Practice Areas

Labour and Employment, Commercial Litigation, Dispute Resolution, Corporate and Commercial Law, Corporate Governance, M&A, Bankruptcy and Insolvency, Restructuring, Real Estate, Traffic Accident Dispute, Family Law, Debt Collecting, Criminal Law

Introduction and Practice Profile

Koji Okawa is a partner at our firm, based in the Osaka office. He is a member of the Osaka Bar Association and is also admitted to the New York State Bar. While Koji brings a generalist's breadth to his practice — with a strong emphasis on litigation and dispute resolution, and transactional matters including M&A, business restructuring and insolvency, and cross-border transactions — he also covers corporate governance, medical malpractice, real estate, debt recovery, family law, and criminal cases. Despite this broad range, his core expertise lies in labor and employment law.

Employment and labor law is Koji's primary area of focus. He advises clients predominantly from the employer's perspective on matters ranging from day-to-day labor and employment law advisory services, litigation, labor tribunal proceedings, and collective bargaining, to complex labor issues in M&A and insolvency proceedings, labor and employment due diligence, internal investigations into employee misconduct and legal violations, and serving on corporate harassment committees. He also represents employees in labor disputes, and believes that experience on both sides of the employment relationship deepens his perspective as an advisor. He regularly advises foreign-invested companies on Japanese employment and labor matters in English.

Koji graduated from the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University in 2011 and completed his legal training at Kyoto University Law School in 2013. After a short-term internship at AllBright Law Offices in Shanghai, he was admitted to the Osaka Bar Association in December 2014. In May 2020, he obtained an LL.M. from UCLA School of Law, where he studied U.S. labor and employment law. He subsequently undertook practical training at Adnan Kelana Haryanto & Hermanto (AKHH), a leading Indonesian law firm in Jakarta, from November 2020 to July 2021, and was admitted to the New York State Bar in July 2021. He became a partner at the firm in April 2022.

Koji has first-hand knowledge of the practical realities of Indonesian labor law, employment practice, and the operations of Indonesian sending organizations. He focuses on international transactions, particularly advising Japanese companies on their expansion into Indonesia and on transactions with Indonesian counterparts.

Since April 2024, he has served as a member of the Asia-Pacific Labor and Employment Law Research Group (organized by the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice and the International Civil and Commercial Law Centre Foundation, conducting research on the labor and employment laws of Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam).

In addition to his legal practice, Koji has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (Labor and Employment) since 2023. He serves as a lecturer at Ryukoku University since April 2022, teaching "Trials and Human Rights," a course covering the Japanese criminal justice system and the rights of workers and foreigners. He has also delivered numerous seminars and compliance training programs on employment law, harassment prevention, Indonesian law, and related topics for corporate clients and professional associations.

Fluent in Japanese and English, Koji is also continuing his studies in Indonesian.

Education

• Kyoto University (L.L.B., 2011)
• Kyoto University Law School (J.D., 2013)
• UCLA School of Law (LL.M., 2021)

Professional Admissions

• Attorney admitted in Japan (2014)
• Attorney admitted in New York (2021)

Languages

• Japanese
• English
• Indonesian

Professional and Academic Associations

• Osaka Bar Association (2014 - Present)
• Legal Intern at Allbright Law Offices, a local shanghai law office (Oct 2013)
• Legal Intern at Adnan Kelana Haryanto & Hermanto (AKHH), in Jakarta (Nov 2020 - July 2021)