Public Service Activities in 2013

Activities

Bar Association Activities

Many of our lawyers engage in pro bono activities in addition to their regular duties at the firm. Examples of activities in 2013 are provided below.

Ryota Yamagishi served as the President of Daini Tokyo Bar Association and the Vice President of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
Satoshi Kawai served as a vice-chair of the ADR Center, Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
Katsuyuki Shibata served as the Chairperson of the Committee on Criminal Law and Rights for Prisoners, Daini Tokyo Bar Association.
Mugi Sekido served as the Vice Chair of the “Working Group on Consumer Class Actions”, Japan Federation of Bar Associations.

During 2013, a total of 40 of the firm’s lawyers served as duty attorneys in 1 case and as court-appointed defense counsel in 6 cases, and provided free legal counsel in 9 cases.

Public Sector Activities

Many lawyers at the firm serve in internships at governmental offices or serve as members of various councils, research groups and advisory panels that participate in planning policies and drafting legislation.

■ Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
Atsushi Oishi served as a member of the Expert Committee on Anti-Tax Haven Legislation and Intangible Assets, organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Masakazu Masujima served as a member of the New Business Creation Supporters’ Meeting of the Project for Training Experts and Supporters to Create New Business, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Hiroko Yotsumoto served as a member of the Electric Power Safety Subcommittee in the Industrial Structure Council, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Shuya Nomura served as a member of the 2013 Study Group regarding the Credit Trading under the Joint Crediting Mechanism, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
・Two lawyers were newly seconded to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2013 (in total, four lawyers were on secondment to METI in 2013).

■ Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)
Satoshi Kawai served as a temporary member of the Commission on Policy Evaluation and Evaluation of Incorporated Administrative Agencies, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

■ Ministry of Justice (MOJ)
Yoshio Iteya, Masanori Sato, Hiroki Aoyama, Itaru Adachi, Fuyuki Kojima, Kaori Awao and Shutaro Hase prepared a research report for a study commissioned by the Ministry of Justice (commissioned party: Japan Institute of Business Law): Investigation Research Report on Practical Operation of Systems for Requirements for Perfection Regarding Assignment of Receivables and Systems for Registering Assignment of Receivables.
・Some of the firm’s lawyers (listed below) served as the members of the Research Committee Commissioned by the Ministry of Justice for “Investigative Report on the Legislative System in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar”.
MHM lawyers involved:
Shigehiko Ishimoto; Takeshi Mukawa; Naoki Ishikawa; Takeshi Komatsu; Koji Toshima; Hiroki Aoyama; Hidetomo Futami; Kana Manabe; Kentaro Minegishi; Taichi Arai; Hideaki Umetsu; Masahito Saeki; Shiho Ono; Yusuke Nakajima; Mariko Morita; Masayuki Atsumi; Koji Kameda; Satoshi Hasegawa; Tomohiro Bundo; Masahiro Ueda; Aki Tanaka; Shoichi Hikami; Yuki Matsuda; Masayuki Aoyama; Wataru Ishida; Takaaki Kanayama; Noboru Kitayama; Naoaki Bando; and Reiya Nakano.
・One lawyer was newly seconded to the Ministry of Justice in 2013 (in total, two lawyers were on secondment to the MOJ in 2013).

■ Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Hajime Tanahashi served as an Expert Member of the Public-Private Innovation Program Subcommittee of the National University Corporation Evaluation Committee, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

■ Cabinet Secretariat
Satoshi Kawai served as a member of the “Subcommittee for Reform of Incorporated Administrative Agencies” of the Counsel for Promotion of Administrative Reform, Headquarters for Promoting Administrative Reform, Cabinet Secretariat.

■ National Tax Agency
One lawyer was on secondment to the National Tax Agency in 2013.

■ Financial Services Agency (FSA)
One lawyer was newly seconded to the Financial Services Agency in 2013 (in total, five lawyers were on secondment to the FSA in 2013).

■ Consumer Affairs Agency
・One lawyer was on secondment to the Consumer Affairs Agency in 2013.

■ Agency for Cultural Affairs
Satoshi Ikemura served as a member of the Research Study Committee on Enforcement of the Revised Copyright Act, Agency for Cultural Affairs.

■Other public organizations
Yoichi Okuda served as a member of the Anti-Harassment Committee at The University of Tokyo.
Satoshi Nakamura served as a member of the Committee for the Promotion of Commercialization through Industry-University Joint Research.
Masakazu Masujima served as the director of The Japan Crowdfunding Council.
Hiroki Habuka and Kei Furuichi served as Deputy Director-Generals of the Japan Association of Arbitrators.
Shuya Nomura was appointed by the Minister of Justice as a member of the Examination Council and a member of the Preliminary Examination Council, National Bar Examination Committee.
Shuya Nomura served as an advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Kaoru Kamata served as the chair of the Education Rebuilding Implementation Council.
・Some of the firm’s lawyers (listed below) prepared articles titled (1) “Study on Protection of Inventions, Designs, and Trademarks that are not Based on Registration of Patent Rights, Design Rights, Trademark Rights, or other Industrial Property Rights in ASEAN”, (2) “Study on Accessibility to Court Decisions Related to Intellectual Property in ASEAN”, and (3) “Study on Domain Name Systems in ASEAN”, published by the JETRO Bangkok Office Intellectual Property Section.
MHM lawyers involved:
Takeshi Mukawa; Takeshi Komatsu; Yoshifumi Onodera; Atsushi Okada; Tsuyoshi Ikeda; Masafumi Masuda; Yoshinori Tatsuno; Aki Tanaka; and Masataka Ogasawara.

Educational Activities

A number of lawyers from the firm teach at law schools, universities and legal organizations. In 2013, eight lawyers were newly appointed to teaching positions and educational committees to help foster the next generation of legal professionals.

The firm’s lawyers have also been actively working to train future legal professionals by accepting legal apprentices for practical training and training at a large-scale firm, as well as through other programs such as externships for students.

For the practical training and the training at a large-scale firm, Satoshi Kawai and Hideki Matsui accepted and trained 16 legal apprentices, and Masayuki Matsuda and Takuya Iizuka accepted two externship students from the Chuo University Graduate School of Law.

In 2013, 49 lawyers taught in 24 educational institutions (listed below) throughout Japan. These institutions vary from public universities and law schools to legal organizations.

Tohoku Region  

The Center for Cooperative Research and Development, Iwate University

Takuya Iizuka
Graduate School of Tohoku University Takuya Iizuka
Tohoku University Law School Satoshi Kawai, Ko Fujita and Akira Marumo
Kanto Region  

Graduate Schools of Aoyama Gakuin University

Hiroko Yamamoto and Atsushi Okada
Aoyama Gakuin University Law School Masayuki Matsuda, Yoshifumi Onodera and Shinichiro Yoshiba
Keio University Eriko Ishii
Keio University Law School Harumichi Uchida, Susumu Masuda, Takuya Eguchi, Koichiro Iida and Hideki Utsunomiya
Seikei University Hideaki Umetsu
Seikei University Law School Masahiro Murakami
Graduate Schools of Chuo University Hiroshi Takahashi and Takane Hori
Chuo University Graduate School of Law Shuya NomuraMasayuki Matsuda, Toshifumi Ueda, Yukinaga Kojima, Taro Omoto, Takayuki Kihira, Kentaro Minegishi and Itaru Adachi
The University of Tokyo Hiroshi Takahashi, Hiroki Aoyama and Shiho Ono
The University of Tokyo Graduate Schools for Law and Politics Shin Kikuchi, Junichi Tobimatsu and Yuto Matsumura
The University of Tokyo School of Law Ryosuke Aihara, Shigehiko Ishimoto, Hiroyuki Kurihara and Yusuke Kobayashi
Graduate Schools of Hitotsubashi University Masahiro Murakami, Yoshio Iteya, Seiichi Okazaki and Yohei Koyama
Hitotsubashi University Law School Yoshio Iteya, Minoru Sawaguchi, Hiromasa Arai and Shota Ogawa
Waseda University Kaoru Kamata
Waseda Law School Kaoru Kamata, Hajime Tanahashi, Yukinaga Kojima, Tetsushi Kamimura, Masaaki Ibaragi and Mitsuhiro Tateishi
Chubu Region  

Nagoya University Law School

Satoshi Nakamura
Kansai Region  

Kyoto University Law School

Hajime Tanahashi and Gaku Ishiwata
Kinki University Tsuyoshi Ikeda
Overseas  
University of St. Gallen, Switzerland Takayuki Kihira
Cornell University Law School Takayuki Kihira

 

Public Service Activities in 2013:News

Public Service
Shuya Nomura became a member of the 2013 Study Group regarding the Credit Trading under the Joint Crediting Mechanism, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Public Service
Shuya Nomura became an advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Public Service
Shuya Nomura appointed as a member of the Preliminary Examination Council, the National Bar Examination Committee
Public Service
Shuya Nomura appointed as a member of the Examination Council, the National Bar Examination Committee
Public Service
Yoshifumi Onodera became the member of Research Group on Intellectual Property Enforcement Strategies in Emerging Countries, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

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