Stratification or Diversification? 2011 Survey of Young Lawyers in Japan

in Setsuo Miyazawa et al., East Asia’s Renewed Respect for the Rule of Law in the 21st Century: The Future of Legal and Judicial Landscapes in East Asia Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2015

UC Hastings Research Paper No. 139

18 Pages Posted: 20 May 2015

See all articles by Setsuo Miyazawa

Setsuo Miyazawa

UC Law, San Francisco

Atsushi Bushimata

Fukuoka University

Keiichi Ageishi

Otemon Gakuin University

Akira Fujimoto

Nagoya University, Graduate School of Law

Kyoko Ishida

Waseda University

Date Written: March 13, 2015

Abstract

Inspired by the Chicago study of urban lawyers and the After the JD project in the United States, a team of scholars led by Setsuo Miyazawa has conducted repeated cross-sectional surveys of Japanese lawyers licensed in 2009. They conducted the first survey in 2011 and the second survey in 2014. This paper presents some of the findings in the 2011 survey, particularly on specialization, income, work environment (large firms vs. small municipalities), prestige of practice areas, and impact of law schools from which lawyers graduated. While graduates of the University of Tokyo Law School clearly have advantage in joining large firms in Tokyo, this paper concludes that it is too early to say that a stratification like that among urban lawyers in the United States is appearing in Japan, because prestige of practice areas is multidimensional in Japan, and practices for individual clients are still respected for their “social significance.”

Suggested Citation

Miyazawa, Setsuo and Bushimata, Atsushi and Ageishi, Keiichi and Fujimoto, Akira and Ishida, Kyoko, Stratification or Diversification? 2011 Survey of Young Lawyers in Japan (March 13, 2015). in Setsuo Miyazawa et al., East Asia’s Renewed Respect for the Rule of Law in the 21st Century: The Future of Legal and Judicial Landscapes in East Asia Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2015, UC Hastings Research Paper No. 139, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2605985

Setsuo Miyazawa (Contact Author)

UC Law, San Francisco ( email )

200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

Atsushi Bushimata

Fukuoka University

Fukuoka 814-0180
Japan

Keiichi Ageishi

Otemon Gakuin University ( email )

2-1-15 Nishiai
Ibaraki, Osaka 567-8502
Japan
+81 72 641 7497 (Phone)
+81 72 643 9432 (Fax)

Akira Fujimoto

Nagoya University, Graduate School of Law ( email )

Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku
Nagoya, 464-8601
Japan

Kyoko Ishida

Waseda University ( email )

BLDG#8-915, 1-6-1 Nishi-waseda
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555
Japan
+81-3-5286-1399 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
60
Abstract Views
826
Rank
643,430
PlumX Metrics