Nishimura & Asahi is the biggest of the “Big Four” law firms in Japan, as of January 2018, by number of lawyers. The firm’s current form was established in 2007 by the acquisition of the Kokusai Bumon of Asahi Law Offices by Nishimura & Partners. The firm is a member of the international legal network Lex Mundi. In August 2012 it opened offices in Nagoya and Osaka to assist clients based outside of Tokyo. The Legal 500 ranks N&A as a top tier firm in the fields of antitrust and competition law, banking and finance, capital markets, construction, projects and energy, corporate and M&A, dispute resolution, real estate and structured finance/securitisation. Chambers & Partners ranks the firm as “Band 1” in banking and finance, securitisation and structured finance, corporate and M&A, dispute resolution, real estate and restructuring/insolvency.