Shinji Kusakabe
Partner- 03-6888-1062
- 03-6888-3062
Practice Areas
Key Practice Areas
Commercial Litigation Corporate and Commercial Law Corporate Compliance, Anti-Corruption and Investigations Corporate Governance Employment Litigation and Dispute Resolution Employment Law and Compliance Distribution Issues/Premiums and Representations Act/Subcontract Act/Unfair Trade Practices Act IP Licensing and Transactions International Litigation and Arbitration Alternative Dispute Resolution Financial and Securities Dispute Resolution Other Dispute Resolution Establishing a Business Presence in Japan
Related Practice Areas
Real Estate Transactions IP Infringement Litigation/Dispute Resolution Health Care, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences JFTC Investigation / Proceedings, Leniency and Litigation Competition Compliance Tax Litigation and Dispute Resolution Energy and Natural Resources
Commercial Litigation Corporate and Commercial Law Corporate Compliance, Anti-Corruption and Investigations Corporate Governance Employment Litigation and Dispute Resolution Employment Law and Compliance Distribution Issues/Premiums and Representations Act/Subcontract Act/Unfair Trade Practices Act IP Licensing and Transactions International Litigation and Arbitration Alternative Dispute Resolution Financial and Securities Dispute Resolution Other Dispute Resolution Establishing a Business Presence in Japan
Real Estate Transactions IP Infringement Litigation/Dispute Resolution Health Care, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences JFTC Investigation / Proceedings, Leniency and Litigation Competition Compliance Tax Litigation and Dispute Resolution Energy and Natural Resources
Practice
Shinji Kusakabe specializes in litigation and arbitration, both international and domestic, as well as assisting clients in commercial transactions, product liabilities and other general corporate matters. In particular, Mr. Kusakabe has a wealth of practical experience in assisting manufacturers with regard to product liability issues. Mr. Kusakabe's particular specialties lie in advising clients on general corporate matters, taking into consideration potential future disputes, and in resolving current disputes in light of actual business practices and circumstances.
Cases which Mr. Kusakabe has recently handled include lawsuits related to termination of commercial relationships, illegal transactions conducted by employees, product liability, bid-rigging conspiracies and venture capital investments. Mr. Kusakabe is also actively engaged in international arbitration, which includes cases where the place of arbitration is not Japan.
In addition to his professional experience at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Mr. Kusakabe's prior experience includes working as a Foreign Associate at Kelley Drye & Warren's New York office (September 1999 to August 2000) and a full-time secondment to Swiss Bank Corporation's (now UBS AG) Tokyo Legal & Compliance department (February to July 1998).
Mr. Kusakabe also serves as Practicing-Attorney-Professor for Civil Advocacy at the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan (since April 2010). (For details of this position, please visit http://www.courts.go.jp/english/institute/index.html )
Cases which Mr. Kusakabe has recently handled include lawsuits related to termination of commercial relationships, illegal transactions conducted by employees, product liability, bid-rigging conspiracies and venture capital investments. Mr. Kusakabe is also actively engaged in international arbitration, which includes cases where the place of arbitration is not Japan.
In addition to his professional experience at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Mr. Kusakabe's prior experience includes working as a Foreign Associate at Kelley Drye & Warren's New York office (September 1999 to August 2000) and a full-time secondment to Swiss Bank Corporation's (now UBS AG) Tokyo Legal & Compliance department (February to July 1998).
Mr. Kusakabe also serves as Practicing-Attorney-Professor for Civil Advocacy at the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan (since April 2010). (For details of this position, please visit http://www.courts.go.jp/english/institute/index.html )
Practice Groups
・Litigation Practice
・Corporate Transactions
・Corporate Transactions
Education
・Tokyo University (LL.B., 1993)
・New York University (LL.M., International Legal Studies, 1999)
・Trained at a law firm in the United States
・New York University (LL.M., International Legal Studies, 1999)
・Trained at a law firm in the United States
Professional Admissions
・Japan (1995)
・New York (2000)
・New York (2000)
Professional Lectures
| [Litigation, Arbitration and ADRs] | |
・ | "Theory and Practice in International Dispute Resolution" (December 2009) |
・ | "Obligations of Arbitrators to Investigate and Disclose Conflicts of Interest - How Members of Large Law Firms should Satisfy These Obligations-" (Speaker at the session "The IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration - A perspective five years later" presented by the Arbitration Committee at the IBA Annual Conference; October 2009) |
・ | "Introduction to the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest and Report on Recent Decisions (by National Courts and International Arbitration Bodies) Relating to the Application of the Guidelines" (Speaker at an arbitration conference co-presented by the IBA Arbitration Committee and the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission; November 2008) |
・ | "Examination of Arbitrators' Ethical Codes" (Study session held by the Japan Association of Arbitrators, Research Section; June and November 2006) |
・ | "Use of Experts in Court and International Arbitration Processes" (Session Panelist for Dispute Resolution Committee at the 16th IPBA Conference; May 2006) |
・ | "Challenges of Arbitrators and Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest in Arbitration" ("Special Lecture I (Japan Legal System 2010)" held by Chuo University, Graduate School, Legal Research Section; January 2006) |
・ | "Issues Relating to Challenges of Arbitrators and Obligations to Disclose Potential Conflicts of Interest" (Study session held by Japan Association of Arbitrators, Research Section, Arbitration Sub-section; May and September 2005) |
| [Product Liability and other Consumer Laws] | |
・ | "Risk Management Practices for Product-related Accidents Based on Legal Analysis" (January 2011) |
・ | "Legal Issues and Risk Management Practices for Product-related Accidents" (September 2010) |
・ | "Legal Risk Management in Product Manufacturing" (November 2009) |
・ | "Legal Relationship Analysis and Risk Management Practices for Product-related Accidents" (July 2009 and July 2010) |
・ | "Risk Management Practices for Product-related Accidents" (May 2009) |
・ | "Legal Liability and Risk Management Practices in the Area of Product Liability Law - Respective Perspectives of Manufacturers, Middlemen and Retailers" (July 2008) |
・ | "Consumer Protection Legislation - Problems pertaining to the Product Liability Law and the Consumer Product Safety Law" (Chuo University, School of Law; May 2008) |
・ | "Legal Liabilities and Practices for Product-related Accidents" (May 2007 and March 2008) |
・ | "Defects in Products or in Repairs and Maintenance? Legal Responsibilities in Product Accidents and Compensation Practice - From Legal Relations Surrounding Accidents to Risk Management" (September 2006) |
| [Commercial Transactions, M&As and other general corporate matters] | |
・ | "Issues of Note in the Execution of OEM Agreements; Legal Risk Management"（May 2005, March 2007 and March 2009） |
・ | "Issue and Practice under OEM Agreement with Regard to Legal Risks" (June 2007) |
・ | "Jointly-held Patents and Contract Practices with Professors and Students in Joint R&D by Businesses and Universities" (June 2005) |
・ | "Management of Intellectual Property Rights in Joint R&D by Businesses and Universities" (March 2005) |
・ | "Issues Relating to OEM Agreements from the Viewpoint of Legal Risk and the Nature of Contract" (January 2004 and 2005) |
・ | "Amendment to Article 35 of the Patent Law and Degree of Contribution by Businesses to Service Invention" (September 2004) |
・ | ""Fair Consideration" for Business Invention and Desirable Business Practices under Article 35 of the Patent Law" (April 2004) |
▪ Professional Publications | |
| [Litigation, Arbitration and ADRs] | |
・ | "Profile of an arbitrator on the list" (JCA Journal, September 2011 issue) |
・ | "PLC Cross-border Arbitration Handbook 2011/12" (Japan Chapter) (May 2011)) |
・ | "Getting The Deal Through - Arbitration 2011" (Japan Chapter) (February 2011) |
・ | "Introduction of New Provisions for International Jurisdictions - Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure to Eliminate Uncertainties in International Transaction Disputes" (co-authored) (Business Legal Affairs Vol. 10 No.7, July 2010 issue) |
・ | "PLC Cross-border Arbitration Handbook 2010/11" (Japan Chapter) (co-authored; May 2010) |
・ | "Getting The Deal Through - Arbitration 2010" (Japan Chapter) (March 2010) |
・ | "PLC Cross-border Arbitration Handbook 2009/10" (Japan Chapter) (co-authored; May 2009) |
・ | "Getting The Deal Through - Arbitration 2009" (Japan Chapter) (February 2009) |
・ | "Alternative Dispute Resolution Options in Japan" (the asialaw Dispute Resolution Guide 2008 (October 2008)) |
・ | "What Kinds of Litigators Are Required by Business Enterprises?" (The Lawyers, June 2008 issue) |
・ | "Getting The Deal Through - Arbitration 2008" (Japan Chapter) (co-authored; February 2008) |
・ | "Arbitration/ADR Forum Vol. 1(1)" (Japan Association of Arbitrators) (co-authored; July 2007) |
・ | "Getting The Deal Through - Arbitration 2007" (Japan Chapter) (co-authored; March 2007) |
・ | Japanese translation of the "IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration"(http://www.ibanet.org/images/downloads/lpd/ConflictGuidelinesJapanese.pdf) (as a chair of the Working Group of the Japan Arbitrators Association in charge of the translation) |
・ | "Requirements for Litigators Handling Commercial Disputes in Light of More Complex and Cross-border Activities by Business Enterprises" (co-authored) (The Lawyers, December 2006 issue) |
・ | "How Enforcement of the Corporation Law Changes Derivative Lawsuits against Executives - its effects and countermeasures-" (co-authored) (the Keiri Joho No. 1122 [July 20, 2006 issue]) |
・ | English translation of the "Arbitration Law" of Japn (http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/policy/sihou/arbitrationlaw.pdf) (as a member of the Arbitration Law Follow-up Research Group) (March 2004) |
| [PL and other Consumer Laws] | |
・ | "Pitfalls in Risk Management for Product Safety and Accidents" (Business Law Journal, May 2009 issue) |
・ | "Not Just a Reputational Risk - Handling Product Liability Issues in Light of Recent Judgments" (co-authored) (Business Legal Affairs Vol. 8 No.11 [November 2008 issue]) |
| [Commercial Transactions, M&As and other general corporate matters] | |
・ | "Limitation of Liability: Judgments of Cases on Escape Clauses in Trade Agreements between Companies" (co-authored) (the Hanrei Times No. 1349 [August 15, 2011 issue]) |
・ | "Latest M&A Precedents and Practices" (Hanrei Times Co., Ltd.) (co-authored; July 2009) |
・ | "Japanese Business Law and Practice" (Anderson Mori and Tomotsune, Law Press China, May 2009) |
・ | "Proxy-fight Regulations and Moritex Case Analysis" (the Hanrei Times No. 1279 [December 1, 2008 issue]) |
・ | "Legal Analysis of OEM Agreements" (the Hanrei Times No. 1266 [June 15, 2008 issue]) |
・ | "Case Analysis - Oji Paper Co., Ltd. vs. Hokuetsu Paper Mills, Ltd." (Feature articles - Disputes, current regulations and their problems concerning M&As) (the Hanrei Times No. 1259 [March 15, 2008 issue]) |
・ | "Compass for M&A" (Seirin Shoin Co., Ltd.) (co-authored; October 2007) |
・ | "New Edition - Complete Practice for Business Contracts" (Business Research Institute) (co-authored; September 2007) |
・ | "Practice and Theory of Joint Venture Agreements - in light of enforcement of the Corporation Law" (Hanrei Times Co., Ltd.) (co-authored; July 2006) |
・ | "-Squeezing-out of Minority Shareholders- Methods for Creating a Wholly-owned Subsidiary and Associated Issues" (the Keiri Joho No. 1119 [June 20, 2006 issue]) |
・ | "Front Line of Joint Venture Agreements" (Round-table talk published in the Hanrei Times No. 1203 [May 1, 2006 issue]) |
・ | "The Personal Information Protection Act and its Effect on Mergers & Acquisitions" (The asialaw Japan Review) (July 2005) |
・ | "Data Protection Law Poses Problems for M&A" (The IFLR Guide to Japan 2005, International Financial Law Review) (co-authored; 2005) |
| [Commentaries on Judicial Precedents] | |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for a Supreme Court judgment in which it was held that, in the case where a representative director of a stock company (Kabushiki-Kaisha) has consummated a transaction that falls within the execution of important operations without the resolution of a board of directors' meeting, a party other than the company may not claim that the transaction is invalid due to the lack of such resolution, unless there is a special circumstance, for example if the board of directors has passed a resolution to claim such invalidity" (Supreme Court Judgment issued by the Second Petty Bench on April 17, 2009) (The Rule of Law No. 158 [July 2010 issue]) |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for a Supreme Court judgment in which it was held "director's responsibilities" (as stipulated in Article 267, Paragraph 1 of the Commercial Code before amendment by Law No. 87 of 2005), that are subject to a derivative lawsuit by shareholders, include not only responsibilities imposed on directors by the said Code due to their position (for example, their responsibilities stipulated by each item of Article 266, Paragraph 1 of the said Code), but also responsibilities acquired by directors due to their transactions with the company" (Supreme Court Judgment issued by the Third Petty Bench on March 10, 2009) (The Financial and Business Law Precedents No. 1333 [February 1, 2010 issue]) |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for a Supreme Court judgment in which it was held that, with respect to damages representing lost profit suffered by a lessee of a store space due to the lessor's failure to fix its defects, at least part of the damage suffered after the time the lessee could have taken measures to avoid or mitigate the damage may not be considered "damage that is usually suffered" as stipulated by Article 416, Paragraph 1 of the Civil Code" (Supreme Court Judgment issued by the Second Petty Bench on January 19, 2009) (Horitsu-no-hiroba No. 62-11 [November 2009 issue]) |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for a Supreme Court ruling on the burden of proof required to prove the commercial nature of a company's actions, wherein the Court stated that even if a company makes a loan to a borrower on the basis of friendly feelings between the company's representative and the borrower, the monetary claim based on such loan by the company should be considered to be of a commercial nature" (Supreme Court Judgment issued by the Second Petty Bench on February 22, 2008) (The Financial and Business Law Precedents No. 1307 [January 17, 2009 issue]) |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for the case where a table, which was prepared by a nursing service provider to request reimbursement for nursing expenses and which contained information to be transmitted to a third party claims administrator but which excluded the patients' personal information, was found not to be "a document that is to be used solely for the holder of the document" as prescribed in Item 4(d) of Article 220 of the Code of Civil Procedure" (Supreme Court Decision issued by the Second Petty Bench on August 23, 2007) (Horitsu-no-hiroba No. 61-9 [September 2008 issue]) |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for the case where a seller of an electric stove was found liable for committing a tort against a person who used the electric stove sold at the seller's supermarket and suffered hypersensitivity to chemical substances" (Tokyo High Court Judgment issued on August 31, 2006) (The Financial and Business Law Precedents No. 1280 [December 15, 2007 issue]) |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for the case where the Supreme Court determined that the Lower Court’s Judgment was illegal in that it ordered a company that received an insurance payment due to the death of its insured employees under a group fixed-term insurance (A-type Group Insurance) to pay part of such insurance payment to the bereaved families beyond the family allowance specified by the company’s internal rules" (Supreme Court Judgment issued by the Third Petty Bench on April 11, 2006) (The Rule of Law No.146 [July 2007 issue]) |
・ | "Explanatory Notes for the case where intra-company notifications that were addressed to marketing office managers and others by relevant departments of the head office of a bank and that described general business guidelines and other items were found not to be "a document that is to be used solely for the holder of the document" as prescribed in Item 4(d) of Article 220 of the Code of Civil Procedure" (Supreme Court Decision Issued by the Second Petty Bench on February 17, 2006) (The Financial and Business Law Precedents No. 1249 [September 15, 2006 issue]) |
Professional and Academic Associations
・Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association
・Arbitration Law Follow-up Research Group (administered by the Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform, established by the Cabinet) (June 2003 to March 2004)
・International Bar Association
・Inter-Pacific Bar Association
・Japan Association of Arbitrators (Organizer, Research Section)
・Japan Association for Consumer Law
・The Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan (Practicing-Attorney-Professor for Civil Advocacy, since April 2010)
・Arbitration Law Follow-up Research Group (administered by the Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform, established by the Cabinet) (June 2003 to March 2004)
・International Bar Association
・Inter-Pacific Bar Association
・Japan Association of Arbitrators (Organizer, Research Section)
・Japan Association for Consumer Law
・The Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan (Practicing-Attorney-Professor for Civil Advocacy, since April 2010)
Languages
・Japanese
・English
・English
