Attorney John Kakinuki, President

A former Partner with one of the top law firms in the world, Baker & McKenzie (working 22 years at Baker & McKenzie), and General Counsel to two Fortune 500 companies, GE and AXA (working 3 years each at GE and AXA), attorney John Kakinuki, the principal of Kakinuki Law Office, PC, has a hard-earned reputation for professionalism, integrity and his result-oriented approach to high-stakes litigation and complex business transactions.

In addition to representing his clients zealously and effectively, Mr. Kakinuki has a long history of public service. Mr. Kakinuki is well respected within the Bar in both Japan and the United States for his contributions to the profession and the judicial system, as well as among government officials in Japan, the U.S. and the EU for his efforts to promote and advance free trade.

Attorney Kakinuki was conferred a Bachelor’s degree from the International Christian University in Tokyo in 1979 and a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1984.
Mr. Kakinuki is admitted to the Bars of the State of California, the State of New York and the District of Columbia.
He is also admitted to the Bars of the United States Courts of Appeals for the Federal, Second and Ninth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern Districts of California, for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, for the Eastern District of Michigan, and for the District of Columbia.
Mr. Kakinuki is also admitted to the Bars of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Mr. Kakinuki was admitted in Japan as a Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi from 1993 to 2011, where he served as the first non-Japanese official of the Tokyo Bar Association (Vice Chair, International Committee, 1999-2011), the only foreign lawyer on the Committee on Foreign Lawyers and International Practice and the International Relations Committee of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA), and the first foreign lawyer to attend the American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Meeting both as an ABA member and as a delegate from the JFBA (Aug. 2010).
Mr. Kakinuki may very well be the only foreign attorney to have taken depositions in the Japanese courts (Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima and Sendai District Courts) pursuant to Letters Rogatory.
Mr. Kakinuki also served for many years as a Committee Chair then a Board member and Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) and for several years as a Committee Chair of the European Business Council in Japan (EBC). He also served on the Government of Japan’s Justice System Reform Council from 2006 to 2011.
Recipient of Certificates of Appreciation from the President of the Tokyo Bar Association and the ACCJ for numerous contributions to each organization.
Recipient of Certificate of Appreciation for Participation in Volunteer Activities from Soma City Hall, Fukushima Prefecture, for relief activities carried out after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in that region.
Attorney Kakinuki also serves as a Major (CA), from January 2017 as Judge Advocate to the 1st Battalion, 143d Field Artillery Regiment of the California Army National Guard, and through December 2016 he served as the Officer in Charge of the Northern California appellate defense unit detached to the California Army National Guard’s Trial Defense Service.
Recipient of the United States Army Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service for relief activities carried out after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, the California National Guard Medal of Merit for exceptionally meritorious service, and the California National Guard Commendation Medal for meritorious service.

Contact by e-mail: john@kakinukilaw.com