Does JES provide legal advice?

Japan Employment Solutions LLC is a consultancy and does not provide legal advice. Rather, JES partners with your company. In Japan, most companies do not utilize employment attorneys unless they have litigation, union, or highly technical legal problems. Most problems are handled by college graduates or HR administrators. This has created a stagnancy in Japan resulting in a “one-size-fits-all” model. Most foreign companies think there are few available options. This is not the case. Attorneys and HR in Japan typically are very conservative and unwilling to push for smart risks. JES stretches this model to give options you may not see with traditional Japanese attorneys?

Having an HR department that handles anything other than administrative tasks is a fairly new concept in Japan. Due to the lifetime employment model that persisted for decades in Japan, the need for dedicated HR specialists is a relatively new phenomenon, and even the Japanese professionals often are not clear on the acceptable parameters. This leads to a homogenous workstyle across all companies without much variation. But Japan is emerging into a new era where properly leveraged risks and a more mobile workforce calls for innovative thinking. This was especially pushed by the Abe administration in the mid 2010s, but has yet to catch on for many companies. Such unique and out-of-the-box thinking in a traditional law firm or the HR department is rare in Japan.

But what if we want Legal to sign off?

This is where you can have the best of both worlds. If legal advice is needed, JES will prepare you to go to the attorneys with all the background information you need by avoiding the high end fees from an expensive international firm or a local Japanese law firm that may not understand laws in other countries and may not have sufficient English speaking skills.

Go in knowing the right questions to ask. Go in knowing the foundations of the problem and available options and risks. Go in knowing the best attorneys to use for each problem. Are you using the same attorney for union problems, policy revisions, and employment litigation? Is this the same attorney you use for non-employment law work (i.e., not a specialist)? Do you want to work with a local attorney who is an expert (and usually much cheaper) but simply does not have a comfort level with English? This is where JES can be your trusted partner and liaison, saving you money and frustration while providing you more options and faster service than countless back-and-forth emails with law firms to sort out the basics.

JES can send you to the right people, make sure you feel good about the decisions and communications, and ensure you are prepared and confident. In most cases, Japanese attorneys (“bengoshi”) simply sign off on my recommendations with very little cost for you. In fact, many were mentored by Heath Havey in past years. You save tons of money and proceed with confidence and with an end goal in mind, without hitting all the blockers that create frustration.

How will using JES save our company money?

You might be surprised how many companies have numerous back-and-forth communications with their Japanese lawyers at top prices just to understand the basic foundations of Japan employment laws. Is it worth it to pay half the hourly rate with me for one or two hours where you may have three to four hours at double the rate with the law firm—all to get to the same point of understanding? And Japanese attorneys will typically give few options outside of the traditional way things have always been done.

Even international law firms will typically staff local Japanese attorneys who do not understand the laws of Western companies and cannot provide a comparative understanding or synthesis of cultures. JES gives you options wherever possible within legal parameters, fully explaining risks and understanding that you may want to take on some risk to meet your business goals.

How will using JES affect legal privilege?

Japan does not have the concept of legal privilege. Japan litigation also does not have the procedures of litigation discovery (exchange of evidence) that exists in the West. A judge will determine confidentiality issues based on the specific case. JES still recommends using the gold standard to preserve confidentiality through proper contractual relationships and, where necessary, pulling outside counsel into the discussion if such costs are justified.

What if we just want to know some basics about Japanese employment?

This is where JES shines. Heath has repeated the basics of Japanese employment to HR groups, business leaders, and attorneys for decades in presentations, seminars, and as a law professor in Tokyo. He is an in demand speaker for small or large presentations to bring Japan employment law (and comparative international employment law) to life in an interesting way with anecdotes, real world examples, and a knowledge of the developing law.