Edward Mears

Senior Associate
About

Edward Mears practices in the area of corporate and commercial law, advising on M&A, joint ventures, venture capital and fintech issues, with a particular focus on emerging technologies. Edward also has expertise in the business and politics of international sport from a prior career in sports broadcasting and sponsorship with Japan’s largest advertising agency. Edward has been resident in Asia for more than a decade (Japan and Singapore) and speaks Japanese and English.

Professional QualificationsAttorney-at-law admitted with the State Bar of CaliforniaAttorney-at-law admitted with the District of Columbia Bar

EXPERIENCE

  • Advising a New York based footwear retailer in its purchase of a Japanese global retailer of tier 0 athletic footwear and apparel.
  • Advising an American compliance company that specializes in the collection and disposal of regulated substances, on the divestiture of its Japan operations.
  • Advising Belgian multinational dredging and windfarm developer on its joint venture with Japan’s leading marine contractor for the construction of offshore wind farms in Japan.
  • Advising a Singaporean infrastructure and urban development consultancy on its acquisition of a London based environmental design consultancy.
  • Advising a Silicon Valley based enterprise storage company on the development of its subsidiary network in Asia.
  • Advising an Indian hospitality platform on its Japanese joint venture with a Japanese technology company to bring its hotel reservation platform to Japan.
  • Advising a multinational snack food company on the divestiture of its hard candy product line and production facility in Japan to a large Japanese confectionary company.
  • Advising the automotive arm of a Vietnamese conglomerate on its greenfield automotive manufacturing facility which involved the negotiation of technology transfer and distributorship agreements with a U.S. flagship automotive company.
  • Advising a renowned Japanese sake producer on its first large investment project in the United States, which included the construction of a brewery facility in New York.
  • Advising a US based global science and technology company, in a separation of its core business sectors to a newly established US entity through a world-wide reorganization of its entities.
Languages
  • English
  • Japanese
Education
  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 2016
    Contributing Editor, Michigan Journal of International Law
    Erasmus Exchange, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Faculty of Law
  • Georgetown University, B.A., magna cum laude, 2007
    Asian Studies Certificate, Walsh School of Foreign Service
    Exchange Program, Waseda University School of International Liberal Studies

Awards

  • Trust Law Collaboration Award (2019), Thomson Reuters Foundation - The Collaboration Award recognizes highly effective working relationships between legal teams, NGOs and social enterprises that have dramatically increased the potential impact of projects as a result. DLA Piper collaborated with Asylum Access, Host International, Refugee Talent, Nokia Singapore, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatimaitan, BTG Legal, Bae, Kim & Lae and Baker & McKenzie on a research project on the rights of refugees to work in Asia.

Publications

  • Legal and Economic Factors Influencing Efforts Towards Convergence of National Insolvency Laws and Some Representative Examples, Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law, May 2019, cited as 15 Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law 207 (2019).
  • What's Past Is Prologue: The European Movement Toward Harmonized Pre-Insolvency Business Restructurings Contrasted with The American Preference for Going-Concern Asset Sales, Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law, March 2018, cited as 14 Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law 105 (2018).
  • The Advance of "Rescue Culture" Business Insolvency Laws: The Long and Winding Road from Chapter 11 to the 2016 Proposed EU Directive, Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law, April 2017, cited as 13 Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law 117 (2017).
  • 2018 Overseas Legal News: Emerging Global Regulatory Frameworks for Initial Coin Offerings, article appearing in the Business Legal Magazine (Business Hōmu), March 2018 (Japanese language).
  • 2017 Overseas Legal News: Proposed Automated Vehicle Policy in the US, article appearing in the Business Legal Magazine (Business Hōmu), March 2017 (Japanese language).
  • Japan Regulatory Update on Virtual Currency Business, DLA Piper Financial Regulatory Alert, December 2017.

Prior Experience

Before attending law school and joining DLA Piper, Edward worked in New York as the head of business development for the sports business division of Japan's largest advertising agency where his work focused on the management of broadcast rights agreements for premiere international sporting events. During law school, Edward spent a summer in the natural resources department of one of Chile's largest law firms in Santiago, where he helped resolve regulatory issues on behalf of stakeholders in the Chilean solar energy industry. He also spent a summer in Tokyo with the legal and growth industry cluster departments of one of Japan's largest multinational banking and financial services companies.

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Registered foreign lawyer in Japan
  • Georgetown University Alumni Club of Japan, President
  • The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
  • Lawyers for LGBT+ and Allies Network
  • Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan

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