Help me find an employment lawyer in Japan
March 31, 2017 7:11 AM   Subscribe

I work for a pretty big private university in a smallish Japanese city, and have a permanent position (I’m tenured, plus it’s generally hard to fire employees here). However, this doesn’t mean that all is well.

The university is instituting policies that affect my specific department’s workload. At the same time, changes to the promotion system are being brought in. In a fully-staffed, well-run department, these changes might be fine. My department – and only my department -- is going to have much lower staffing levels from now on, making promotion less likely, thus (quite possibly) affecting future salary and pensions.

The local union is not an ideal choice, and I’ve been told a number of times that lawyers here can be linked to each other through informal channels. In other words, picking a lawyer carries some risk that s/he is connected to my institution’s lawyers.

I want advice about my position, but don’t want my employer to find out that I’m looking for advice. How do I find a lawyer / trustworthy legal advice without this becoming known to my institution?
posted by anonymous to Law & Government (3 answers total)
 
(If you haven't already, a great place to ask about this is over at reddit's Japan Life subreddit -- there are a remarkable number of people with good advice there.)
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 9:01 AM on March 31, 2017


You could always ask Tim Langley for suggestions. He's a corporate lawyer, but is approachable and plugged in to the community.
posted by My Dad at 9:09 AM on March 31, 2017


The city I live in has free law consultations a couple times a month, as does the prefectural international center. They should protect your confidentiality.
When I worry about privacy I tend to go further away. Like get whatever service it is 30 mins - an hour away. If you're really worried you could start with a hotline and not give identifying info.
Maybe there's someone you can call here: http://www.bluejava.com/tell/index.html
posted by sacchan at 6:13 PM on March 31, 2017


« Older 23 yr old daughter as dependent?   |   House was foreclosed, auctioned off... now what? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.