Louis Wakatsuki’s practice focuses on corporate and commercial, restructuring, employment and labor, and dispute resolution matters. His clients include Japan-based clients doing business in Germany and Germany-based or international clients in doing business in Japan.

He is a frequent lecturer at in-house legal and cultural training sessions for Germany-based and Japan-based companies and expatriates. Prior to joining Squire Sanders, he headed the Japan desk in the Frankfurt office of a US-based law firm.

Louis is a member of the Legal Committee of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HOJIN-KAI (Business Association of Japanese Companies) and Deutsche Japanische Juristenvereinigung (German-Japanese Association of Jurists). He is also a member of the advisory board of the Japanisches Institut Frankfurt am Main e.V.

He is the author of various legal publications such as “Overview of the New German Corporate Law for the Japanese Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 2008; “Negotiating in Japan,” published in the Handbook for Negotiation of Contracts and Contract Management by Benno Heussen in 2007; and “Invest in Germany,” published in NIKKEI newspaper in 2007.

Representative Experience

• Advising a large Japan-based electronics company on restructuring laws in Germany.
• Advising a large Japan-based department store chain on restructuring laws in Germany.
• Representing a Japan-based trading company in the negotiation of a joint venture with a distributor in Germany.
• Advising Japan-based companies on labor and employment matters including corporate immigration in Germany.
• Advising Japan-based companies on the establishment of subsidiaries and branches in Germany.
• Advising on corporate regulations for Japan-based companies operating in Germany.