Job advertisement – Foreign Correspondence and Legal Staff (two positions available)

Akasaka International Law, Patent and Accounting Office, an international law firm based in Tokyo, is currently seeking the expanded opportunity to collaborate with talented foreign professionals to join our dedicated and experienced team. Responsibilities include drafting and reviewing English correspondences and legal documents such as contracts, MOU, and term sheets. Additionally, the role will include planning and implementing marketing strategies (such as content marketing, SNS management) to expand the client base as well as developing strong relationships with professionals around the world for collaboration.  

The role has potential growth potential and offers a range of opportunities for future development. The staff would have the opportunity to learn about Japanese corporate and trademark law as well as obtain practical experience in the legal industry. The firm is also creating a Global Hub to bridge the Startup Hubs internationally.  

Along with meeting the minimum requirements, the ideal candidate should be someone willing to learn, passionate, detail-orientated, and in particular, able to take the initiative as well as eager to be a team player to achieve successful results as a team for our clients.

The position would start as a part-time position with the potentials to shift to a full-time role for the right person.

Compensation (negotiable)

For part time position ¥2,500~¥3,500 per hour (private contractor) + transportation

For full time position ¥250,000~¥300,000 per month (inclusive of 10h overtime) + social insurance + transportation

The transportation fee shall be limited to ¥10,000 per month to encourage people to live near the office.

We appreciate those who live close to the office. 

Minimum Requirements

Native-level English ability

Education or practical experience in the legal field (eg. Law graduate or at least 2 years  work experience in a law firm or a company’s legal department)

Currently residing in Japan

Excellent writing and research skills

Competency with using computers

Knowledge of Marketing and Sales

Knowledge of Community Organization

Knowledge of the Startups Business

Flexible and accommodating personality (ability to work under pressure and unexpected situation and take interest in other people’s business and mindsets)

Preferred Qualities

Japanese and other language abilities

Technical competencies such as design and coding

Admitted to practice law in an English-speaking jurisdiction

How to Apply

Please apply by emailing  ailaw-info@ailaw.co.jp with the following:

A cover letter

A detailed resume

Information of your current visa status  

A writing sample (eg. thesis, university assignment, or article)

Our Selection Process (May change depending on circumstances)

1) Review of Application (about one week)

2) Online tests and Assignments (about one week)

3) Phone interview 

4) Test and Interview at the firm’s office

5) 1 week paid work experience

6) Conclude contract as a part-time contractor

7) Trial period and adjust work arrangement based on negotiation (at least 3 months)

8) Shift to a full-time employee contract only if the person demonstrates good skills, performance, and teamwork

Only candidates who pass our initial screening will be contacted. We look forward to receiving your application to be a part of our team.

Our General Team Concept as Explained by the Representative Partner

Our origins and mission

Our firm was founded in the image of the founder’s Nagasaki “Dejima”, with the desire to provide services that connect Japan with foreign countries. In addition, we are committed to becoming an infrastructure that supports new challenges in light of the changing industrial structure due to changes in ICT.

Our core values

Our core values are: 1) to support the venture spirit; 2) to support digital transformation (DX); and 3) to create a global hub. As it turns out, they are all just statements of the same thing. The reason for this is that the world is gradually changing from a real-world operating system to an online-centric system.

Our case management

(1) Inbound consultations from all over the world to Japan (i.e., projects in foreign languages); and (2) projects from Japan to the rest of the world.

Compared to other law firms, our work involves a lot of consulting work, negotiation, finance, and other trouble-shooting, which requires an understanding of venture start-ups. In each of these areas, we are constantly challenged to learn and have the opportunity to express our opinions. The reason is that this is no longer a specialized area, but an unpredictable area where no one can predict what will happen, and we do not live in a society where each opinion can be divided into right and wrong.

In solving our clients’ problems, we have three criteria: “winning in business”, “winning in politics”, and “winning in court.” We consider whether we can win in business and politics while also considering winning in court.

For example, in cases of slander and libel on the internet, we take into account the direction of winning the case in court, while finding the least damaging and most cost-effective way to deal with SEO and use other mass media. This is a matter that cannot be judged by experts alone but must be judged comprehensively, taking into account public opinion.

Devotion to work

Our work style is to foresee the society of 2025 imaging the society of 2030 and moving forward with a concrete image of each stage from 2025 to 2020. We try to create a working environment where people can work anywhere. We have also moved away from the rigid office design of the past to a design that draws gradual boundaries and crosses the line between engineers, PR, marketers, designers, ventures, foreigners, HR, large corporations, and others. We are no longer a system that only does legal work, but rather we are changing to a new “social designer”. Our office has changed from the days when we had about 3,000 books to now where we use cloud storage and e-books as much as possible, and we have gone through a lot of trial and error in terms of how we send out information, from email to video streaming. We have eliminated analog and inefficient systems.

We are now focusing on a subscription model, with e-books, video distribution, and other methods to get paid, as well as customer success.

What is required of us is to create an environment that allows our clients to focus on what they should be doing by eliminating their worries. We will seek every possible measure to achieve this. We will use what legal tech exists, and develop what we shall create as legal tech. We will build a community with the support of our core members, our customers, and the people who support us. (1) supporting the venture spirit, (2) supporting digital transformation (DX), and (3) creating a global hub are just some of the answers.

Actual situation

I am ashamed to say that we cannot do everything remotely now. The reason for this is that there is a huge knowledge gap, and if we work remotely, there is a possibility that we will go in the opposite direction with little understanding. We have decided to take a personal stance to increase profitability together and grow as a community. We acknowledge our shortcomings and try to help each other as a team. Rather than a system in which the best people become the boss, we will create a system in which those with knowledge and passion become the leaders for each appropriate case and event, enhance each other, and create a system for making the rules for the community. That is the philosophy behind (1), (2), and (3).

Shinji Sumida, who is the Representative Partner, will only be a replaceable member in the future. Shinji Sumida has tentatively decided on an abstract vision, identity, and mission. When the level of abstraction is high and other members create more advanced systems that make others happy, Shinji Sumida will probably be replaced by those members. The business is to create a system that can make all individuals, groups, and society happy, and we should stick to that only.

The level of abstraction is at a middle range when it comes to strategy development, such as markets, approaches to markets, marketing, PR policies, and sales policies. At this level, people with a certain amount of knowledge will be able to express their opinions, and their opinions will be taken into account. The process is as follows: create a strategy, listen to opinions, and revise.

On the other hand, when it comes to tactics at the individual level for working individual cases, each staff member shall have more knowledge. It makes more sense for the staff to make decisions based on the vision and other strategies rather than the managers. However, we see sometimes misalignment of strategies occurs so after 5:00 p.m., we have a discussion to fine-tune the priorities for the next day to see if there is any misalignment. By making sure that the direction is correct at this level, we can take care of individual self-realization, contribution to the team’s goals, contribution to the customers, and contribution to society.

We use a gamification system to create a space where people feel positive about their own existence and enjoy their work. We strive to create an environment of meaningful work and immersion, with all kinds of digital and visualization tools to make work an enjoyable space for everyone, and we need your help. We respect meaningful and immersed experiences rather than short-term pleasures such as delicious food, or happiness due to an increase in remuneration because the pleasurable feelings are not sustainable. Match-pumping and comparison with others will cause you to fall into a situation of unhappiness.

Birthday parties and other positions

We will always celebrate members’ birthday parties and other events. The reason for this is that we have heard that some foreign people feel lonely because they have no one to celebrate with. We are determined to ensure psychological safety when it comes to the affirmation of self-worth. Therefore, we decided to hold a celebration as a means of securing affirmation.

On the other hand, we do not emphasize the affirmation of self-competence because we want people to remain humble at all times. This is because we want them to be happy afterward, should they decide to graduate from our office. People feel happy when they are growing steadily. If you have high self-esteem, there will be an incident and you will be unhappy if you have low self-esteem.

If you have a higher remuneration, you will be unhappy when you change jobs. You will feel that way even more if your needs are not matched to the working environment. What makes the business owner and members happy is a system that goes up the remuneration continually.

People shall be happy for the success of others. In the future society, it is essential to have a place where each person can be happy because we do not live alone.

Compensation system

In the past, we had many cases for listed companies and inheritance cases for individuals, but in light of the change to DX, we have shifted our clients to the extremes of listed companies and venture companies. However, in light of the change to DX, we have shifted our clients to listed companies and venture companies. We have converted our own office to cloud computing and are advocating “Legal Office as a service. We continue to support ventures by increasing the number of advisory contracts for ventures. We are changing from the traditional work of the past (desk work, court procedures, correspondence with government agencies) to customer success with a focus on media relations (PR), marketing, and customer service.

Spec 1: Daily legal work (first level)

Spec 2: Sales and marketing operations (the level that pushed past the first level)

Spec 3: New business operations including PR, sales, and marketing (at a level that will earn respect in the firm) 

The above factors will be taken into account in the remuneration structure. We have a format that takes into account profit margins, and each member works with that profit margin in mind, so you can change yourself to a level that would be acceptable in any company. We have prepared a system that allows you to steadily improve your skills. However, as for the part-time, we think that the use of time itself is remuneration for the improvement, so after a large contribution is noticed, we will consider the bonus.

We also focus on the results of profit because we believe that ideas without market-fit are unsustainable and harmful, and that economy without ideals is also futile.

What we focus on in our selection process

In our office, it is strictly forbidden to talk behind our backs or to slander others in the absence of other members. This applies to any talented person. The reason for this is that we will collaborate with people who: (1) are excellent and fit in with our firm; (2) are not excellent and fit in with our firm; and (3) are not excellent and do not fit in with our firm, but we will never collaborate with people who are not excellent and do not fit in with our firm. We will never collaborate with people who: (4) do not fit into our firm; and (5) are not good people, because slander behind the scenes is the most abhorrent thing.

Each and every member of our firm strives to contribute to our clients, society, and all of our members. As such, the firm is ideal for those who: (1) want to work globally in the future; (2) want to improve their cross-cultural communication skills; and (3) want to improve their ability to solve problems from a broad perspective. Most important is the potential for growth, and the ability to empathize and grow with those who take on challenges. We are looking for someone who wants to grow as a person rather than just a secretary.

We are looking for people who can eventually be involved in management, and once they become familiar with the business, we plan to select them depending on their abilities and entrust them with various tasks such as marketing.

Our happiness

The word “happiness” is vague, so we define it as the number of times we smile. We will create an environment where everyone can work with a smile. For the first three months, we will consider making it tougher. The reason for this is that we need a period of time to make sure that our model exists and that we fit into it so that we don’t go in the wrong direction even if we have free rein. It tends to be extremely unfortunate if we start out with a discretionary approach and later decide that this part is different, and we want to avoid that. In order to create a place where each of us can think and practice as much as possible in anticipation of 2030, we will be strict for the first three months and gradually loosen up the atmosphere where everyone can express their opinions.

Further Challenges

We will create a supportive work environment for people who are talented but find it difficult to work, such as mothers. Eventually, we will be able to create a comfortable working environment for senior citizens as well. First of all, we would like to create an environment where we can realize self-fulfillment and social contribution as a group while being conscious of our own profit margin as an ecosystem (which is essential for sustainability).