:TMI Associates

{{Infobox law firm

| name = TMI Associates

| logo = TMI Associates logo.svg

| headquarters = Minato, Tokyo, Japan

| num_offices = 14

| num_attorneys = 536 (Sept. 2019)416Japanese attorneys at law, 37 foreign attorneys and 83 patent attorneys and 1 foreign patent attorney. {{cite web|title=組織構成|url=http://www.tmi.gr.jp/english/about/organization.html|accessdate= 2 September 2019}}

| num_employees = 917 (Sept. 2019)

| practice_areas = General practice

| date_founded = October 1, 1990

| founder =

| company_type = Partnership under Japanese law

| homepage = https://www.tmi.gr.jp/

}}

{{nihongo|TMI Associates|TMI総合法律事務所|TMI Sōgō Hōritsu Jimusho}} is one of the five largest law firms in Japan.

The firm was founded in 1990 by ten intellectual property specialists who left the law firm of Nishimura & Partners. It grew quickly in ensuing years, with 33 attorneys as of 1998 and more than 600 domestic and foreign attorneys and patent attorneys as of 2020. https://www.tmi.gr.jp/about/organization.html{{cite journal|last=Chan|first=Kay-Wah|title=Foreign Law Firms: Implications for Professional Legal Education in Japan|journal=Journal of Japanese Law|year=2005|issue=20|pages=56–79|url=http://sydney.edu.au/law/anjel/documents/ZJapanR/ZJapanR20_08_Chan.pdf|access-date=2013-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319013104/http://sydney.edu.au/law/anjel/documents/ZJapanR/ZJapanR20_08_Chan.pdf|archive-date=2014-03-19|url-status=dead}}

TMI is headquartered in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its other offices in Japan include Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka and the firm also has offices in Bangkok, Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, London, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore and Yangon.{{cite web|url=https://www.tmi.gr.jp/about/bases/|title=拠点一覧 | Our Firm }} It opened its first domestic branch office in Nagoya in 2012.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tmi.gr.jp/english/about/nagoya.html|title = Tmi総合法律事務所}} It was the first Japanese law firm to open an office in Myanmar.{{cite news|title=ＴＭＩ、ミャンマーに弁護士事務所 日系進出に対応 |url=http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNZO42596330U2A610C1TJ2000/|accessdate=27 August 2013|newspaper=日本経済新聞|date=14 June 2012}} TMI opened an Osaka office in 2018 by acquiring the four-lawyer practice of Isamu Omizu, a former vice chairman of the Osaka Bar Association.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nikkei.com/paper/article/?n_cid=kobetsu&ng=DGKKZO30370220R10C18A5TCJ000|title=ＴＭＩ総合が大阪に拠点開設 別事務所を衣替え|website=www.nikkei.com|language=ja|access-date=2018-05-14}}

The firm has joint ventures with the American law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the British law firm of Simmons & Simmons and the German law firm of ARQIS Rechtsanwälte. The Simmons & Simmons venture, begun in 2001, was the first registered joint venture between a major Japanese law firm and an international law firm under the attorney at foreign law system.{{cite web |url=http://asia.legalbusinessonline.com/law-firms/tmi-associates-secures-third-jv/1083/22331 |title=TMI Associates secures third JV |website=asia.legalbusinessonline.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429233136/http://asia.legalbusinessonline.com/law-firms/tmi-associates-secures-third-jv/1083/22331 |archive-date=2013-04-29}} TMI's Singapore office is also shared with Simmons & Simmons.{{cite news|title=Simmons & Simmons to open shop in Singapore|url=http://www.managingpartner.com/news/regions/simmons-simmons-open-shop-singapore|accessdate=27 August 2013|newspaper=Managing Partner|date=10 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319025748/http://www.managingpartner.com/news/regions/simmons-simmons-open-shop-singapore|archive-date=19 March 2014|url-status=dead}} In March 2025, the firm announced a strategic alliance with Johnson Winter Slattery, an independent Australian commercial law firm.{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-03-11 |title=Japan’s TMI breaks into Australia with JWS alliance |url=https://law.asia/tmi-associates-johnson-winter-slattery-alliance/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=Law.asia |language=}}

File:Mori Tower 201306.jpg

The firm is particularly known for its intellectual property practice, being ranked one of the top 3 trademark firms in Japan by World Trademark Review{{cite web|title=Japan|url=http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/wtr1000/rankings/DetailV2.aspx?g=86a58bc1-ad9e-4316-a190-f69f516cacd5|publisher=World Trademark Review|accessdate=27 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725172450/http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/wtr1000/rankings/DetailV2.aspx?g=86a58bc1-ad9e-4316-a190-f69f516cacd5|archive-date=25 July 2013|url-status=dead}} and winning the "Best Japanese IP Firm 2013" award at the International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards.{{cite web|title=Winners 2013|url=http://www.ilasummit.com/winners-2013-1|publisher=ILA Summit|accessdate=27 August 2013}} In 2010, the firm hired a former head of the Intellectual Property High Court as an advisor.{{cite news|title=ＴＭＩ総合法律事務所、知財高裁所長ら顧問に迎え入れ|url=http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDD1707E_X10C10A8TJ2000/|accessdate=27 August 2013|newspaper=日本経済新聞|date=18 August 2010}}

Chambers & Partners ranks TMI in the areas of Banking & Finance, Competition/Antitrust, Corporate/M&A, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Life Science, Projects & Energy and Real Estate.{{Cite web |title=TMI Associates, Asia-Pacific {{!}} Chambers Profiles |url=https://chambers.com/law-firm/tmi-associates-asia-pacific-8:3574 |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=Chambers}}