The life of a Tokyo attorney

Yesterday we had a reception for all the students with Japanese attorneys who are taking interns. We had a full spread with fish, beef, shrimp, sandwiches, and everything else! I met a few cool local attorneys. I met one from Hawaii! He went to Punahou and actually graduated a year earlier than Obama. He told me some of the dirt on Obama.... very interesting.

Something the Japanese do that I have to start remembering is always handing out a business card the SECOND you meet someone. If you're not handing over the card with two hands immediately after saying your name, you are rude. This is the perfect opportunity to get rid of the 3000 cards that career services made us get - which are completely out of date. I may start handing them to Japanese business men on the street... you never know who will need a good lawyer.

Part 2 of being a good Japanese attorney is being able to go out drinking ALL night. After our reception, we began at a nice bar with a few mugs of beer. Then it went downhill. The family marts on every corner sell 5ths of alcohol and there are no drinking laws on the streets. This makes it very difficult to control oneself.

Part 2 b of being a good Tokyo attorney is sleeping for 3 hours and then getting up in the morning ready for work. This is where I failed miserably.

By the afternoon I was ready again. We went for a tour of the Supreme Court! The Japanese Supreme Court has 15 members. There are up to 30 members who do some other cases, but for the major cases, they need the main 15 justices. The courtroom is pretty cool, and I was able to sit in the chief justice's seat!


This evening I went to the Morgan Lewis Tokyo office's first summer happy hour! It was really nice to be a part of a real Tokyo law firm. Of course, the 4 associates in the firm are all early 30's, male, and American... a demographic I happen to get along well with. I somehow managed to force down a beer and some greasy food. They seem to have a pretty good life here, and I can't wait to see if MLB will give me the opportunity to experience it for real.

But, for now, I'm exhausted and ready to get back to being a student.