Osaka-headquartered Midosuji LPC has hired intellectual property expert Kozo Yabe as a partner in Tokyo from Yuasa & Hara, where he worked for more than three decades.

Besides intellectual property, Yabe focuses on risk management including scandal response, digital technology, and international M&A. He is also an adjunct professor at the College of Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

With Yabe’s arrival, Midosuji, founded in 1963, now has 46 partners across its Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima offices.