Tokyo International Law Office has hired new partner Makiko Kawamura from Ernst & Young Japan Tax (EY Japan Tax) to launch a tax practice, and has taken on construction and project development lawyer Hojung Jun as a partner from Baker & McKenzie Tokyo.
Kawamura, who previously served as a partner at EY Japan Tax, would be participating in the launch of a tax practice at Tokyo International and would lead the practice as its head, the tax partner told Asia Business Law Journal.
As both a Japan law-qualified attorney and a certified public tax accountant, Kawamura has advised multinational corporations, foreign governments and private equity funds on corporate and tax matters in areas including cross-border M&A, global reorganisation, joint venture and licensing.
At EY Japan Tax, which she joined in 2021, she practised as a partner of international transaction tax services advising multinational clients on tax planning, tax audits and disputes, among other matters. Prior to that, she had worked at DLA Piper Tokyo from 2009 to 2021 and made partner at the global law firm in 2014.
Joining from another international firm was Jun, who was most recently a senior associate at Baker and a former in-house legal counsel at POSCO Engineering & Construction, a unit of South Korean steelmaker POSCO.
Admitted in New York, she is a registered foreign lawyer in Japan who has been advising on project development, cross-border M&A and joint ventures in the power and infrastructure sectors worldwide since 2009. With her practice focusing on construction law, Jun has handled projects, including offshore and onshore farms, critical mineral mines and battery energy storage systems across different overseas jurisdictions.
Founded in 2019, Tokyo International has been on an expansion drive having hired former Baker & McKenzie Tokyo’s corporate partner Jean-Denis Marx, who has previously spent three decades at the global law firm, earlier this year.
