Yoshida & Partners - Tokyo Maritime Law Experts

Yoshida & Partners, one of the leading law firms in Japan that specializes in maritime cases, also deals with the other areas of practice such as trade, commerce, logistics, and other international and domestic businesses.

It was originally founded in 1924 in Kobe by the late Seizo Yoshida (1888 - 1973). He and his firm mainly represented such clients as shipowners, charterers, underwriters, and P&I clubs, pioneering in negotiating in the fields of shipping, trade, commerce and other businesses. 

Since then, the firm had been engaged in numerous major cases, representing Japanese shipowners and underwriters for the most part. Finding Yuyo Maru No.10 / Pacific Ares collision (November 1974) a perfect opportunity, it moved its headquarters from Kobe to Tokyo in 1975. The cases Yoshida & Partners had accepted include collision cases such as USS George Washington / Nissho Maru (April 1981), Sanko Honour / Maersk Navigator (February 1993), and oil pollution cases such as Miya Maru No. 8 (March 1979).

As with charter party, ships' sales and other contractual matters, effective backing are impossible without substantial knowledge on ship engineering and market trends, and on-site experience in addition to legal and contractual awareness and attention. This is exactly why we have in-house marine counsels and consultants, working together closely with the lawyers to meet the needs of clients.

With a few more who joined recently, our office is a team of ten-plus attorneys-at-law and four marine counsels and consultants specialized in the shipping industry. We are acknowledged as one of the top-notch maritime law firms, frequently appearing in various journals and publications. We are also known as a leader in training maritime lawyers. Many up-and-coming and seasoned maritime lawyers were either trained with us or were former colleagues of ours.