Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Probono:

In addition to our commitment to providing the highest quality legal services to our clients, at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu (“NO&T”), we also consider the performance of public service (pro bono) activities by our lawyers to be an extremely important part of our greater social responsibility to protect basic human rights and to realize social justice.

We, therefore, actively participated in public service activities in a number of ways. For instance, our lawyers actively engage in the training of the younger generation of legal professionals by teaching as adjunct law school professors at Japanese universities, law schools, or other similar institutions, and are also dispatched to Japan’s ministries and governmental organizations to support their legislative and/or administrative activities. Our lawyers also serve as public defenders appointed by the court in designated court cases, or assigned by the bar association to counsel suspects prior to their being formally charged. We assist in providing legal consultation services and participate in other committee activities provided by the bar association or other similar organizations.

NO&T’s other pro bono activities have included the following:

• Support for “Japan-Ukraine Education Pathways” programs offered by Pathways Japan;
• Assistance in relation to Applications for Recognition of Refugee Status (referrals from the Japan Association for Refugees);
• Participation in preparing an opinion on Partnership Oath System proposed by Tokyo Metropolitan Government;
• Legal representation in same-sex marriage lawsuit and other assistance in such lawsuit;
• Participation in preparing English translations of LGBTQ-related rulings in Japan;
• Examination and review of the LGBT-related policies of local governments;
• Various activities for LLAN (Lawyers for LGBT and Allies Network);
• Participation in the Asia Pacific Initiative investigation into the government’s response to COVID-19;
• Supervision of the publication of “Kodomo Roppou” (the Statute Book for Children);
• Provision of legal services to TELL, which responds to the community’s mental health care needs;
• Provision of legal services to the Japanese branch of Médecins du Monde Japan;
• Contract-related support for an NGO focused on climate change initiatives;
• Activities related to a pro bono network of business lawyers in Japan; and
• Human Rights Network activities.

Award

NO&T was shortlisted for Pro Bono National Firm at the Women in Business Law Award Asia-Pacific 2023, hosted by Delinian Limited.

Diversity and Inclusion:

In order to ensure our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, we established the NO&T Diversity & Inclusion Policy with the aim of enabling lawyers and staff with diverse backgrounds to collaborate to provide legal services of the highest quality, and to assist in realizing a society that values diversity.

We have implemented the following initiatives to promote Diversity & Inclusion.

Diversity & Inclusion Committee

In 2024, we reinforced our commitment and dedication to diversity and inclusion through the significant step of transforming our special task force teams that were established to enhance “Diversity & Inclusion” and “Work Style Reform and Diversity” into a unified “Diversity & Inclusion Committee.” This strategic move consolidates and strengthens a variety of efforts and measures to actively promote and foster gender diversity, life-work balance, multi-cultural and multi-national representation, accessibility for people with disabilities, and equal and fair treatment of the LGBTQ+ community.  The Committee regularly reviews and implements measures to further enhance diversity and inclusion.

Initiatives for LGBTQ

We have also taken the initiatives below for LGBTQ:

• We fully endorsed the ACCJ (American Chamber of Commerce in Japan)’s Viewpoint on marriage equality titled “Support the Recruitment and Retention of Talent by Instituting Marriage Equality in Japan.”
• Same-sex marriage partners are treated equally with legal spouses concerning benefits such as congratulatory and condolence payments, congratulatory and condolence leave, and maternity leave.
• We invite outside speakers to provide training on LGBTQ issues in order to promote understanding.
• We launched an ally registration site on our intranet and distributed a rainbow sticker to those who registered as allies, which signifies that they are allies.

NO&T was ranked “Gold” in the 2023 PRIDE Index of “work with Pride,” a general incorporated association that supports the promotion and establishment of diversity management related to LGBTQ+ and other sexual minorities.

Global Diversity

We have been actively recruiting lawyers of different races, nationalities, and backgrounds.

Awards

NO&T was recognized as the winner in the Local Law Firm category of Morgan Stanley’s Asia Pacific Outside Counsel Diversity & Inclusion Awards for 2023 for its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

NO&T was shortlisted for:

• Diverse Women Lawyers National Firm at the Women in Business Law Awards Asia-Pacific 2023, hosted by Delinian Limited;
• Gender Diversity National Firm and Work-Life Balance National Firm at the Women in Business Law Awards Asia-Pacific 2022, hosted by Euromoney Legal Media Group.;
• Asian Diversity Initiative of the Year at the Asia Legal Awards 2022, hosted by Law.com International; and
• Diversity and Inclusion Law Firm of the Year at the ALB Women in Law Awards 2021, which is organized by Asian Legal Business

NO&T was listed as one of the ten law firms in Japan making strides in furthering Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in Japan’s legal industry in “ALB Japan D&I List 2022,” published in the February 2022 issue of Asian Legal Business (ALB), Japan edition.

In addition, NO&T received the “L Star Award” (eru boshi) from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, which is a highly reputable award given to business enterprises that provide women workers with the most excellent recruiting process, working conditions, promotion process, among others and so on.