Fast-growing Japanese law firm Atsumi & Partners has recruited its first German qualified lawyer, Andreas Kaiser, expanding its capabilities to include German law in addition to its former offering of Japanese, American and English law.

Kaiser joins the firm as counsel, after spending eight years as a private practitioner in Tokyo, where he has advised a variety of entities such as multinationals, family-owned businesses, banks, embassies and the Japanese notaries association. His practice covers a broad range of business law with an emphasis on M&A, real estate finance, banking and EU law. Kaiser also has significant experience in commercial litigation in Germany.

The recruitment of Kaiser is another step down the path of innovation that Atsumi & Partners has been paving since 2005, when it became the first firm to establish a foreign law joint practice by admitting to the firm, as a partner, New York-qualified Bonnie Dixon. The firm has also since admitted English corporate and private equity-focused lawyer Daniel Hounslow to the partnership. Hiroo Atsumi, managing partner of Atsumi & Partners, said Kaiser's appointment would enhance its corporate and finance practice, expanding its core M&A and international transaction capabilities to include German business.