City giant Linklaters has recruited a finance department from leading Tokyo law firm Mitsui Yasuda Wani & Maeda in preparation for the forthcoming liberalisation of the Japanese legal market.

Name partners Mitsuhiro Yasuda and Akihiro Wani will join Linklaters' Tokyo office as heads of the capital markets and structured finance departments respectively.


They will bring with them a team of between 20 and 30 lawyers, but the exact number is to be agreed.


Both Japanese lawyers will become global partners with


Linklaters on 1 April next year, when multi-national partnerships will be permitted for the first time in Japan.


Mr Wani will become joint managing partner of Linklaters' Tokyo office, alongside current head Tony Grundy.


Meanwhile, another name partner of the firm, Hiroshi Maeda, has announced that he will join Tokyo- based Nishimura & Partners with a team of ten lawyers in October.


Casper Lawson, a partner in


Linklaters' Tokyo office, said: 'We are extremely happy with this team which will give us an extremely strong Japanese law capability.'


Mr Lawson said he understood that Mitsui Yasuda Wani & Maeda will dissolve 'on a consensual basis' at the end of this year.