Tokyo Managing Partner Interviewed on State of Japanese Legal Market

Tokyo managing partner Mark Weeks is quoted in this article about U.S. law firms' presence in Japan.

So how to win that loyalty in the first place is a challenge for international firms. "The reality is that [Japanese companies] often have relationships with Japanese firms," says Orrick's Weeks. "The Japanese firms have relationships with local counsel overseas, and they don't want to refer work to firms overseas that compete with them in Japan."

Winning over such clients is an incremental process. "You ask if they need a second opinion, have conflicts, or just want to discuss industry issues," says Weeks. "It's a time-consuming process, though. It's not like China, where you can fly around and meet a bunch of fortysomething CEOs who are all ready to do an IPO."