Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has appointed Noah Carr and Gordon Palmquist as partners. Both will join the firm’s Tokyo office.

Noah Carr joins from Latham & Watkins’ Tokyo office and has also worked as a partner at Morrison & Foerster in the city. He advises on complex public and private acquisitions, carve outs, private equity and growth capital investments, joint ventures and strategic alliances, serving a variety of Japanese corporates and investors as well as international financial sponsors. He has over a decade of experience in Japan.

Gordon Palmquist joins from Mayer Brown in Tokyo, where he was a partner in the M&A practice after previously working for Shearman & Sterling in the city. He advises Japanese trading houses, corporates, and financial services institutions on outbound M&A, carve-outs and sales of businesses, corporate governance and private equity, real estate, infrastructure and venture capital investments. He speaks fluent Japanese and has lived in Japan for more than 22 years.

Noah and Gordon are both US-qualified and registered foreign lawyers (‘gaiben‘) in Japan. Both have broad experience of advising clients on complex cross-border transactions, including those involving the US, where we are continuing to see increased client demand. Noah and Gordon will work closely with our existing Tokyo-based M&A, antitrust and disputes teams and colleagues from across Asia, the US and Europe to service our clients’ evolving needs, with Japan playing an increasingly important role in our clients’ global strategies.

“Our partners are pleased to welcome Noah Carr and Gordon Palmquist to Freshfields,” said Thomas Ng, Regional Managing Partner, Asia at Freshfields. “Both are highly regarded by their peers, with strong track records of advising some of Japan’s most recognised companies and leading international investors on a range of business-critical transactions and other matters. Their hires represent the latest step in our growth drive in Japan and their impressive cross-border Japan–US credentials will strengthen our respected Tokyo team and grow our M&A business even further.”

“I am delighted that Noah and Gordon have taken the opportunity to join Freshfields,” said Freshfields’ Tokyo Managing Partner Takeshi Nakao. “Their deep experience of the Japan market, together with our fully-integrated team of Japanese and international lawyers – all backed by a world-class, full-service offering and network – will prove a winning combination for our team, our clients and our business. It is an exciting time for our Japan practice, and I look forward to working with our new partners.”