Attorney's fee
CLAIR LAW FIRM provides specific legal proposals to solve the issues you are confronting.
CLAIR LAW FIRM also explains to the client about our attorney's fee and other expenses to the extent that convinces the client well.
Legal Consultation
Consultation fee is 15,750yen(tax inclusive) per 30 minutes.
Only for the initial consultation, consultation fee is 5,250 yen(tax inclusive)
[Ex.]
- We provide legal consultation on the means of how to prepare for limited liability contract by outside executive officer(Article 427 of Companies Act) in
1hour and 30 minutes at our office .......47,250yen(tax inclusive) - We provide legal consultation on draft of nondisclosure contract in
1 hour at our office .......31,500yen(tax inclusive)
*For visiting attorney legal consultation, the consultation time always includes the transportation time from our office to the places attorneys visit. Other than that, transportation expense that attorneys actually paid for their transportation is to be billed.
Return to topExpense per each various legal consultation
For each expense per consultation category, please visit our sites respectively illustrating each specific category.
Frequent Q&A
Q1 Is attorney's fee regulated under one national rule in a single uniform way?
No. Antony's fee is set by an agreement to be made between attorney and client.
By March 2004, attorney's fee was to be set under "Rules Concerning Attorney's Fee" set by Japan Federation of Bar Associations (Nichibenren) and Local Bar Associations.
On the 1st of April of 2004, the rules were abolished. Since that day, each law firm started setting each attorney's fee based on agreement between attorneys and clients.
Q2 What is the reasons why attorney's fee are generally deemed as vague and difficult to comprehend?
Legal matters that attorneys take are one that requires thorough investigation on factual backgrounds in order to comprehend what types of legal allegations are to be made or one that inevitably compels strategy changes due to new allegations and new evidences that the adverse parties submits after an attorney commences representations for negotiations.
It is not easy to estimate time required for handling matters and to predict case outcome (win or lose). For such legal matters, attorneys propose attorney's fee based on the outlook of outcome of the case, which tends to cause certain vagueness in the grounds of fees.
Attorney's fee is to be set between attorneys and clients based on their agreements. Therefore, I suggest that both should discuss the matter to the extent which won't leave any doubts in both minds.
Q3 Could you tell me about the means to set attorney's fee?
CLAIR LAW FIRM adopts the following 2 methods to set attorney's fee:
Retaining fee and commission fee method:
A method asks clients to pay retaining fee at the time when clients initially request legal services, and to pay commission fee at the time when the requested legal services are completed.
Time charge method:
A method to calculate attorney's fee by making work hour times time charge rate.
Q4 Could you tell me about specific legal matters for which retaining and commission fee method is to be adopted?
In principle, retaining and commission fee method is to be adopted for the legal matters requiring negotiations, adjustments, court cases, provisional disposition and so on. The method is to be adopted for the legal matters where adversary parties are against client that leaves what clients can gain from the case at the time when the legal procedure is completed uncertain. The more clients gain from the legal consultation, the more the commission fee is to be increased.
[Ex.]
Court case over claim of certain amounts of money,
Civil Rehabilitation proceedings, M&A
Q5 What is "retaining fee" of Retaining/Commission fee method?
Retaining fee is fee clients are to pay when clients request legal consultation of attorneys and that cannot be deemed as advance or money paid in part. For example, in the case that advancement is 262,500yen(tax inclusive)and commission fee is 525,000yen(tax inclusive), the total amounts 787,500yen(tax inclusive) is the amounts client is necessarily to pay.
Retaining fee is not to be returned no matter how attorney's handling of a legal matter is completed. In another words, even when a court case is dismissed, retaining fee is not going to be returned. Retaining fee is to be calculated based on the aimed economic benefit (the amounts to claim or to be claimed).
Q6 What is the meaning of a term "commission" seen in retaining and commission fee method?
Commission fee is fee clients are to pay according to the size of success from handling of legal matters. Then, there is no need for clients to pay any commission fee when attorney's handling of legal matters is totally failed (if it is a court case and the case is totally dismissed).
The amounts in which adversary parties accepted to pay in advance at its negotiation stage are to be included into economic benefits and that is part of the scope of commission fee.
Calculate the amounts of commission fee based on the amounts determined by settlements and judicial decisions, and each amount of commission fee is to be fully paid at each time of completion of each mandate.
Q7 Please tell me as to how to calculate retaining and commission fee.
[Civil case -court case-]
| [economic benefits] | [retaining fee] | [commission fee] |
| Less than/equal 3,200,000 yen | 250,000yen + consumption tax | 16% of economic benefits + consumption tax |
| More than 3,200,000 yen | (5% of economic benefits + 90,000yen) + consumption tax | (10% of economic benefits + 200,000yen) + consumption tax |
* Depending on the natures of each case, the amounts of fee can be increased or decreased by 30% of the above amounts.
* Fees are to be calculated per each instance.
* The expense of revenue stamps required for procedures and of transportation and so on are to be billed at actual cost to clients besides the above fees.
[Civil Case – a legal matter of making petition for extirpation order– ]
| [economic benefits] | [retaining fee] | [commission fee] |
| Less than/ equal 3,200,000yen | 125,000yen + consumption tax | 8% of economic benefits + consumption tax |
| More than 3,200,000yen | (25% of economic benefits + 45,000yen) + consumption tax | (5% of economic benefits + 100,000yen) + consumption tax |
* Depending on the natures of each case, the amounts of fee can be increased or decreased by 30% of the above amounts.
* Fees are to be calculated per each instance.
* The expense of revenue stamps required for procedures and of transportation and so on are to be billed at actual cost to clients besides the above fee.
Q8 Please tell me about the calculation formula for the Retaining fee and Commission fee method.
[Ex.1]
Claimant filed a complaint for compensation money 10 million yen against respondent for reasons attributable to default of obligation. The court case came to a judicial decision (or a settlement) that ordered respondent to pay 7 million yen.
Claimant
Retaining fee (10,000,000yen×5% + 90,000yen) + consumption tax=619,500yen
Commission fee (7,000,000yen×10% + 200,000yen) + consumption tax=945,000yen
Respondent
Retaining fee (10,000,000yen×5% + 90,000yen) + consumption tax=619,500yen
Commission fee(3,000,000yen×16%) + consumption tax=504,000yen
[Ex.2]
Claimant filed a complaint for compensation money for 1 billion yen against respondent for reasons attributable to unfair competition. The court case came to a judicial decision (or a settlement) that ordered respondent to pay 80 million yen.
Claimant
Retaining fee (100,000,000yen×5% + 90,000yen) + consumption tax=5,344,500yen
Commission fee (80,000,000yen×10% + 200,000yen) + consumption tax=1,050,000yen
Respondent
Retaining fee (100,000,000yen×5% + 90,000yen) + consumption tax=5,344,500yen
Commission fee (20,000,000yen×10% + 200,000yen) + consumption tax=2,310,000yen
* Retaining fee and Commission fee are respectively determined at every instance.
In the case where claimant appealed to higher court (or, respondent appealed to higher court), or so during the period of time when the case is being inconclusive, client has no need to pay commission fee. On the other hand, client needs to pay retaining fee for the appeal court (at higher court) case again.
Q9 Could you tell me about the legal matters for where time charge method is adopted?
Time charge method is adopted for the legal matters retaining fee and commission fee method is not being adopted for.
More specifically, the method is adopted for mandatory of the following legal businesses.
Legal consultation
• Research on laws and regulations and draft of written opinion.
• Prepare various drafts and review
• Establishment of a company
• Due Diligence
• Procedures for new issue of stocks and new share subscription right
• Procedures to apply for trade mark
• Procedures to register a company
• Support for implementation of PrivacyMark
Q10 Could you tell me about how to calculate the cost by time charge method?
Consulting with clients, CLAIR LAW FIRM crystallizes the contents of legal businesses that clients seek to request us. Attorneys then estimate specific time and commission required to complete the specified legal businesses. If the specified contents of legal businesses are relatively simple, the attorney's fee is to be set only by this estimation.
If the requested legal businesses are complex, an attorney sets fee by calculating the total work hours that an attorney actually worked for completing the legal business. Then, an attorney requests clients to settle the fee. In this case, an attorney may set the maximum total amounts of fee, as necessary.
Clients should deposit the estimated amounts of fee in advance.
Q11 Please tell me about the examples of calculations by time charge method.
CLAIR LAW FIRM sets its time charge rate as 15,750yen(tax inclusive) per 30 minutes.
If an attorney drafts a contract document of one A4 paper (900words), it is deemed, in principle, as 60 minute work hour including the time for meeting with clients.
If an attorney reviews a contract document of one A4 paper (900words), it is deemed, in principle, as 15 minute work hour including the time for meeting with clients.
Therefore, if an attorney drafts and reviews a distributorship agreement on four A4 papers, it is estimated that, for the draft, the fee is to be 126,000yen(tax inclusive), and for the review, the fee is to be 31,500yen(inclusive).
Q12 Other than commissions, is any other expenses to be paid to attorney?
If those following expenses are estimated, we would request clients to deposit certain amounts of money.
• Revenue stamps required for proceeding various petitions (actual cost)
• Guarantee deposit required for provisional garnishment, provisional disposition (actual cost)
• Postal cost, Transportation cost, Cost for making photo copies (deposit)
* We settle this deposit by actual cost after completion of mandatory on proxy.
Q13 How to contract on proxy agreement?
Contractual proxy agreement between client and attorney is made by signing and placing a seal on contract document on proxy agreement. One proxy contract document attaches one calculation paper designated by bar association.
Two proxy contract documents are required to be made. Client and attorney respectively have one proxy contract document for each
At the time when client and attorney enter into proxy contract, we would request clients to put, as necessary, advances, deposits, expenses for actual costs and so on, proxy statement, certificate of qualification, certificate of resident and so on.