Masami Izumida Tyson

Masami Tyson is a partner in the firm’s Corporate and Securities group. Global companies, particularly those based in Japan, look to Masami Tyson for guidance when doing business in the U.S. market. As leader of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Japan Practice, Masami provides Japanese businesses with a wide range of corporate and economic development counsel, including helping clients with understanding the process of setting up operations in the U.S., as well as structuring and negotiating complex contracts and general corporate matters in either Japanese or English.

In addition to her legal guidance, Japanese companies rely on Masami as a trusted business advisor. Masami, a native of Yokohama, Japan, uses her deep understanding of both U.S. and Japanese business cultures and her extensive experience with the Japanese business community to help business leaders operate successfully in the U.S. She also provides this same level of legal, business and cultural guidance to U.S. clients wanting to do business in Japan.

Masami is the former Global Director of Foreign Direct Investment and Trade for the State of Tennessee. There, she liaised with international, diplomatic, and economic offices, maintained strategic oversight for all overseas teams facilitating economic development in Tennessee, provided support to companies located in Tennessee, and advised state leadership on matters relating to foreign affairs.

Prior to her time with the State of Tennessee, Masami served in several in-house counsel roles, including Senior Counsel for Nissan North America. At Nissan, she completed marketing deals with large sponsors and contracts relating to advanced technology, such as autonomous driving, electric vehicles (EV) and more. Her in-house experience also includes extensive experience with licensing agreements and closing a number of large corporate transactions with Japanese Fortune 500 companies.