pre-trial

Lawsuits can be complicated endeavors and without a good plan the litigation can spin out of control into unrelated topics or endless bickering.  Once those issues have been defined, the court moves on to the actual scheduling of the lawsuit.  This is accomplished at a scheduling conference with participation of the parties and the court.

In order to have an attorney represent you in Japan, it is necessary to sign a power of attorney.  This power of attorney should authorize the lawyer to act as your representative in the litigation and to take all necessary measures to successfully resolve it.  The expanse of the attorney’s powers should be wide enough that he or she can act freely within the litigation but should not extend beyond the end of the case or grant powers unrelated to legal work.  As this power of attorney needs to be submitted to the court, it should be in Japanese and […]

The filing of a legal complaint is what starts a lawsuit in Japan.  The complaint should clearly list the parties involved as well as the object and statement of the claim.  The complaint describe the petitioner’s goals and evidence so, by reading the complaint, the respondent should have a full understanding of the petitioner’s case.

  Many Americans are familiar with the job of a process server from American popular culture, where process servers are portrayed as employing disguises or other devious techniques in order to deliver a divorce petition.  However, while serving a complaint is the responsibility of the plaintiff in America, in Japan this job is handled by the court.  The complaint will be delivered based upon the defendant’s address provided by the plaintiff so, in cases where the address is old or inaccurate, this can make serving the defendant difficult.