Thomas Joseph Dreves

Dreves Foreign Law Office

41 years of experience
Japan (Registered Foreign Lawyer), New York, Washington

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Biography

Mr. Dreves has over twenty-five years` experience in assisting top-tier and innovative foreign and Japanese banks, securities firms and corporations on foreign and Japanese legal matters, including experience within a premier Japanese bank in New York and a leading Wall Street investment bank in New York and Tokyo, and with the worldÃÂ¢s largest international law firm, a leading New York law firm and with leading Japanese lawyers (bengoshi).

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Mr. Dreves worked in law firms in Tokyo from 1984 to 1988. He moved to New York in 1988, continuing his representation of Japanese financial institutions. In 1995, he joined the New York office of the leading Japanese long-term credit bank, The Industrial Bank of Japan (now Mizuho), where he spent over five years helping to establish its legal department. He joined the premier international investment bank Morgan Stanley in 2000 and returned to Tokyo to provide transactional and regulatory coverage for Morgan Stanley Japan`s fixed income derivatives, foreign exchange and commodities business units, including preparation for their successful supervisory examination.

He moved to the Tokyo office of the world`s largest international law firm, Baker & McKenzie in 2002, where as a partner he worked with Japanese lawyers in assisting foreign financial institutions with regulatory and transactional matters in Japan, worked with attorneys in other offices on multi-jurisdictional deals with a US securities element, advised Japanese financial firms on foreign law issues, and assisted Japanese energy companies in relation to project finance and commercial aspects of major oil and gas projects throughout Asia.

Mr. Dreves is a native of Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice

Japan (Registered Foreign Lawyer)
Since 2005

New York
Since 1989

Washington
Since 1983

Languages

Japanese: Spoken, Written

Professional Experience

principal: Dreves Foreign Law Office; 2009 - Current; The Dreves Foreign Law Office provides quality legal advice and assistance to Japanese, foreign and foreign-based corporations, and individuals in domestic and cross-border matters, with a particular specialization in New York law and U.S. regulatory issues. The Firm’s principal, Mr. Dreves, has over twenty-five years’ experience in assisting top-tier and innovative foreign and Japanese banks, securities firms and corporations on foreign and Japanese legal matters, including experience within a premier Japanese bank in New York and a leading Wall Street investment bank in Tokyo, with leading Japanese lawyers (bengoshi) and as a partner with the Tokyo office of the world’s largest international law firm. Mr. Dreves is licensed in New York as an attorney and in Japan as a Registered Foreign Lawyer (gaikokuho jimu bengoshi), and is fluent in written and spoken business Japanese. We strive to provide timely and pragmatic solutions to legal issues, grounded on an understanding of relevant legal systems and familiarity with local and international business practices.