Practice Areas
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- General Corporate
- Startup Law
- Litigation/Dispute Resolution
- Mobility
- Automated Driving
- MaaS
- AI
- Platformer
- Public Affairs
- Cross Border Practice
- Cross-border M&A
- Inbound
- Data Protection
- Risk Management
- Healthcare
Education
- 2016
- Nagoya University Graduate school of Law (LL.B)
Experience
- 2023
- Joined ZeLo
- 2021
- Seconded to Road Transport Bureau of Graduated from Nagoya University (LL.B, 2016), passed Japan Bar Exam (Registered in 2018). Experience at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto (2019-2023), seconded to Road Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Passenger Transport Division and Accident Compensation Policy Office) (2021-2023), and joined ZeLo (2023-). Main practice areas include M&A, startup law, regulations on automobiles, mobility and transportation, dispute resolution, and public affairs. (Passenger Transport Division and Accident Compensation Policy Office) (2021.7-2023.6)
- 2019
- Joined Mori Hamada & Matsumoto
- 2018
- Qualified to Practice Law (Daini Tokyo Bar Association)
- 2017
- Passed Japan Bar Exam
Representative Works
- Handled legal due diligence, contract negotiations, and regulatory compliance for numerous M&A (various schemes such as share transfer, merger/divestiture, business transfer) of listed and non-listed companies, including cross-border and carve-out transactions.
- Handled multiple litigation and dispute matters, including M&A-related litigation.
- Engaged in various corporate legal cases, including drafting and negotiating investment and shareholder agreements for venture company investments, advising on the establishment of Japanese subsidiaries by foreign companies (including support for the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act), advising on various regulatory laws for the launch of new services, and advising on the development of governance systems for global companies.
- Especially in the automotive/mobility field, engaged in numerous cases such as capital and business alliance of a major automobile company, business integration of a taxi-hailing app company, advising a foreign company on location-based services for automated driving, advising and drafting legal opinions (Japanese and English) on the Road Transport Act and other laws for MaaS services, advising a foreign company on launching a food delivery app, litigation related to logistics business.
- From July 2021, seconded to Road Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. As a Deputy Director of the Passenger Division, engaged in interpretation, operation and revision of laws and regulations (Road Transport Act, etc.) concerning passenger transportation using buses, taxies and private cars, car rental and car sharing, development of rules concerning bus and taxi business using autonomous cars, review of systems and operation improvement measures to maintain regional transportation in underpopulated areas, as well as the amendment of the Act on Revitalization and Rehabilitation of Local Public Transportation Systems and the Road Transport Act in 2023 for " re-design" regional public transportation. Also, as a Director for Policy Planning and Coordination of the Accident Compensation Policy Office, engaged in reviewing liability and victim relief in the event of accidents involving autonomous cars and new mobility (electric kickboards, automated delivery robots, etc.), as well as the digitalization of liability insurance certificates for electric kickboards. Further, deeply involved in the amendment of the Road Traffic Act in 2022 regarding the development of traffic rules for automated driving (Level 4) and new mobility, from the standpoint of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Awards & Rankings
- 2024
-
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 - CORPORATE AND M&A: INDEPENDENT LOCAL FIRMS IN JAPAN
TIER 4 FIRMS: ZeLo, A Foreign Law Joint Enterprise
- 2023
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023 - "Firms To Watch" in Corporate And M&A: Independent Local Firms
Activities
- Full Member of the Japan Traffic Law Association (October 2023-)
- Appointed as a Digital Advisor (Legal) at Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Policy Bureau (April 2024-)
- Counselor, National Ridesharing Liaison Council of Local Authorities (October 2024-)
Publications
Seminars
Interviews
- 08.2023
- 真下敬太弁護士が東京交通新聞の特別寄稿枠に寄稿
