TOKYO, October 19, 2007 ─ Morrison & Foerster announced today the addition of two new partners to its Tokyo office ─ Gary M. Smith and David Litt. Gary Smith and David Litt will join Morrison & Foerster’s Corporate Group.
Ken Siegel, Managing Partner of the firm’s Tokyo office, stated, “Gary and David are an outstanding team and a great fit with our practice. This talented group provides further depth to our operations in Tokyo, and enhances our ability to execute across the full range of capital markets, M&A, finance, and real estate.”
Over the past four years, Morrison & Foerster has more than tripled the size of its Tokyo office, growing from 35 to more than 100 attorneys. Keith Wetmore, Chair of Morrison & Foerster, commented, “This is yet another exciting development that illustrates our success in the Japanese and greater Asia market.”
Messrs. Smith and Litt come to Morrison & Foerster from the Tokyo office of O’Melveny & Myers. Upon joining Morrison & Foerster, Mr. Smith noted: “We were especially attracted to Morrison & Foerster because of their demonstrated commitment to the Japanese business community, as well as their collegial and supportive approach to practice. We look forward to joining such a world-class legal team.”
Profiles of New Tokyo Partners
Gary Smith practices in a broad range of international transactions, with particular emphasis on cross-border M&A and investment transactions. His vast experience in this area includes cross-border acquisitions of U.S., Japanese and European companies and international joint ventures. Mr. Smith is ranked as one of the “World’s Leading Lawyers” by Chambers Global for his M&A and corporate law expertise and is recommended by International Financial Law Review in the M&A area for his “combination of local knowledge and international expertise.” He received his J.D. in 1990 from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar. Mr. Smith was a Japan Ministry of Education Scholar at the University of Tokyo Graduate School from 1985-1987. He is admitted in New York and in Japan as a Foreign Law Consultant (Gaikokuho-Jimu Bengoshi) and is fluent in Japanese.
David G. Litt advises clients on M&A transactions of all types. He also advises private equity fund sponsors on fund formation and related issues. He has practiced law in Japan for over six years, and his entire career has focused on cross-border transactions. Mr. Litt clerked for Hon. Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1990-91, and Hon. Alfred T. Goodwin, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1988-89. Mr. Litt received his B.A. summa cum laude from Yale University in 1984 and his J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 1988, where he was a member of the University of Chicago Law Review. Mr. Litt is admitted in California and Washington, D.C., and in Japan as a Foreign Law Consultant (Gaikokuho-Jimu Bengoshi). He is fluent in Japanese.