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Counsel

Shoichi Hara

原 彰一

Litigation & Dispute Resolution Labor & Employment Corporate Misconduct & Crisis Management Inheritance & Estate Matters International Disputes Corporate General Civil Matters

Brief History

After serving as a judge for approximately 15 years, presiding over numerous cases at the Tokyo and Chiba District Courts and other courts, he transitioned to the private practice of law and joined this firm.
During his time as a judge, he handled a wide range of cases, including civil litigation such as commercial and labor disputes, labor arbitration, bankruptcy, civil enforcement and provisional remedies, family law, and criminal and juvenile cases. Drawing on this experience, he provides highly effective resolution strategies that anticipate the outcome of litigation from a court’s perspective.
He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. As a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an instructor in the International Cooperation Division of the National Research Institute of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, he engaged in overseas research and provided legal system development support to countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
In areas such as litigation and dispute resolution, labor law, response to scandals and crisis management, inheritance, wills, and estate division, as well as international disputes, he works closely with clients to seek the best possible resolution tailored to each case.

Career History

  • Yoshikawa Law Firm (Tokyo, Japan)
    • Counsel, August 2026 – present
    • Practice: litigation and dispute resolution, labor and employment, corporate misconduct and crisis management, inheritance and estate matters, international disputes, corporate, general civil matters
  • Chiba District Court (Chiba, Japan)
    • Judge, April 2025 – August 2026
  • International Cooperation Department, Research and Training Institute, Ministry of Justice (Tokyo, Japan)
    • Professor, April 2023 – March 2025
    • Engaged in legal technical assistance to developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region
  • Mito District Court (Ibaraki, Japan)
    • Judge, January 2022 – March 2023
    • Assistant Judge, April 2020 – January 2022
  • Muroran Branch, Sapporo District Court (Sapporo, Japan)
    • Assistant Judge, April 2018 – March 2020
  • University of Pennsylvania Law School (Pennsylvania, USA)
    • Visiting Scholar, July 2016 – July 2017
  • University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (California, USA)
    • LL.M., August 2015 – May 2016
  • Tokyo District Court (Tokyo, Japan)
    • Assistant Judge, January 2012 – March 2018

Publications & Lectures

  • AICHR (ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights) Workshop on Effective Remedies for Migrant Workers (Bangkok, Thailand), September 2024, speaker and panelist
  • Court Practice Read through Case Law: Procedural Requirements and Abuse of the Right of Action (co-author, in Japanese), July 2023
  • “Residence of Domestic Corporations in Patent Venue: TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, 137 S. Ct. 1514 (2017)”, IP Journal No. 5 (in Japanese), June 2018