'Lawyerlessness' is a luxury Japan can no longer afford
In 1983, Time magazine looked at Japan and saw, to its astonishment, a "land without lawyers." "Most Japanese," said its report, "live — and die — without ever having seen a lawyer." Was this a country, or a mystic brotherhood? In the U.S. there ...
The government is reviewing the education system for the legal profession. It needs to do a better job this time around then it did a couple of decades ago.
Japan panel suggests relaxing rules for foreign lawyers in international arbitration
A Justice Ministry panel on Tuesday proposed easing regulations to allow foreign lawyers to participate in arbitration cases involving the Japanese subsidiaries of foreign companies. The panel also suggested in a report that such disputes should be eligible for international arbitration in Japan as the ...
Tokyo lawyers to sue nationalists who allegedly targeted them for their stance on Korean schools
Two Tokyo lawyers said Thursday they plan to sue hundreds of internet rightists, who the lawyers say campaigned to have them reprimanded over their apparent support for free education at ethnic Korean schools in Japan. Ryo Sasaki and Kanehito Kita said they will file a ...
Lawyers debate Japan's capital punishment system at EU-organized symposium
Two prominent lawyers, one for the death penalty and the other against it, held a heated debate last Thursday at a symposium in Tokyo that sought to deepen discussion on Japan's capital punishment system. Yuji Ogawara, a Tokyo-based lawyer, contended that the death penalty should ...
Defense lawyer, with guide dog's help, carries welfare-related caseload
Lawyer Kimiko Yoshie walks through a narrow aisle in court, led by a guide dog. Taking a seat on the defense side, she gently pats the dog's head and smiles at him as he stretches at her feet. Being visually impaired, 45 year-old Yoshie from ...
Lawyers say official misconduct may be hard to prove in Flint tainted water scandal
The lead criminal charge brought on Wednesday against two Michigan state officials in connection with the tainted water supply in Flint, Michigan, could be difficult to prove, lawyers familiar with the state's criminal law said. The charge against state Department of Environmental Quality water supervisor ...
Japan lawyers' group slams 'inhumane' death penalty, calls for suspension, national debate
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations on Wednesday condemned capital punishment as "inhumane" and called on Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki to set up an panel of experts to review the policy. It said the body should start a national debate about a practice already abandoned ...
Attorney group to offer free advice to ID-less 'mukoseki' citizens
Japan's attorneys are planning a wide-scale effort to advise people trapped in mukoseki status who are deprived of basic government services because they do not appear on family registries and thus lack legal identity. In response to a government request, the Japan Federation of Bar ...
Entrepreneurial lawyer takes legal services into Internet age
Becoming a lawyer used to be the ultimate status symbol in Japan. Bar exams were extremely hard to pass, so hard that once they obtained the license, lawyers were pretty much guaranteed a successful life afterward. Competition was almost zero, and there were just enough ...
Ex-professor indicted on charge of leaking bar exam questions
Prosecutors indicted a former Meiji University law school professor Wednesday on a charge of leaking questions in this year's national bar examinations to a woman who was one of his former students. It is the first time that prosecutors have charged a person over leaking ...
Professor admits leaking bar exam questions to student
In a sign of systemic flaws in the nation's law schools, the Justice Ministry files a criminal complaint against a law professor for leaking bar exam questions to one of his students.
