Akihiro HIRONAKA

Partner
Tokyo

Contact

印刷

"Akihiro Hironaka's broad expertise involves representing clients in cross-border disputes, including arbitrations, in connection with joint venture, product liability, tax and antitrust matters."
Chambers Global 2025
"Akihiro Hironaka is held in high esteem in the Japanese legal market as a prime choice foe complex cross-border disputes thanks to his unparalleled experience and outstanding command of law."
Lexology Index 2025
"Akihiro Hironaka comes highly recommended by market sources for his 'brilliant legal mind and pragmatic approach' to complex product liability matters, with particular expertise in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors."
Lexology Index 2024

Akihiro is a partner in the dispute resolution group, with extensive experience and a track record of success in complex and large scale litigation and arbitration of a cross-border and domestic nature. His experience extends to product liability, contractual claims, mass tort claims, and tax disputes.

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 also representing a vehicle manufacturer in a case in which a large number of claimants allege that diesel emission has caused asthma.

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, and he was selected for ALB Asia Super 50 Disputes Lawyers 2025 by Asian Legal Business.