Kirkland & Ellis has announced that they will launch an office in Tokyo to support the growth of the Firm’s long-standing transactional practice in Asia.
In connection with the new Tokyo office, leading lawyers Naoya Shiota and Clara Shirota will join the Firm as partners, and Catherine Simes will join as counsel. Naoya and Catherine focus on mergers and acquisitions, and Clara focuses on debt financing transactions.
“Naoya, Clara and Catherine are all highly regarded lawyers and we’re excited to welcome them to Kirkland as we establish our presence in Tokyo,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “Their experience and insight across private equity, strategic transactions and leveraged finance will be invaluable as we broaden our Asia footprint into Japan, where we see strong momentum for complex transactions.”
One of the largest and most sophisticated economies in the world, Japan has become a destination for private equity investment and cross-border M&A activity, and recorded its largest M&A deal value in over 20 years in 2025.
“Naoya, Clara and Catherine are the perfect lawyers to launch Kirkland in Japan,” said Kirkland corporate partner and Executive Committee member Jennifer Perkins. “They join as the M&A landscape is undergoing significant transformation with Japanese businesses pursuing portfolio optimization and strategic transactions and inbound investment from global sponsors continuing to accelerate. We are excited to take this next step with them and to continue supporting clients on their most sophisticated investments across the region.”
The Tokyo office is Kirkland’s twenty fourth worldwide and opens as the Firm celebrates 20 years of operations in Asia. Kirkland launched an office in Hong Kong in 2006, followed by openings in Shanghai in 2009 and Beijing in 2013.
