My History
Grace Legal Professional Corporation is headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, and operates six offices across Japan, offering legal advisory services tailored to businesses. With a mission to be “a law firm that feels like your own in-house legal team—accessible anytime, from anywhere,” we’ve introduced several industry-first initiatives, including online legal consultations via chat platforms.
Our clients come in all shapes and sizes, from publicly listed corporations to solo entrepreneurs. Currently, we support more than 700 companies across various industries and legal matters.
Before becoming an attorney, I worked in corporate sales. I still vividly remember the nervousness I felt when dealing with in-house lawyers. Back then, it was standard practice to have contracts reviewed by the legal department, but I often felt more pressure speaking with them than I did with my own clients.
Times have certainly changed, but 26 or 27 years ago, having an in-house lawyer was rare. Legal professionals were few and far between, and lawyers in general were seen as distant and intimidating figures—not just in my company, but across the business world.
At the same time, I wasn’t confident I could spend the rest of my career in sales, and I began looking for a skill that would support me long-term. One day at a bookstore, I picked up a book about lawyers—and something clicked. I knew this was the profession I had been searching for. I left my job and began studying law in April 2000. Three years later, I passed the bar and became a licensed attorney.
After three years of hands-on legal experience, I opened my own firm. I’ve always believed that legal work is a service business. I wanted to build a firm that reflects that philosophy. I didn’t want my clients to feel the kind of distance I once felt with in-house counsel. I wanted them to feel comfortable, to know that they could come to us easily, and to receive the kind of support I would hope for if I were in their shoes.
That was 16 years ago. Today, we’re a team of 19 lawyers and staff, serving over 700 corporate clients. The core of our work hasn’t changed: we remain fully committed to our clients, always striving to deliver legal services that truly meet their needs.
The Present
For many companies, especially small and mid-sized enterprises, maintaining a dedicated in-house legal team remains a luxury they simply cannot afford. Recognizing this widespread challenge, Grace has positioned itself as a trusted provider of outsourced legal services, effectively functioning as an external legal department for its clients.
In addition to traditional consultations via phone and video conferencing, Grace offers a pioneering service known as the “Advisory Chat Service.” This platform enables executives and managers at client companies to communicate with Grace’s legal team via chat anytime, from anywhere. All incoming messages are reviewed collectively by the firm’s corporate legal attorneys, with responses typically delivered within 24 hours.
The result is a remarkably seamless experience—clients can engage with Grace just as they would with their own in-house legal team. This responsiveness proves especially valuable in time-sensitive situations, ensuring that critical decisions aren’t delayed simply because a specific attorney is unavailable.
For clients, this service feels less like engaging with an external law firm and more like consulting their own legal division—without the psychological barriers or formalities typically associated with legal consultations.
But Grace’s support doesn’t end with legal matters alone. In a move that redefines the traditional boundaries of legal practice, the firm actively engages in broader business advisory services as well. This approach reflects a deep commitment to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with business leaders—not just as lawyers, but as strategic partners.
For example, when a restaurant client faced the challenge of securing a successor tenant as stipulated in their lease agreement, Grace went beyond legal advice and took part in the search for a suitable replacement. It’s just one instance of the firm’s willingness to roll up its sleeves and help clients solve problems that extend well beyond the legal domain.
Indeed, legal challenges are often just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Issues like recruitment and employee retention are top-of-mind concerns for nearly every company. Grace tackles these head-on, helping clients identify solutions from multiple angles.
To support this holistic vision, the firm has established affiliated offices specializing in labor and social security (as a certified social insurance and labor consultant corporation) and administrative procedures (as an administrative scrivener corporation). Plans are already in motion to launch tax and judicial scrivener corporations as well.
Furthermore, in response to Japan’s growing need for global talent, Grace has established a registered support organization to facilitate the hiring of skilled professionals from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar. The firm has also launched a recruitment company dedicated to helping healthcare institutions address the nationwide shortage of Japanese nursing professionals.
At the heart of all these initiatives lies a singular mission: to stand at the frontlines of client challenges and deliver real, actionable solutions. For Grace, innovation and empathy go hand in hand—fueling a legal practice that’s as dynamic and versatile as the businesses it serves.
For the Future
At Grace, collaboration isn’t just a concept—it’s a core operational philosophy. While many law firms tend to function as a loose collection of solo practitioners, Grace has taken a different path: one that harnesses the strength of individuals to create collective organizational value.
In a profession often characterized by siloed casework, Grace stands out for its team-driven culture. One of the most distinctive aspects of this approach is the firm’s weekly morning meetings—a practice still rare in the legal industry. In addition, each January, the entire staff comes together for a company-wide kickoff meeting to align on key objectives: What are we aiming to achieve this year? And how will we get there—together? This level of structured alignment mirrors the best practices of leading corporations and reinforces a shared sense of direction.
After all, Grace’s clients operate in fiercely competitive environments. To serve them effectively, the firm must match that intensity—delivering speed, precision, professionalism, and courtesy with every interaction. The mission is clear: to deliver exceptional value that can only be realized through cohesive teamwork.
With this mindset, Grace has set an ambitious goal: to increase its roster of corporate advisory clients from 700 to 1,000 by the year 2028. It's a milestone that cannot be reached through individual effort alone. Rather, it requires a resilient, high-performing organization—and a workplace where each member can thrive without unnecessary stress or friction.
To truly excel in corporate law, knowledge of legal codes like the Companies Act is essential—but it’s not enough. Lawyers must also understand real-world business models, the challenges faced by executives, and the deeper essence of what it means to lead and grow a company. Grace actively cultivates this awareness among its team, encouraging them to engage not just with law, but with the broader business ecosystem.
Ultimately, Grace aspires to become more than a provider of legal services. The vision is to support clients across all aspects of their growth—revenue expansion, organizational development, and talent acquisition included.
While the firm is headquartered in Tokyo, it also operates offices in regional cities. This is a deliberate strategy. In a time when talented professionals are often drawn away from rural areas toward the capital, Grace aims to reverse the flow—establishing strong regional bases that retain local talent while eventually attracting professionals from Tokyo outward.
In the years ahead, Grace will continue to evolve beyond its legal roots—offering wide-ranging, value-driven services designed to accelerate client growth. Because for Grace, solving legal issues is just the beginning. The real mission lies in building a future alongside the businesses they serve.