{"id":4901,"date":"2009-11-29T14:13:26","date_gmt":"2009-11-29T05:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4901"},"modified":"2009-12-14T07:50:33","modified_gmt":"2009-12-13T22:50:33","slug":"advice-re-japan-law-society-tokyoosaka-association-of-nj-lawyers-they-really-wont-pay-you-if-they-ask-you-to-speak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4901","title":{"rendered":"Advice re Japan Law Society, Tokyo\/Osaka association of NJ lawyers: they really won’t pay you if they invite you to speak"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a>
\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito
\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS now on iTunes, subscribe free<\/p>\n

Hi Blog. \u00a0As a Sunday Tangent, let me express some long-overdue dissatisfaction with an organization that I gave a presentation to quite some time ago.<\/p>\n

The Osaka-based Japan Law Society<\/a> (AKA Kansai Attorneys Registered Abroad<\/span>) invited me to speak for them on September 4, 2008. \u00a0 I did just that. \u00a0According to their website: http:\/\/www.gaiben.jp\/jls\/cle\/s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
September 4, 2008<\/td>\nNon-Japanese Residents and the Japanese Legal System: Cognitive Dissonances to Consider<\/td>\nArudo, Prof. Debito (David Ardwinckle) [sic]<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\nspeaker’s home page<\/a><\/td>\nConstitutional & Civil Rights<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I spent a number of days on my powerpoint (see it here<\/a>) and my handout (see it here<\/a>), staying a couple of days in an Osaka dive hotel at my own expense working on it. \u00a0I tried to make a seminar worthy of overseas educational credit (which is what their Continuing Legal Education program is about, see FOOTNOTE<\/strong> below; I have emails indicating that they applied for it, and they had me fill out an application for it). \u00a0Thus I believe people would pay money for this class if it were offered overseas.<\/p>\n

But after I gave the presentation, I was paid not a sou. \u00a0This was not made suitably clear to me in advance, and when I inquired about this situation last month, this is the exchange we had. \u00a0I sent:<\/p>\n

2009\/10\/29 Arudou Debito wrote:
\nTo jls@gaiben.jp
\nTokyo Coordinator\u00a0Ms. Akane Yoshida\u00a0Licensed in New York
\nLegal Department\u00a0Kao Corporation
\nTel: 03-3660-7049\u00a0Fax: 03-3660-7942\u00a0tokyo@gaiben.jp
\nEmail: yoshida.akane@kao.co.jp<\/p>\n

CLE Coordinator
\nMr. S. McIntire ALLEN \uff08\u6e90 \u771e\u4e45\uff09
\nCalifornia Bar License #210750 & New York Bar License #2785913 Not licensed in Japan
\nphone +81-(0)50-5806-8816 or +1 (310) 929-7256 facsimile: +81-(0)6-6131-6347 mobile: +81-(0)90-5469-7675
\nvoice\/video: minamoto@gaiben.jp Skype gaikokubengoshi
\ncle@gaiben.jp mobile@mcintire.jp
\nwww.mcintire.jp<\/p>\n

To Whom it May Concern<\/em><\/p>\n

My name is Arudou Debito, and I spoke for the CLE on September 4, 2008 on “Non-Japanese Residents and the Japanese Legal System: Cognitive Dissonances to Consider”. Record is on your website at
\nhttp:\/\/www.gaiben.jp\/jls\/cle\/s<\/em><\/p>\n

I apologize for the lateness of this letter, but I have been checking over my records recently, and I have yet to receive payment for costs (transportation, accommodation) or for speaking honorarium for this occasion.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please contact me at your earliest convenience how much we have outstanding, and I will send you remittance details.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks very much for your attention.
\nArudou Debito in Sapporo<\/em>
\n(debito@debito.org)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

===============================<\/p>\n

Their response:<\/p>\n

From: “S. McIntire ALLEN”
\nDate: October 29, 2009 5:46:36 PM JST
\nTo: Arudou Debito
\nCc: yoshida.akane@kao.co.jp, tokyo@gaiben.jp
\nSubject: Re: To Japan Law Society: Some unfinished business from September 2008, from Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

David:<\/em><\/p>\n

From the very beginning we explained more than once that there was no honorarium, and you acknowledged that in a phone conversation with me when asking me about where to find inexpensive accommodations. I told you we are a volunteer organization, and you were our second speaker ever, and we had a negative balance in the accounts. I don’t know where you got this idea that we would reimburse you for travel.<\/em><\/p>\n

As a consequence of you bad mouthing us on your home page, we do have a questionnaire now that enables us to have a record of the speakers acknowledgement that there will be no payment: <\/em>http:\/\/www.gaiben.jp\/jls\/cle\/spkr.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Regards,
\nMcIntire<\/em><\/p>\n

S. McIntire ALLEN (\u6e90 \u771e\u4e45)
\nCalifornia Bar License #210750 & New York Bar License #2785913 Not licensed in Japan
\nwww.mcintire.jp
\nSent from Osaka, 27, Japan<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More fool me, you might say, for accepting this invitation. But quite honestly, I have never given a speech in Japan where there was no remuneration whatsoever. Even those organizations who said it was “volunteer” paid me 5000 yen in travel expenses without telling me in advance. \u00a0It’s common practice in this society. \u00a0It’s what professionals do.<\/p>\n

Moreover, lawyers are not a profession short of money. \u00a0Quite a few people attended the presentation (it was even video simulcast), and when I told a couple of them (including Japan Times reporter Eric Johnston, who also attended) I never got paid, they were quite shocked. \u00a0Even they said that it would have not put them out to chip in something like 1000 yen as an entry fee.<\/p>\n

The biggest irony here is that we’re talking about lawyers. \u00a0They’re quite willing to sell their services to the highest bidder. \u00a0But it appears that some of them aren’t willing to pay for the services that will further the interests of their organization, and their own professional and educational experience and credentials.<\/p>\n

Mr Allen even contacted me for research purposes on July 10, 2009, and about a separate legal matter on July 12, 2009 (which I will keep confidential), despite all this. \u00a0I declined to answer.<\/p>\n

I guess the lesson to be learned here is that when the Japan Law Society invites you as a speaker and then says it will not pay you, take it seriously. \u00a0It won’t. \u00a0But that’s in my opinion quite unprofessional and deserves to be known about. \u00a0Professionals who want related professional assistance should be willing to compensate the provider for the service. \u00a0That’s how the system works when professionals are involved.<\/p>\n

Arudou Debito in Sapporo<\/p>\n

=================================<\/p>\n

FOOTNOTE<\/strong> about CLE credit being applied for via using volunteer professional help:<\/p>\n

From: \u00a0http:\/\/www.gaiben.jp\/jls\/cle<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
JLS presents low-cost CLEs connected by video teleconference between Osaka and Tokyo. The CLEs permit Japan practitioners to exchange experiences in an informal setting.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Contents<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 1 <\/strong>Credit<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. 2 <\/strong>Seminars<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. 3 <\/strong>Admission fees<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. 4 <\/strong>Registration<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. 5 <\/strong>Speakers<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. 6 <\/strong>Access<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. 7 <\/strong>CLE Coordinator<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/a>Credit<\/h2>\n
    \n
    JLS is an\u00a0approved<\/a> Multiple Provider\u00a0under the auspices of the\u00a0California Bar Association<\/a>. Please check with your jurisdiction to see if they accept credit for CLEs approved by California, or the California\u00a0Multiple Provider Rules<\/a>.\u00a0If you are licensed in a jurisdiction other than California, and you have information about your jurisdiction’s CLE recognition, or lack of recognition, of California CLE credits, please send that information to the CLE Coordinator so we can post the information on the\u00a0Accreditation<\/a> page so that other JLS members may easily find the information. Please indicate the source for your information.<\/div>\n
    California calculates credit based on 60 minutes of class time per hour. \u00a0Some jurisdictions, such as New York, accept 50 minutes of class time to qualify for one credit hour. \u00a0For instance, a two hour JLS CLE could be worth 2.4 hours of CLE credit in a 50 minute jurisdiction. \u00a0California attorneys participating in Japan in a\u00a0CLE accredited by a\u00a050 minute jurisdiction are permitted to claim a 50 minute hour of instruction as one hour of credit. \u00a0However, JLS CLEs are accredited by the Bar of California, so all credit hours must have one hour of instruction time.\u00a0\u00a0Please check with your jurisdiction if you have questions about accreditation.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

    ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I gave a seminar for the Japan Law Society in Osaka a year ago, something that was even applied for legal profession education credit overseas. Checking my records recently I realized I never got paid anything for it. Contacted, they replied that they never were going to pay me anyway (not even the general minimum standard in Japan of 5000 yen for travel expenses).<\/p>\n

    More fool me, you might say, for accepting the invitation. I guess the lesson to be learned here is that when the Japan Law Society invites you as a speaker and then says it will not pay you, take it seriously. It won’t. But that’s in my opinion quite unprofessional and deserves to be known about. Professionals who want related professional assistance should be willing to compensate the provider for the service. That’s how the system works when professionals are involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,19,26,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-business-practices","category-education","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-tangents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}