Business Succession and Inheritance Disputes | Dispute Resolution | Services

Business Succession and Inheritance Disputes

Dispute Resolution

Business Succession and Inheritance Disputes

INSIGHTS PROFESSIONALS SEMINARS PUBLICATIONS

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune has considerable experience and know-how in handling inheritance and business succession disputes. Our experience has included advising clients in connection with disputed matters such as conciliation for the division of an estate, litigation to claim abatement of a (testamentary) gift, and business succession litigation concerning the control of family-owned and closely held companies following the death or withdrawal of a principal shareholder or partner. In addition to our litigation expertise, we are experienced with alternative methods of dispute resolution such as mediation and arbitration. We also advise clients on how to avoid estate and business succession disputes, by providing careful counsel on the preparation, custody and execution of wills, and innovative advice on the structuring and establishment of family-owned and closely held businesses to avoid potential tax and legal problems in the future. We are highly effective in representing and advising English-speaking clients involved in, for example, inheritance disputes in situations where the heirs or ancestors are Japanese nationals or where the inherited property is located in Japan. Other relevant experience includes advising on business succession disputes involving Japanese domiciled companies owned or controlled by non-Japanese individuals or entities. In our practice, we always strive to achieve the best solution for our clients, carefully examining all aspects of a given situation, including domestic and international tax issues. In that regard, we regularly work with lawyers in other countries to assist clients in complying with complex multijurisdictional tax and other rules. Our Firm also represents the interests of estates and beneficiaries against the government in connection with tax disputes, which are often resolved through negotiation. -Examples of our experience include the following: •Acting for a U.S. resident in a court mediation procedure in Japan involving the division of inherited Japanese real property. Our representation included negotiating contracts with lessees and buyers of the property, and assisting the client in filing inheritance and estate tax returns in Japan and the U.S., which required skillful negotiation with the Japanese tax authorities; •Acting for an heir resident in Korea and two Japanese heirs in a court procedure in Japan involving a dispute with their mother over the division of their father's estate, which was governed by Korean law. One of the central issues was agreeing to an appraised value for certain property and buildings in a major commercial area in Tokyo; and Acting for a Japanese heir resident in California in a lawsuit in Japan to exercise a claim for abatement of testamentary gifts to preserve the statutory reserved portion, which involved an appraisal of the value of shares of stock in the companies that were included in the gift.

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PROFESSIONALS

YutakaShimoo

Tokyo

Osaka

Partner

Tokyo

Osaka

Partner

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Yutaka Shimoo is a partner who principally focuses on tax, wealth management and dispute resolution, and also broadly handles corporate legal affairs including corporate affairs, labor and employment, and crisis management. With regard to tax and wealth management, Yutaka provides advice from both legal and tax perspectives, drawing on his extensive work experience as a lawyer and his experience as an officer with the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau. His strength in these areas lies in capabilities on the fields where legal matter and tax matter are intersected each other, such as global incentives and capital policies, and wide experience on cross-border transactions. Recently, Yutaka has also actively worked on tax issues related to digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs. In addition, Yutaka has extensive litigation experience representing financial institutions and business corporations in the dispute resolution field, and also handles many disputes related to inheritance and business succession.

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HirokiWakabayashi

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

Partner

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Hiroki Wakabayashi is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, primarily representing both Japanese and non-Japanese financial institutions, audit corporations and business corporations in transaction disputes, professional responsibility disputes, labor relation disputes and other types of disputes, based on his experience as a lawyer as well as a judge. In addition to these corporate related disputes, he also practices in the areas of inheritance and domestic relations.

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KeiAkagawa

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

Partner

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Kei Akagawa (Mr.) is a partner who heads the dispute practice group of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune. He is specialized in dispute resolution (litigation, arbitration and out of court dispute resolution, including international dispute resolution). He is experienced in the various aspects of dispute resolution that arise in connection with corporate, including consumer related matters. In particular, he constantly engages in disputes concerning M&A transactions, Finance transactions, IT matters, Internet issues, Energy transactions, Real Estate transactions, Product Safety issues, Labor issues and Tax issues in Japan and overseas.

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AoiInoue

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

Partner

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Mr. Aoi Inoue is a partner and the Head of the International Arbitration practice at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune. He specializes in international arbitration and litigation. He represents clients in a wide range of business disputes, including joint venture, distributorship, construction and infrastructure projects, licensing, franchising, complex financial products, labor & employment and product liability. He has acted as counsel in a number of international arbitrations under various rules including the ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, AAA-ICDR, JCAA, CIETAC, VIAC and UNCITRAL. He also serves as arbitrator and has been appointed to the panel of arbitrators of the JCAA, KCAB INTERNATIONAL and Japan Sports Arbitration Agency (JSAA). He has been recognized as a leading arbitration lawyer in Lexology Index Thought Leaders: Arbitration, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500: Asia Pacific, Best Lawyers and Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific. Mr. Inoue also acts for overseas clients seeking to expand into Japan through international franchising. His support includes structuring, negotiating and drafting relevant documents such as international direct franchise agreements, international master franchise agreements and joint venture agreements. He also assists Japanese clients seeking to expand into foreign countries through international franchising. Mr. Inoue has been nominated for inclusion in the list of recognized franchise lawyers of Lexology Index: Franchise.

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MotoyaIshibashi

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

Partner

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Motoya Ishibashi has experience in asset management, investment trust, REITs and capital markets. He also advises matters regarding real estate and financial regulations.

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AkiraTanaka

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

Partner

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Akira Tanaka particularly specializes in tax. He has broad experience and expertise in various tax practices, ranging from tax planning to tax litigation. He also has extensive experience working on general dispute resolution matters. He has represented numerous Japanese and foreign companies in litigation and other dispute resolution procedures, in areas such as international transactions, M&A and financial transactions.

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MasahiroYano

Osaka

Tokyo

Partner

Osaka

Tokyo

Partner

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Masahiro Yano has extensive experience in dispute resolution, mainly for commercial matters, including domestic litigation and mediation as well as international litigation, mediation and arbitration. Mr. Yano also handles an administrative dispute case, drawing on his experience as a governmental official. In addition, Mr. Yano advises various clients in the field of the construction law.

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ShunsukeDomon

Singapore

Tokyo

Partner

Singapore

Tokyo

Partner

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Shunsuke Domon specializes in international arbitration, mediation, and litigation. He has acted as counsel in a number of international arbitration cases under major institutional rules including Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), and Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) as well as in mediation cases (including an online mediation under the JIMC-SIMC Joint Covid-19 Protocol). He has also advised clients in cross-border disputes involving various jurisdictions in Southeast Asia (such as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia), Hong Kong, India, the United States, Italy, Jordan, and Egypt.

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ChiekoTsuchiya

Tokyo

Special Counsel

Tokyo

Special Counsel

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Chieko Tsuchiya provides advice to both Japanese and international companies on cross-border insolvency matters, dispute resolutions, commercial transactions and employment law issues. She has also engaged in nuclear law related matters using her professional experience at the International Atomic Energy Agency. She has extensively worked on variety of international complex insolvency and civil cases that require coordination of multi-stakeholders’ interests and court proceedings in multiple jurisdictions. Chieko is an adjunct judge/mediator at the Tokyo Family Court and has acted as a mediator in Tokyo Bar Association.

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