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Nishimura & Asahi Achieves Global Expansion and Highest Japan Rankings at IFLR1000 2024
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Yo Ota receives praise from a market source for his corporate law expertise. He is well placed to advise on acquisitions, business alliances and corporate governance matters. One interviewee attests: "I'm impressed with his creative advice. He leads numerous difficult projects for us and it is indispensable for us to have his direct involvement."
Chambers, Corporate/M&A: Domestic (Global 2022) -
Yo Ota is active on transactional work, as well as representing clients in disputes with the National Tax Agency over assessments and audits. He is praised by market sources for his "realistic and innovative advice based on the latest trends," while another observes that "he proposes the optimal litigation strategy and tactics through discussions with the parties concerned."
Chambers, Tax: Domestic (Asia-Pacific 2022)
Yo Ota’s practice covers a wide range of fields, focusing on hostile takeovers, shareholder activism, and corporate governance. He always delivers creative solutions to clients.
Mr. Ota has a breadth of practical international and domestic legal experience, focusing on the areas of hostile takeovers, shareholder activism, M&A transactions (including cross-border deals), corporate governance and other corporate matters, domestic / international Tax, personal information / data protection, and works on a wide range of corporate legal affairs. He was selected as the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2022" in the corporate law category (1st), the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2021" in the corporate law (excl. M&A) category (2nd), and also the NIKKEI "Most Successful Lawyers in 2020" in the M&A category (1st) and the corporate law category (3rd). In addition, he dedicates himself to research and writing activities that bridge academia and practice on cutting-edge issues related to the Companies Act, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, tax law, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, etc. He has edited and authored many books and papers, such as “Schemes and Tax Issues of M&A and Corporate Restructuring, 4th Ed.”, “Corpus Juris M&A - Completely Revised Edition (first volume) (second volume)”, “Handbook on Share Options (Fifth Edition)”, “Corpus Juris Series - Personal Information Protection Legislation (Global)”, “Handbook on Class Shares”, “Nuts and Shell of the 2019 Amendment of the Companies Act and Practical Response”, “Legal Issues and Practices of Virtual Shareholders’ Meeting”, etc.
Representative Work
Awards & Rankings
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Nishimura & Asahi Receives Top Rankings in World Tax 2025
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15 Lawyers Selected for Asia Business Law Journal’s The A-List: Japan’s Top 100 Lawyers 2024
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24 Nishimura & Asahi Lawyers Named Thomson Reuters “Stand-out Lawyers 2024”
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Nishimura & Asahi Receives Top Rankings in Chambers Global 2024
Seminars
Publications
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Lexology Getting the Deal Through - Shareholder Activism & Engagement 2024: Japan
Articles
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Lexology Getting the Deal Through - Shareholder Activism & Engagement 2023: Japan
Articles
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Corpus Juris Series - Personal Information Protection Legislation (Global)
Books
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Getting the Deal Through - Shareholder Activism & Engagement 2020: Japan
Articles
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Getting the Deal Through 2019 - Shareholder Activism & Engagement: Japan
Articles
News
Education
- 2000
- Harvard Law School (LL.M.)
- 1991
- The University of Tokyo (LL.B.)
Professional Experience
- Outside Corporate Auditor, Z Financial Corporation
- Outside Corporate Auditor, Ricoh Company Ltd.
- Outside Director, Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.
- Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo
- Director, Japan Association of Corporate Directors
- Member of Responsibility Pursuit Committee, Nikko Cordial Corporation
- Lecturer, Tax Law, Seikei University Law School
- Outside Director, Denki Kogyo Company, Limited
- Outside Corporate Auditor, Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd
- Lecturer, Kyoto University Law School
- Outside Corporate Auditor, Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.
- Lecturer, Hitotsubashi University, Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy (ICS)
- Lecturer in Law, International Transactions, Graduate School of Law, Chuo University
- The Ministry of Justice, Civil Affairs Bureau (engaged in the reform of the Japanese Commercial Code)
- Debevoise & Plimpton, New York
- Lecturer in Law, International Taxation, St. Paul's (Rikkyo) University