A strategic review of Blake Dawson’s operations looking to find ways to take the firm to the next level ended in a decision to become the first Australian law firm to open an office in Japan. The move has not been all plain sailing as the firm and Japanese regulators are both breaking new ground but Blake Dawson’s north Asia head, Ian Williams, hopes that it will be a case of the early bird catching the worm.

“We decided that, if we want to take the practice to the next level, we really should be both at the point of where the investment decisions are being made and also at the point of investment,” Williams said. “There’s a fairly detailed regulatory regime which is not difficult but a bit time consuming. Obviously this is the first time we’ve done it and there aren’t other Australian firms in Japan so there is an educational process on both sides."

The firm already has international offices in Singapore, Shanghai and Port Moresby and an associated office in Jakarta. In fact, Williams views the Tokyo office as almost a virtual office and an extension of the firm’s Japanese practice in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Five Blakes partners have lived for extended periods in Japan and Williams believes it is the client relationships and insights that result from dealing with Japanese companies on cross-border transactions that gave the firm the opportunity to open the office.

“You can’t create things artificially,” Williams said. “There are very few partners at major Australian law firms who have actually worked in Japan for Japanese companies.”

Williams is one of those partners and he realised that the move would be exciting for him personally. What took him by surprise, however, was how well his clients reacted to the news. “On a personal level it’s very exciting and on a firm level the response has been very positive from clients,” he said. “We’re even a little bit surprised about how excited they were about it and the symbolism of committing to Japan with so much attention on China these days.”

In the past, Blakes has often worked as co-counsel with US or UK firms that have a Tokyo office advising on the Indonesian law aspects of transactions. However, when the new office opens its doors early next year, Williams hopes that the firm will be able to play more of a starring role. This does not mean that Blakes will compete head-to-head with established Japanese firms, though, more that it will take on the Magic Circle and major US firms.

“The big Japanese law firms focus very much on investment into Japan and they don’t have aspirations beyond that,” Williams said. “We have good relationships with the major Japanese law firms and have had a number of their lawyers work with us in Australia for one-year secondments.”

The Tokyo office will be headed up by Melbourne-based Natsuko Ogawa, who has been promoted to Asia international partner. Ogawa will be joined by five lawyers to start with. The firm aims to focus on four main sectors: energy & resources, infrastructure, financial services and consumer goods.

Japan has a long tradition of investing in Australian minerals and there might be no other country on the planet more knowledgeable about building infrastructure projects. However, the rise of Japan’s financial services sector is a result of the GFC and Blakes plans to take advantage of it.

“There is an opportunity in financial services in that the Japanese banks are recapitalised, relatively unaffected by the global financial crisis and see Australia as a market in itself that is attractive,” Williams said.

Japanese investment in consumer products has made the headlines this year, notably Asahi’s A$1.1bn acquisition of Schweppes Australia and Kirin’s acquisition of the remaining stake in Lion Nathan for A$2.5bn.

Despite all the time and money that has gone into the opening of Blakes’ Tokyo office, Williams refuses to publicly admit any goals or objectives for the new venture. “We’re not looking for a specific number of transactions,” he said. “It’s actually just about improving the quality of the relationships and it’s from the relationships that the opportunities will come.”