It is assumed that one of the topics to be discussed by the Council
will be whether law offices should be allowed to become corporations. Will
you tell us, first of all, why there are so many giant law firms in the
U.S.?
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I assume that most attorneys in Japan became attorneys because they did
not want to be incorporated into a group. They instead want to be a lone
wolf. On the other hand, we create large organizations because we need
one another. Not only do we need to have a high level of professional
knowledge these days, but also we need to provide value-added services to
deal with a complex and globalized legal world. One person can't take care
of everything. Therefore, we need to cooperate with each other. At the
same time, I am convinced that we need to cooperate in order to maintain
attorney independence. Not only do we need self- regulation and
independence from the government, but we also need to be independent from
our clients. If our revenue is dependent on few major clients, every word
they say places pressure on us. To prevent this from happening, we employ
many attorneys so no single client accounts for a major portion of the
revenue. This gives us the option to say "we cannot take this case due to
ethical considerations" However, if you are a lone wolf, there might be
times when you cannot afford to say this. This is one of the reasons why
giant law firms exist.
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I think that the possibility of creating comprehensive law offices
will be one of the topics that the Council discusses. In Japan, licensed
tax accountants and judicial scriveners are not allowed to undertake legal
consultations. Practicing attorneys have a monopoly here. What is your
opinion?
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As far as I know, Japan is the only country in the world which
differentiates professions in such a detailed manner. Furthermore, they do
not respect one another's profession. The problem for clients in Japan is
that while seeking advice on legal matters, they cannot simultaneously seek
consultation on other issues. This is especially true with foreign
investors. We should be able to work with licensed tax accountants.
Therefore, I believe that the Licensed Tax Accountant Act and Judicial
Scrivener Act both should be revised.
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