Firm Overview

Large Firm Experience / Small Firm Attention

Lepon Holzworth & Kato offers a broad range of business and commercial experience to domestic and foreign clients. We provide high quality, cost-effective and timely corporate and business advice to large and small companies throughout the world. Our small size provides us with the opportunity to understand our clients' businesses, and to work closely with senior management to craft solutions to business problems. In many cases, our client relationships date back to the beginnings of our mutual careers. Our staff knows our clients well since most of our staff has been with our firm for many years. The senior members of the firm arrived with the experience gained from years of practice in large firms, and have built upon that experience over the last 20 years. Our small size and low overhead means that we can offer a high level of expert legal advice with the direct and personal attention of our senior members in a cost-effective manner.

Our office is located in Washington DC, only blocks from the White House, the World Bank and many government agencies. Our staff speaks Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Hindi, and Malayalam. We serve clients worldwide including those from Japan, Chile, Korea, China, Colombia, India, and Europe. We provide our clients with a professional experience in a friendly atmosphere and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your legal needs. Please feel free to call or contact us to schedule an appointment.

Major Areas of Practice

We are more than a corporate, litigation and regulatory law firm in Washington DC. Many of our Fortune 100 clients come to us because of our expertise in a specific niche area of law, and for the synergy between our areas of specialization.

Jeff Lepon is known for his corporate and commercial work, international trade and investment law advice and legislative strategies – particularly as they relate to Japan and the Far East. He travels frequently to the Pacific Rim, where he is a familiar face in the headquarters of some of the most prestigious companies in the region.

David Holzworth is well known in the produce industry as the General Counsel to ASOEX, a trade association comprised of multinational corporations based in Santiago, Chile. He represents trade associations and multinational corporations as a counsel, litigator and a lobbyist on food regulatory and trade issues. Together with Yoshi Kato, he serves as counsel to the semiconductor board of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association, the Japanese semiconductor industry. He also represents domestic corporate clients in state and federal courts on commercial and real estate matters. Mr. Holzworth draws on the professional expertise and language skills of the staff in representing foreign clients in the United States.

Yoshi Kato represents foreign and domestic clients, particularly Japanese companies doing business in the United States, in China and elsewhere. He serves as principal counsel to the semiconductor board of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association, the Japanese semiconductor industry. Mr. Kato is well respected for his ability to provide legal advice from a businessman's perspective.

Leslie Dellon, was elected by her professional peers as Chair of the DC Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association for 2004-2005, and is widely recognized in the field of immigration law. Her clients are primarily businesses, but she also represents families.

Yasuyo Tadokoro, a non-lawyer professional, conducts strategic planning for foreign clients. As an international trade and legislative analyst, she looks at the impact of regulations, the current legislative agenda, potential lobbying efforts and the impact of trade regulations on imports, exports, investments and ongoing U.S. business operations.