Japanese Law Firms Grow US Investments With Weak Economy at Home

Japanese law firms are opening offices in New York and San Francisco as growth opportunities become harder to find in their home country.

Mori, Hamada & Matsumoto, one of Japan’s five largest law firms, is set to open a Manhattan outpost later this year. Miura & Partners, a mid-size firm, this month made its first play stateside through a strategic alliance with Yorozu Law Group, a 20-year-old firm based in San Francisco.

Japan’s legal service providers, like manufacturers and businesses in other industries, are hunting for growth they can’t find at home, given the country’s shrinking population. Japan narrowly avoided ...