TMI Associates is the first major Japanese law firm to open a full-scale Oceania office with the launch of a new branch in Sydney, Australia.
The launch of the firm’s 15th overseas office follows its operation of a Sydney desk within Australian firm Johnson Winter Slattery (JWS) from March 2025 to March 2026.
“TMI has been actively expanding its international presence, yet no major Japanese law firm has established a full-scale office in the Oceania region until now,” TMI Associates managing partner Katsuro Tanaka told Asia Business Law Journal.
“The Japan-Australia relationship has never been stronger, with deepening co-operation in defence and economic security. Japanese investment in Australia also remains robust and is diversifying across a growing range of sectors. We saw this as the right moment to establish a local presence and better serve our clients on the ground.”
Partner Masayuki Nagai will lead the Sydney office, assuming the title of director and principal lawyer. He is currently the office’s sole resident lawyer and will receive support from TMI Associates’ Tokyo office.
Despite only having one lawyer in Australia right now, Tanaka has plans to grow the team.
“We plan to increase the number of resident lawyers in the near future as client demand grows,” he said.
The Sydney office will offer a broad range of legal services rather than concentrate on a particular specialist area.
“At present, we are seeing strong demand in areas such as M&A, real estate investment, employment matters, distribution agreement disputes and regulatory work in the financial services and life sciences sectors,” Tanaka said.
TMI Associates’ Sydney office began operations on 9 September, but Tanaka said the firm’s alliance with JWS would remain in place.
“JWS brings deep knowledge of and expertise in Australian law, while TMI provides established relationships with Japanese businesses and the ability to communicate in Japanese. We have built a strong complementary partnership, and the opening of our Sydney office will further strengthen this collaboration,” he said.
