international clients, including multinational manufacturers, banking and securities firms, insurance companies, and information media companies, in disputes involving M&A, antitrust laws, corporate governance, insurance laws, intellectual property, defamation, joint ventures, licensing, construction, and other commercial matters, as well as international bankruptcy proceedings. He has been involved in a number of international arbitrations as counsel, sole arbitrator, and co-arbitrator (including chair) before the ICC, JCAA, AAA-ICDR, VIAC, KCAB, and SIAC.

Hiroyuki serves as Vice President of the Japan Association of Arbitrators and as Chief Director of the Japan International Mediation Center in Kyoto; formerly, he served as the Vice Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the IBA Legal Practice Division, and as Co-Chair of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee at the IPBA (2016-2020). From 2013 to 2016, he taught international arbitration and international dispute resolution at the University of Tokyo, School of Law as a visiting professor. He also served as a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC (second term, through June 2024), a Council Member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law (ongoing, since 2018), and a member of the Court of Arbitration of the SIAC (2013-2024).
 

Akihiro’s experience covers product liability, contractual claims, mass tort claims, and tax disputes, in various industries, in particular in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. He has also handled disputes arising from M&A transactions, disputes involving construction sites in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and disputes arising from the termination of distribution agreements. He has achieved significant results in international arbitrations, including emergency arbitration proceedings under the rules of the ICC, SIAC, AAA-ICDR, and JCAA. He also advised clients in connection with US civil actions, including class actions, and Japanese judicial assistance for foreign court proceedings.

In one notable case, he successfully defended a Japanese trading company against six large vicarious liability lawsuits, involving claims totaling JPY 48.3 billion, filed by claimants including an affiliate of a US-headquartered investment bank and a US hedge fund. He also recovered JPY 13.3 billion for Shionogi & Co. in an action challenging a tax assessment relating to an in-kind contribution of a partnership interest in a cross-border reorganization for the development of a drug for AIDS. He is currently representing a pharmaceutical company in one of the largest product liability lawsuits in Japan.

He is a graduate of The University of Tokyo (LL.B., 1993) and Harvard Law School (LL.M., 2003), and is licensed to practice law in Japan and New York. He served as a Japanese district court judge from 1998 until 2000, and worked at Arnold & Porter (Washington, D.C.) from 2003 until 2004. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

He is the author of various books and articles in the areas of litigation and international arbitration, including Yasuhei Taniguchi et al. eds., Civil Procedure in Japan (contributor, Juris Publishing). He was awarded the "Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year" at the ALB Japan Law Awards in 2022.

Focusing on disputes arising out of the termination of contracts, in particular for clients in the automotive, pharmaceutical, electronic devices, apparel, and food & beverage sectors, Yutaro Kawabata is a “divorce lawyer” for companies. Since joining Nishimura & Asahi in 2004, he has been involved in a number of major international arbitration and commercial litigation cases.

Chié Nakahara specializes in international litigation and arbitration. The disputes she typically handles relate to M&A, distributorship, licensing, franchising, and the termination of such continuous contracts, construction, product liability, corporate governance, intellectual property, finance and other commercial matters. She has acted in a large number of complex and high profile litigations and arbitrations. She serves as a panel of arbitrators at Korean Commercial Arbitration Board International, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, and also as a registered arbitrator at the Daiichi Tokyo Bar Arbitration Center.

Lars’ practice is focused on commercial and investment arbitration. He has particular expertise in contentious proceedings involving post-M&A, commercial, manufacturing, construction, and distribution matters, in areas such as life sciences, automotive, and energy. Lars also deals with cases involving governments, and has advised foreign investors and sovereign states on issues of foreign direct investment and public international law, including related negotiations and investor-state disputes. He has been involved in more than 60 international arbitrations as counsel and as arbitrator under the arbitration rules of institutions such as the ICC, DIS, SAC, NAI, ICDR, KCAB, JCAA, SIAC, and ICSID, as well as under the UNCITRAL Rules.

Shintaro Uno is one of Japan’s leading experts on FIDIC and other construction-industry contracts. He specializes in international engineering and construction of infrastructure projects around the world, with a particular focus on Japan and Asia. He has extensive experience advising on a wide range of projects, including semiconductor plants, data centers, high-speed railways, highways, submarine cables, coal-mining process facilities, Mass Rapid Transit, high-rise buildings, lithium hydroxide plants, various types of power plants, tunnels, ports, dredging, offshore wind, and water treatment and supply facilities, with primary contracts based on the standard FIDIC contract forms (including Redbook, Yellowbook, Silverbook 1999 and 2017 editions), Minkanrengo Building contract, Nikkenren Design Build, and ENAA. 

On the contentious side, Shintaro successfully represents both employers and contractors in proceedings before Dispute Adjudication Boards, international arbitral tribunals, and national courts. He has particular expertise in arbitration under the SIAC, ICC, BANI, and DIAC rules.

Shintaro has been recognized as a Leading Individual in the Construction: International category by Chambers Asia-Pacific for three consecutive years (2023–2025), reflecting his reputation and track record in the region.

Over the past 14 years, Shintaro has been based in Southeast Asia, where he has advised on numerous complex disputes and crisis scenarios. His regional experience is especially extensive in Indonesia, where he has handled more than 70 contentious matters—including litigation, internal investigations, local arbitrations, and criminal cases—demonstrating his capability to navigate sensitive legal issues in cross-border settings.

Prior to joining Nishimura & Asahi in 2017, Natalie worked in London and in Singapore and has acted as counsel in more than 50 arbitration, mediation, and adjudication matters extending across a large range of industries, including shipping, engineering, onshore and offshore construction, aviation, oil and gas, international trade, asset finance, telecommunications, motor racing and automotive distribution. Aside from acting in contentious proceedings, Natalie regularly advises on dispute prevention and risk management. In 2015, Natalie was named Asia Women in Business Law’s “Rising Star for Litigation”. She is ranked in the 2021,2022 and 2023 editions of Who’s Who Legal (Arbitration).She is also ranked in the 2021 and 2022 editions of the Legal 500 (for Real Estate and Construction). Natalie is a contributing author to Singapore International Arbitration: Law and Practice (2nd ed., 2018 , edited by David Joseph, QC and David Foxton, QC).

Azusa has been based in N&A’s NY Office since its opening in 2018. Her practice focuses on international arbitration under a wide variety of arbitral rules and often involves complex commercial litigation. As a resident of New York, she often engages in legal proceedings in the US, such as those concerning contractual disputes, M&A-related disputes, consumer litigation including class actions and product liability litigation, and labor disputes involving Japanese companies. Azusa has advised multinational companies in diverse industries, including the pharmaceuticals, automobile, insurance, aviation, construction, solar energy, telecommunications, and electronics fields. She has extensive experience with court proceedings in Japan relating to domestic litigation, arbitration, and multi-jurisdictional disputes. She also assists clients with crisis management matters, including internal investigations, product recalls, and cyber incidents in the United States. Based on her extensive practice experience in both Japan and the United States, she provides timely and thorough support to Japanese companies doing business in the United States.