Establishment of the Office of Legal Affairs

2023/08/18

On April 1, 2023, the Office of Legal Affairs was established at Keio University. In the history of the Juku dating back to 1858, this is the first time a department dedicated exclusively to legal affairs has been opened.

There is a useful book for tracing the transitions of the Juku's corporate organization. It is titled "Jukukan-kyoku Shoshi" (A Brief History of the Keio Corporate Administration), the first volume of which was published in 1960 to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Juku. However, descriptions related to legal affairs first appear in the third volume, published in 2018. In the section on "Crisis Management Systems and Legal Response," it is noted that the "Legal Advisory Committee" (hereinafter referred to as the "LA Committee") was launched in 2000 as part of the progress in developing Keio University's crisis management system since the mid-90s.

This "LA Committee" was realized with the full cooperation of the Mita Hou-sou-kai (Mita Bar Association), following the Juku's intention at the time to organize the legal consultations previously handled by corporate lawyers (the "Corporate Lawyer System") more effectively and enhance legal functions. The committee consists of approximately 10 lawyers belonging to the Mita Hou-sou-kai. Members are selected by a recommendation committee within the Mita Hou-sou-kai based on requests from the Juku, and are commissioned by the President following deliberations by the Executive Board. The term of office is two years, and reappointment is not prohibited (the maximum is 20 years under current internal regulations). Above all, the "LA Committee" sets its objective as "supporting and advising on practical responses to laws and systems related to the business of Keio University" (Mita Hou-sou-kai, "Eighty Years of the Mita Hou-sou-kai," 2013). Including affiliated schools and the university hospital, the Juku now receives enthusiastic and dedicated cooperation and advice from committee members in various locations and departments.

While this introduction has been somewhat detailed, this "LA Committee" system actually served as an important springboard for the current establishment of the Office of Legal Affairs. The committee, now in its 23rd year since its inception, will continue its activities even after the opening of the Office of Legal Affairs. One of the purposes of establishing the Office of Legal Affairs is to use the activities and achievements of the "LA Committee" as a premise, and while collaborating with it, to newly promote the integration and facilitation of legal functions from the perspective of Keio University as a whole.

In October 2021, under President Kohei Itoh, the Keio University leadership announced the "Keio University Action Plan 2021–2025 Formulation Policy," and advocated for the "improvement of legal management and enhancement of response capabilities" as one of the priority items for developing the operational foundation. The subsequent "Medium-Term Plan 2021–2025" declared that the Juku would "establish a specialized section to centrally manage legal responses that have been handled by various departments within Keio (including affiliated schools), aiming to improve legal management and enhance response capabilities," as well as "improve the effectiveness of governance in response to legislative changes." Following the "FY2022 Business Plan," preparations for the realization of the Office of Legal Affairs finally began.

In discussions toward the establishment of the Office of Legal Affairs, the recent increasing trend, complexity, and diversification of legal cases at the Juku were first reported and shared. Furthermore, the need for professional expertise to handle internal responses to recent amendments and enactments of important laws—such as the Act on the Protection of Personal Information and the Private Schools Act—including the review of internal rules and regulations, as well as the need for legal responses aligned with globalization, was pointed out. In addition to legal affairs for litigation (clinical legal affairs), functions were also expected to prevent troubles before they occur (preventive legal affairs) through the development of compliance, various internal notifications, training, and awareness-raising from a legal perspective, and the strengthening of legal check systems for intellectual property, security export control, and research contracts. Naturally, legal cases related to the planning and launch of new university-originated businesses are expected to increase, and information gathering and consideration for organizational restructuring and business reorganization will likely become even more active (strategic legal affairs).

The duties to be handled by the new Office of Legal Affairs must involve not only the reorganization of existing duties (those previously under the jurisdiction of the legal staff in the Administrative Affairs Office) but also functions and roles that far exceed previous frameworks in terms of agility, proactivity, and comprehensiveness in information consolidation and coordination/division of labor with other departments in charge. This is the reason why the Office of Legal Affairs was required as an independent specialized department belonging to the corporation.

A key feature of the Keio University Office of Legal Affairs is that it employs two in-house lawyers (one full-time and one part-time). Since April of this year, attorney Takashi Ushijima (1981 Faculty of Law) and attorney Makoto Morioka (1996 Faculty of Law) have assumed office as full-time and part-time in-house counsel, respectively. Both are excellent practitioners highly recommended by the Mita Hou-sou-kai. They are joined by administrative staff, including a director, a manager, and administrative clerks (one full-time, one contract), who perform legal duties under the supervision of the Vice-President in charge of legal affairs. Furthermore, because the Office of Legal Affairs is positioned within the "Jukukan-kyoku (Keio Corporate Administration) Organization," it does not have independent organizational regulations.

It should be noted that in the appointment of Mr. Morioka, who was particularly active as an "LA Committee Member (Vice-Chairman of the Committee)," as in-house counsel, there was exceptional consideration from the "LA Committee" led by Chairman Kazuo Suzuki. Furthermore, the Office of Legal Affairs has received much warm understanding and guidance from practitioners belonging to the Mita Hou-sou-kai since the establishment preparation stage. I would like to express my gratitude here. I should also add that the administrative management of the "LA Committee" has been transferred from the Administrative Affairs Office (Legal Affairs) to the Office of Legal Affairs.

Currently, in-house lawyers are stationed in the Office of Legal Affairs room located on the 1st floor of the Graduate School Building on the Mita Campus (scheduled to move to the 1st floor of the Jukukan-kyoku this autumn), responding to cases and inquiries arriving from various departments within Keio at any time. Meanwhile, expectations from various quarters for this new institution are high. Reflecting on how Yukichi Fukuzawa once cited law and scholarship as the essentials for maintaining human social intercourse (Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning), Chapter 9), the Office of Legal Affairs intends to steadily make plans and move forward for the mission required by the Juku.

I would like to ask for the support of all members of the Keio Gijuku Shachu.