Profile of Norman Solberg
My background includes personal experience in many different industries, including manufacturing, consumer products, finance, banking, high tech, insurance and merchandising, and I have worked closely at senior levels with top management and boards of directors of both US and Japanese multinational companies.
I have practiced law in a Wall Street law firm and in four international companies, where I rose to serve as Vice President and General Counsel of Alberto Culver, a family controlled, New York Stock Exchange-listed, Fortune 500 consumer products company, before establishing my own private law practice and relocating to Japan.
I have intensive experience in a very wide variety of legal issues, ranging from investments, real estate, corporate governance (management and control) issues, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), hostile takeover battles, courtroom disputes, high tech licensing and other projects for large and small companies –– to personal law matters such as wills, trusts and estate issues for both holders of large fortunes and moderate income families. These matters tie together in surprising ways.
Using my connections in the business community, I find commercial real estate and other investment opportunities in Japan for clients such as large international merchandisers, hotel chains and private equity investors. It is fair to say that I have provided them with some extraordinary opportunities. I also assist Japanese businesses in their cross-border activities such as manufacturing, OEM, investing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and licensing.
For several years I served as an advisor to the Mayor of Osaka on attracting foreign investment.
For four years, the maximum allowed, I served as elected Vice President, Executive Committee and Board member of The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and Chair of its ACCJ Kansai (Western Japan) Chapter.
I served as chairman of the American Bar Association's Committee on Law Department Management and Organization of its Section of Business Law for more than ten years, running programs and lectures on how to manage law functions effectively.
I am licensed to practice law in Illinois and New York and licensed as a foreign lawyer in Japan as a member of the Osaka Bar Association. (I formerly was also licensed in Massachusetts and Missouri. While I am no longer active there, I am qualified to resume practice in those States if I wish.)
In the field of arbitration and alternative dispute resolution, I serve on the panel of Arbitrators of the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association and I am a graduate of the Associate Member and Special Member courses of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London). I formerly served as an arbitrator in Chicago.
I graduated from Columbia University Law School, Columbia College and the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law, Columbia’s post-graduate program on international business and tax law.
Columbia University in the City of New York
Including myself, my family now includes over 100 years of American expatriates in Asia -- spanning five generations.
You can see more background detail and testimonials at my LinkedIn profile.
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