Practice Areas

Asahi Law Offices’ team of workplace law experts is ready with legal advice on all aspects of workplace relations, including: problems arising at any stage of the employment contract, from hiring to transfer and resignation or dismissal; nonpayment of wages, overtime, and retirement benefits; downgrading of working conditions; bullying in the workplace and sexual harassment; and job-related accidents.

Depending on the case, we can also handle negotiations with your employer. We do our utmost to assert your rights as a worker by selecting and utilizing the appropriate dispute resolution mechanism, whether that be litigation or a labor tribunal, an option that has only recently become available in Japan.

Japan has in recent years passed legislation intended to prevent harm to consumers from corporate products and services, such as the Consumer Contract Law and the revised Specified Commercial Transactions Law (the old Door-to-Door Sales Law). Nonetheless, cases of consumers being victimized have not decreased in the least; far from it, the techniques used to bilk consumers of their money have become ever more intricate and diverse, including targeting people over the Internet and disguising fraudulent deals as legitimate financial transactions.

The Asahi Law Offices’ legal staff includes lawyers who are actively involved in consumer issues through their membership in the consumer issues committee of their bar association or their participation in a legal team handling a specific consumer case. They offer advice and handle disputes relating to consumer grievances of all types.

Numerous patients come to Asahi Law Offices for advice about malpractice thanks to our extensive experience in handling all aspects of malpractice cases: ensuring preservation of medical records and other evidence, negotiating compensation with physicians and medical institutions, and prosecuting suits for damages.

In cases involving traffic accidents, it is essential to possess a thorough practical knowledge of how to establish the facts about what each party actually did, assess comparative negligence, determine whether or not a causal relationship exists, and calculate damages. During the dispute resolution process, a knowledge of insurance is also required to ensure that damages are compensated for promptly and fairly.

Lawyers well versed in all these matters are available at Asahi Law Offices to provide you with suitable legal advice. Not only are they familiar with handling disputes and lawsuits relating to traffic accidents; they also possess a wealth of other experience, such as advising members of the public via consultation centers run by alternative dispute resolution bodies, including the Japan Center for Settlement of Traffic Accident Disputes and the Nichibenren Traffic Accident Consultation Center.

Conflicts between family members (divorce, disputes over parental rights and custody) and inheritance have long been issues that could affect anyone. But changes in Japanese society like the spread of the nuclear family, declining birthrates, and the increase in two-income households have brought new problems in their wake, transforming the nature of such disputes.

In Japan legal theory and practice surrounding such issues have evolved considerably. An adult guardianship system has been instituted, the Family Causes Proceedings Law has been revised, and the concept of no-fault divorce is gaining ground.

Asahi Law Offices advises on such matters as conciliation between spouses; sharing of expenses arising from marriage; and divorce and associated payment for pain and suffering (compensation to the aggrieved spouse), division of assets, custody of children, and visiting rights. We also handle dispute resolution and litigation relating to such matters.

In the area of inheritance, we draw up wills and act as executor, as well as provide legal advice on negotiations, arbitration, and suits relating to partition of estates.

In the areas of adult guardianship and of business succession at family-owned firms, lawyers with specialized knowledge and experience in each field offer appropriate legal advice, sometimes working with tax accountants and other outside professionals.

Asahi Law Offices also has a wills and inheritance consultation desk, where you can obtain advice on drawing up a will, adult guardianship, administration of your property during your lifetime, and, if you run your own business, passing it on.

The concept of sexual harassment, which first gained currency in Japan in the 1990s, has been enshrined in the Equal Employment Opportunity Law and is today firmly established in the public’s mind. Victims of domestic abuse for their part finally began to have their voices heard with the 2001 enactment of the Law on the Prevention of Violence from Spouses and the Protection of Victims, or the Domestic Violence Prevention Law for short.

Asahi Law Offices offers consultations on these serious gender-related issues, handles negotiations and dispute resolution procedures with the perpetrator or employer, and takes steps to improve the working environment for the victim. We also aggressively pursue court procedures on the client’s behalf, such as filing for a protection order under the Domestic Violence Prevention Law.

Small businesses and individuals that, for whatever reason, are heavily in debt often find it difficult to extract themselves from their financial predicament because of the burden of loan payments. That economic strain can exact a great toll on mind and body as well.

Such heavily indebted individuals can release themselves from excessive financial obligations by enlisting the aid of a lawyer and resorting to a fair, equitable proceeding under a court’s supervision.

Asahi Law Offices provides advice to individuals with large debts on how to pay them off. We also negotiate with creditors on settlement of debts and, if the client decides to invoke legal proceedings, act as his or her representative.

Japan’s recent adoption of a lay judge system (a modified jury system) has fueled public interest in criminal cases. Even civil and commercial disputes not infrequently require taking account of criminal proceedings. Whether appointed by the court or privately retained, our lawyers defend criminal cases with a commitment to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of suspects and defendants. These legal professionals possess extensive experience in handling serious cases of the type earmarked for pretrial procedures.

Asahi Law Offices is involved too in many juvenile cases, which differ in certain key aspects from ordinary criminal cases and require both careful and expeditious handling.

On the other hand we also represent victims, whether individual or corporate, in criminal cases. Further, we file criminal charges with the investigative authorities against perpetrators, and offer support to victims of crime.