Yasuhide Watanabe is of counsel at the firm.  His practice focuses on corporate and international matters.  As the licensed practitioner in the U.S. and Japan (bengoshi), he spent a half of his professional carrier in Tokyo, Japan and a half in New York with both U.S. and Japanese clients and extensive experience with Japanese companies in the United States.  Japanese companies highly value his practical advice and assistance, supported by his abundant experience and knowledge of legal and cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan.  Born in Hagi, Japan, he is fluent in Japanese.

Prior to joining M4, Yasuhide was a partner at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, one of the five largest law firms in Japan, a managing partner of its New York office, and a partner and senior counsel at the New York office of Morrison & Foerster LLP, one of the prestigious U.S. law firms. He also regularly served as a visiting lecturer on Advanced Research in Japanese Law at Columbia University School of Law where he lectured on the differences in legal systems and business culture between civil and common law countries to prospective practitioners.

Bar Admissions

• Hawaii, 2023
• New York, 1992
• California, 1992
• Japan, 1986

Education

• M. (1991) Columbia Law School
• B. (1981) University of Tokyo

Hawaii State Bar Association New York State Bar Association California State Bar Association Japan Federation of Bar Associations Daiichi Tokyo Bar Association

Corporate and Business Law

• Mergers and Acquisitions
• International joint ventures and business alliances
• Startups and Venture Capital
• Antitrust Law
• CFIUS
• Trade Regulations
• S. Investment, including Business Formation and Real Estate

Dispute resolutions

• Arbitration and Mediation
• Patent Infringement
• Price-fixing Cartel Investigations and Associated Class Action Lawsuits

Best Lawyers 2020, Antitrust/Competition Law, Corporate and M&A Law, International Business Transactions Chambers Global (Recognized since 2019), Corporate and M&A

• Antitrust Policy under the Biden Administration” (editor) (2021) Japan Fair Trade Association • “New Regulatory Trend of Direct Inward Investments in the U.S. – Focusing on Recent CFIUS Amendments” Vol. 45, No. 7 (2017), Vol. 45, No. 8 (2017), Vol. 46, No. 10 (2018), Vol. 48, No.4 (2020), Journal of the Japanese Institute of International Business Review • “New Development of U.S. Regulations on Direct Inward Investments under National Security – U.S. Investment Strategies under Amended CFIUS” (2019) World Economic Review • “Trend and Measures of U.S. Inward Investments under the Trump Administration – How to Deal with Strengthening Regulations under National Security” (2019) Toray Keiei Sensor • Comprehensive textbook “U.S. Antitrust Law (2^nd edition)” (co-editor) (2012) University of Tokyo Press Yasuhide also publicized various articles such as “Recent Enforcement Trends of U.S. Antitrust Law,” “United States Antitrust Laws,” and “Rowley & Baker: International Mergers – the Antitrust Process.” He also speaks on various topics related to M&A and cross-border matters, including “Recent Trends in M&A in the U.S.,” “Investments in the U.S.,” “Recent Enforcement Trends in U.S. Antitrust Law,” “International Transactions and Competition Laws,” “How to Deal with International Cartel Investigations by Japanese Companies,” “Investment in Brazil by Japanese Companies,” “2011 Antitrust Forum – Recent Development of Japanese Antimonopoly Law,” “Selecting and Dealing with Foreign Lawyers,” “Surviving a Blocking Situation in a 50/50 Joint Venture,” and “2010 U.S. Horizontal Merger Guidelines.”