The 16th annual Japan Law Awards, a virtual event held on Sept. 24, was a resounding success, honouring the who’s who of the country’s legal industry, including in-house counsel, law firms and private practice lawyers.

Nishimura & Asahi claimed six awards on the night, including the Dealmaker of the Year for Yo Ota, Woman Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm) for Asa Shinkawa, Restructuring and Insolvency Law Firm of the Year and Japan Law Firm of the Year.

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu also had a big night, picking up four awards, including Managing Partner of the Year for Fumihide Sugimoto and Young Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm) for Daisuke Fukamizu.

Meanwhile, Abe, Ikubo & Katayama won the Japan Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year award, and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune claimed the Japan Deal Firm of the Year. The International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year title went to Herbert Smith Freehills, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was named the International Deal Firm of the Year.

In the individual categories, Morrison & Foerster’s Chie Yakura was named the Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year, while Dr. Frederick Ch'en of Hogan Lovells was awarded the Foreign Lawyer of the Year.

In the In-house categories, IBM Japan walked away with the Japan In-House Team of the Year title. And Bayer’s Akiko Kikuchi and Anna Zhang from Hitachi-Johnson Controls Air Conditioning won the Woman Lawyer of the Year (In-House) and Young Lawyer of the Year (In-House), respectively.

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