Masahisa (Masa) Mitsunaga is a Shareholder in the Los Angeles office of Buchalter.  He is Chair of the Japan Practice group and a member of the Firm’s Corporate and Intellectual Property groups. Mr. Mitsunaga was recognized as one of the 2021 and 2022 “Minority Leaders of Influence Attorneys” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Mr. Mitsunaga has represented numerous Japanese clients (including publicly-traded companies and Japanese government-related entities) in connection with their challenging legal matters, including large business and strategic transactions and business disputes in the United States, for over a decade.  In the early stage of his professional career, Mr. Mitsunaga developed particular experience in the entertainment industry by participating in media-related merger and acquisition and debt and equity finance transactions as well as handling litigation matters for clients within the industry.  Since he joined Buchalter, Mr. Mitsunaga has regularly represented a wide range of Japanese clients through their start-ups, capital transactions, and mergers and acquisitions in the United States. His effective and practical legal advice has been highly appreciated by his clients and his colleagues.

Mr. Mitsunaga’s clients include Japanese government-related entities, large trading companies, consulting companies, private equity funds, advertising companies, film distributors, media and broadcasting companies, logistics companies, toy and game manufacturers, food service companies, medical device manufacturers, real estate companies, online service providers, and numerous other companies operating globally.

M&A and Corporate Matters

  • Represented a major Japanese medical device manufacturer in connection with its strategic transaction to expand its presence in the United States.
  • Represented a major Japanese advertising company in connection with a Japanese government sponsored program promoting Japanese culture and served as its outside general counsel.
  • Represented a U.S. online service provider in connection with its alliance agreement and raising capital from a major Japanese telecommunication company.
  • Represented a major Japanese renewable energy company and a major construction consulting company in connection with their acquisition of a wind project with battery storage.
  • Represented a major Japanese trading company in connection with its acquisition of a food manufacturing business.
  • Represented major Japanese food service companies in connection with their acquisitions and capital raise.
  • Represented a major Japanese trading company in connection with its investment into a Hollywood incubator.
  • Represented Colony Capital in the $660 million purchase of Miramax Films from Disney.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution Matters

  • Represented a Japanese-government-sponsored private equity fund in connection with a business dispute that arose from its investment in the United States and successfully resolved the dispute.
  • Represented a major Japanese broadcasting company in connection with defending a copyright infringement lawsuit and successfully dismissed the case against it and defended it in higher courts.
  • Represented a high profile Japanese individual in connection with a cross-border probate dispute by handling California-related probate matters.
  • Represented a major Japanese dental company in connection with its trade-secret and fraud dispute.
  • Represented a major Japanese broadcasting company in a copyright infringement action against a major U.S. network, including handling e-discovery and other pretrial matters.
  • Handled discovery stage and other pretrial stages of a multi-million dollar contract dispute between an international multimedia company and a trading card game company, including assisting with preparing a successful opposition to the multimedia company’s motion for summary judgment.

Entertainment and Intellectual Property Matters

  • Represented numerous Japanese producers, rights holders, and financiers in connection with their motion picture deals in Hollywood.
  • Represented numerous Japanese clients in connection with license deals, merchandise deals, joint venture deals, and other U.S. operations.

Mr. Mitsunaga earned his LL.M. at USC Gould School of Law and his LL.B. from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.

 

  • Member, Japan Business Association of Southern California (Vice President in 2015)
  • Member, US-Japan Council