Contact: Mark Fefer, Marketing Communications, 206.757.8583 or markfefer@dwt.com
JULY 28, 2020 – Maya Yamazaki, a partner in the tech transactions practice at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, has been named to the 2020 class of 40 Under 40 by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
The Journal's highly competitive feature annually honors the business community's brightest and most innovative up-and-coming leaders.
"Maya's leadership has elevated the culture of our firm, helped world-class clients accomplish their business goals, and changed lives for the better across the Puget Sound," said Pete Johnson, Davis Wright Tremaine's Seattle partner-in-charge. "We are beyond proud to have her on our team and to see her receive this well-deserved recognition."
Maya is a technology, digital media, and "video game lawyer," with a practice that focuses on licensing, content acquisition, and development. Deals she manages are frequently used as the cornerstones of PR and media strategies at major industry conferences, such as CES, E3, and Mobile World Congress. Her work includes helping developers incorporate the IP of world-class companies and artists into the industry's most-recognized video game franchises.
"Maya has a deep understanding of how to structure, draft, and negotiate agreements that move the video game industry forward," said Wendy Kearns, co-chair of the Technology, Privacy, & Security practice at Davis Wright Tremaine. "Her expertise in the industry's cutting-edge tools and her knowledge of the players, together with her exceptional people skills, make for an amazing combination. It's no wonder she and her team are in high demand."
Maya also has an extensive record of community service. She oversees Davis Wright Tremaine's pro bono partnership with the legal clinic at Communities Rise, which provides legal advice to nonprofits and low-income microenterprise entrepreneurs. "My parents, who were Japanese immigrants, owned a small print shop in Bellevue while I was growing up," says Maya. "So I am personally motivated to provide legal services to these clients."
Maya also provides pro bono support to Rain City Rock Camp for Girls, helping to empower girls, women, and gender non-conforming youth to engage their creative potential through music and thrive in a community of allies and activists.
Maya is well known at Davis Wright Tremaine as a key voice on diversity and inclusion. As a member of the firm's hiring committee, she created a talent retention whitepaper, which laid out a roadmap for recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse attorneys. She's now taking a leadership role in putting that roadmap into practice by serving on the firm's Diversity Executive Council. She also serves as a formal mentor to both summer associates (i.e., law school students) and junior associates.
Diversity and inclusion are central to how Maya manages her portfolio of legal work as well. "Davis Wright Tremaine lawyers are encouraged to create and build their own unique practices," she says. "I've been fortunate enough to build such a practice in the technology space—one that enables me to provide growth opportunities to more junior lawyers at the firm, especially those who are diverse. To me, being in position to pay it forward is the true definition of success."
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 550 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm's largest office is in Seattle.