Asia New Zealand Foundation- Feature

Lovely to be featured in and article from Asia New Zealand Foundation's Media Centre in an article titled “The Kiwi lawyer leading the way in Japan’s legal profession.” - The Asia New Zealand Foundation is NZ’s leading authority on Asia.

It was a pleasure to be interviewed by Tao Lin, a journalist based here in Tokyo.

The article talks about why I started the business, how the idea formed and the trials and tribulations and successes over my first year in business and includes my 5 tips for being a legally savvy business person in Japan which are below.

5 tips for being a legally savvy business owner in Japan:

1. Get a will done in your home country and have it legalised in Japan. Next year, wills will become easier to register, with Japan making some rule changes. Set up your family and business partners to cope effectively when something happens to you.

2. Set up the key contract templates for your business and review through a legal health check every other year. Ensure your payment terms are clear and that you have exit plans if business relationships sour.

3. Set up indemnity insurance for product liability and for issues arising as a service provider (e.g. accidents at venues where you are coaching clients).

4. Be clear on your obligations around privacy — Japan and EU and other countries have strict rules on handling, access to and protection of people’s private data and you need to be able to demonstrate compliance at any time. Set up your terms and conditions of use on your website and also upload your privacy policy there.

5. Toe the line — pay your ward taxes, submit your tax returns and be a good citizen of Japan.

April 1st marked 1 year in business for me as Catherine O’Connell Law.

Link to article is here.