King & Spalding has opened its office in Tokyo after receiving the requisite approvals from the Japanese Ministry of Justice. The Tokyo office is the firm’s 18th office overall and 10th office outside the United States. Along with the firm’s Singapore office, the Tokyo office will anchor King & Spalding’s energy practice throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
“The Tokyo office capitalizes on the momentum the firm has already achieved in the energy, projects, finance, construction and international arbitration arena,” said Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of King & Spalding. “Our clients will benefit from our increased expertise and expanded presence in Asia.”
As previously announced in June, John McClenahan, Mark Davies and Chris Bailey, all formerly of Ashurst, are the founding partners of King & Spalding’s Tokyo office.
In addition, Rupert Lewi will be joining the firm from Ashurst in October 2015. The renowned team represents major Japanese and Korean entities in the energy and resources sector, including export credit agencies and financial institutions. They have extensive experience advising and supporting clients in the resolution of disputes, with particular expertise in energy and resources, infrastructure, transport and trade, and intellectual property disputes.
The Tokyo team advises on all aspects across the life of infrastructure and energy and resources projects. With fully integrated teams, the lawyers specialize in:
Energy and resources – LNG (liquefaction and regasification terminals and shipping), FLNG, FSRU, FPSO, gas pipelines, petrochemicals, upstream oil and gas, power generation facilities, and mining
Infrastructure development – rail, road, air, and seaport terminals
Dispute resolution – investor-state and complex commercial arbitration, strategic management of foreign national court litigation, governmental investigations, the design of corporate compliance programmes, sanctions advice, and other contentious regulatory matters
Finance – project finance, asset finance, ECA financing, and ship finance
Corporate – M&A, private investment funds, and joint ventures
