UBS Japan’s regional general counsel is joining Sidley Austin Brown & Wood’s expansion drive in Tokyo.
Kazunobi Nishi, a bengoshi, brings strong connections with the investment banks in Japan, having also held the role of senior legal counsel at Goldman Sachs in the region. He will focus on regulatory and transactional matters, including M&A and strategic alliances.
Nishi said Sidley’s new Japanese joint venture, called Nishikawa & Partners, offered him the opportunity to use his “knowledge of investment banking and corporate finance to represent a wide range of clients”.
At the same time, the firm has also taken on Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe securitisation partner Chris Lewis, who is qualified to practise in both Japan and the UK.
Lewis had been a partner at Orrick in Tokyo since 1998, and prior to that he was with Simmons & Simmons.
Sidley teamed up with a group of local lawyers from Komatsu Koma & Nishikawa last October. The firm plans to achieve a total of 25 local and international lawyers in Japan in the next two years. With its latest hires it now has eight lawyers.