The Ministry of Justice in Japan has moved to further simplify the application documents for approval of qualifications for registered foreign lawyers to make it easier for applicants to prepare the necessary documents.

In a move that took effect on 31 July, two measures were introduced to streamline the registration process.

Firstly, the number of documents law firms must submit on behalf of applicants has been reduced. Hiroyuki Kano, who heads up the Japan practice at fellow BigLaw firm Clayton Utz, explained that previously, law firms had to repeatedly source and submit the documents for each foreign lawyer registration.

“This change means that the documents law firms need to submit for multiple applicants have been simplified, and law firms can now reuse certain updated documents, including verification of the applicant’s intent to perform their duties properly, financial basis for performing duties and ability to compensate for damages,” he said.

Secondly, the reapplication process for foreign lawyers previously registered in Japan has been simplified.

The news follows the decision of the Bar Council of India in March of last year to allow foreign law firms and lawyers to practise in the country.

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A spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department told Lawyers Weekly that the Australian government “welcomes any measures” that make it easier for Australian lawyers to practise in foreign jurisdictions.

The Law Council of Australia also welcomed the decision.

In comments provided to this brand, LCA president Greg McIntyre SC said that the council had previously expressed concern regarding the onerous and time-consuming registration requirements in Japan.

“Australia’s legal profession welcomes this incremental progress to reduce behind-the-border domestic regulatory requirements and facilitate the ability of foreign lawyers and firms to enter Japan’s legal market,” he said.

Australia’s experience, McIntyre continued, is that the regulation of foreign lawyers works best where regulations are sufficiently flexible to enable local and foreign lawyers to work together to provide legal services covering local and foreign law.

“Japanese lawyers may already come to Australia and, without registration, practise foreign law on a ‘fly-in, fly-out’ basis for a maximum period of 90 days in any 12-month period. A simple registration process then permits Japanese lawyers to practise for a longer period or establish a commercial presence,” he said.

“The Law Council looks forward to discussing further opportunities to enhance trade in legal services between Japan and Australia when it next meets with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations later this year.”

K&L Gates special counsel Nathaniel Rowe – who recently appeared on The Lawyers Weekly Show to discuss his experience of living and practising in Japan, namely the challenges and rewards, and why practising overseas makes one a better lawyer – said that with less than 500 registered foreign lawyers currently in Japan, anything that can help attract more highly skilled foreign talent to the world’s third-largest economy would no doubt be welcomed by those on the ground in Japan.

The new measures are also good news for the HR and administrative departments of existing domestic and international law firms, “as well as those firms newly entering the Japanese market on the back of its much-heralded economic renaissance”.

“The regulatory paper trail in Japan can be cumbersome at the best of times, let alone in the legal services sector where it can take up to several months to register as a foreign lawyer, during which time lawyers are precluded from practising,” Rowe said.

“The proposed changes, which I summarise as ‘reuse and re-register’ measures, will hopefully feed through to lower the costs and reduce the lengthy timelines for hiring and registering foreign lawyers in Japan.”

Kano noted that as the change does not relate to substantive requirements for registration or what the registered foreign lawyers can do in Japan, “it may not have a ‘direct impact’ or increase in the number of foreign lawyers in Japan”.

There is, however, “a positive attitude to welcoming foreign registered lawyers into Japan”, remarked Kano, who recently detailed what he sees as being the key differences in practice Down Under versus in the Land of the Rising Sun.