DLA Piper has hired two partners to its Tokyo office from Jones Day: Kaoru Umino, who will head the finance and projects practice, and Dan Matsuda, who will lead the energy sector of the corporate practice.

Umino advises on complex cross-border finance and corporate transactions, while Matsuda advises on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, joint ventures, manufacturing and distributorship structures, and real estate transactions and investments. Both worked at Jones Day for about 10 years.

Prior to Jones Day, Umino was managing director and associate general counsel at J.P. Morgan in Japan, where she also headed the legal and compliance department. She also had stints at Paul Hastings in Tokyo and Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York.

“Kaoru and Dan's appointments reflect our commitment to expanding our ability to service inbound and outbound transactions in Japan. This is the latest step in the growth of our finance and corporate practices in Asia,” said Terry O'Malley, the chair of DLA Piper’s Asia committee, in a statement.

With the two hires from Jones Day, DLA Piper now has 21 lawyers in Tokyo, including six partners.