This firm focuses on general civil litigation cases.

Among them, medical malpractice cases (also known as medical accidents or medical mistakes) have been the focus of my practice for over 30 years. I began working on these cases while representing the patient side, and my experience in handling such matters started during my tenure as a practicing attorney when my previous firm handled a large number of medical malpractice cases.

My philosophy is unwavering: to consistently offer the highest level of professionalism, precision, and thorough investigation every day. I strive to ensure that patients and their families, who have been wronged, can confidently express, “I’m glad I selected your services.”

For other areas of practice, please see myAreas of Expertise

I make every effort to accommodate requests from distant clients.

Bio

Haga Chieko Law Office

Room #408, Yotsuya Bengoshi Bldg.

13-1 Samon-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Tel.: 03-3225-7478

Chieko Haga, Tokyo Bar Association

Concise Personal Background

- Graduated from Faculty of Law, Kyoto University

- April 1987: Registered as an attorney (Tokyo Bar Association), 39th term of legal training

Started legal career at a firm specializing in general civil litigation

- April 1988: Transitioned to a firm focusing on medical malpractice cases, a relatively uncommon specialization at the time

- April 1992: Founded Haga Chieko Law Office

Areas of Expertise

Specializing in medical accidents (representing patients), nursing care accidents, pet incidents, traffic accidents, damage claims, loan disputes, real estate matters, divorce proceedings, child-related issues(e.g.The Hague Convention related cases), wills, inheritance cases, legal guardianship for the elderly, voluntary guardianship, property management, labor concerns (representing workers), corporate rehabilitation, bankruptcy cases, construction disputes, juvenile criminal matters, and more.

For additional information, please feel free to reach out to me.

Types of Attorney Fees

Article 3

Attorney fees shall consist of legal consultation fees, written expert opinion fees, starting fees, remuneration, commission, advisory fees, and per diem.

(2) The meanings of the terms used in the preceding paragraph shall be as follows:

Legal consultation fees

This shall refer to compensation for legal consultation (including oral expert opinions and telephone consultation) provided to a client.

Written expert opinion fees

This shall refer to the consideration for a written legal determination or expression of opinion made to the client.

Starting fees

This shall refer to the consideration to be received at the time of acceptance of the assignment, regardless of the outcome of the case or legal work (hereinafter “case etc.”), where the outcome of the assignment be successful or not due to the nature of the case or legal work.

Remuneration

This shall refer to the consideration received for the handling of a delegated assignment in proportion to the degree of success of a case etc., where the outcome of the assignment be successful or not due to the nature of the case or legal work.

Commission

This shall refer to the consideration for the processing of the delegated assignment in regard to a case etc. that has been completed, in principle, through a single procedure or the processing of the delegated assignment.

Advisory fees

This shall refer to the consideration for certain legal services that are performed on an ongoing basis by contract.

per diem

This shall refer to consideration for an attorney leaving the location of his/her office for the purpose of handling a delegated assignment and being constrained for a case etc. through travel (excluding constraint due to the handling of the delegated assignment itself).

(Legal Consultation Fees)

Article 11

Legal consultation fees shall be as follows:

Initial civil legal consultation fees

5,000 yen per 30 minutes

2 Omitted

(Starting Fees and Remuneration in Civil Cases)

Article 17

1. The starting fees and remuneration for litigation cases, non-litigious cases, domestic relations cases, administrative trial cases, etc., and arbitration cases (excluding arbitration center cases as provided for in the following Article) shall be calculated based on the amount of economic benefit as shown in the following table, unless otherwise provided for in these Regulations.

Amount of Economic Benefit

Starting Fees

Remuneration

3 million yen or less

8％

16％

Exceeding 3 million yen but up to 30 million yen

5% + 90,000 yen

10% + 180,000 yen

Exceeding 30 million yen but up to 300 million yen

3% + 690,000 yen

6% + 1,380,000 yen

Exceeding 300 million yen

2% + 3.69 million yen

4% + 7.38 million yen

2. The starting fees and remuneration in the preceding paragraph may be increased or decreased within a range of 30% depending on the nature of the case.

3. Notwithstanding the preceding two paragraphs, when the same attorney continues to accept an appeal in a civil case, the starting fees may be reduced to a reasonable extent.

4. The minimum starting fee under the preceding three paragraphs shall be 100,000 yen.

However, the starting fees for cases in which the amount of economic benefit is less than 1,250,000 yen may be reduced to less than 100,000 yen depending on the circumstances.

(Mediation and Settlement Negotiation Cases)

Article 18

1. The starting fees and remuneration for conciliation cases, settlement negotiation cases (meaning out-of-court settlement negotiations. The same shall apply hereinafter.), and petitions to dispute resolution institutions such as “arbitration centers” presided over by bar associations (hereinafter “arbitration center cases”) shall, unless otherwise provided for in these Regulations, be governed by the provisions of Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the preceding Article or Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 21 (Note: Litigation on Bills and Checks), respectively.

However, the amount of fees and remuneration may be reduced to two-thirds of the amount calculated in accordance with the respective provisions.

2. The starting fees when accepting a conciliation case continuing from a negotiated settlement case or an arbitration center case shall be one half of the amount calculated under the provisions of Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the preceding Article or Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 21, unless otherwise provided for in these Regulations.

3. The starting fees for accepting a lawsuit or other case continuing from a settlement negotiation case, a mediation case or an arbitration center case shall be half of the amount calculated under the provisions of Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the preceding Article or Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 21, unless otherwise provided for in these Regulations.

4. The minimum starting fee under the preceding three paragraphs shall be 100,000 yen (50,000 yen when the provision of Article 21 is applied mutatis mutandis).

However, the starting fee for a case in which the amount of economic benefit is less than 1,250,000 yen may be reduced to less than 100,000 yen (50,000 yen when the provision of Article 21 is applied mutatis mutandis), depending on the circumstances.

(Divorce Cases)

Article 22

The starting fees and remuneration for divorce cases are as shown in the following table.

However, when the same attorney continues to be assigned to an appeal case, the starting fees may be reduced within a reasonable range.

Nature of Divorce Case

Starting Fees and Remuneration

Divorce mediation cases, divorce arbitration center cases or divorce negotiation cases

300,000 yen or more up to 500,000 yen

Divorce cases

400,000 yen or more up to 600,000 yen

2. The starting fees for a divorce mediation case continued from a divorce negotiation case or a divorce arbitration center case shall be half of the amount of the starting fees for a divorce mediation case under the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

3. The starting fees for a divorce litigation case continued from a divorce mediation case shall be half of the amount of starting fees for a divorce litigation case under paragraph 1.

4. In the preceding three paragraphs, when property distribution such as division of property, consolation money or other property distribution are involved, the attorney may claim an additional reasonable amount not more than the amount of starting fees and remuneration calculated under Article 17 or Article 18, based on the amount of actual economic benefit of the property distribution.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraphs, an attorney may, upon consultation with the client, increase or decrease the amount of starting fees and remuneration for divorce cases within a reasonable and appropriate range, taking into consideration the client’s financial resources, the difficulty of the case and the complexity of the steps required to handle the case.

(Bankruptcy Liquidation Cases)

Article 27

1. The starting fees for bankruptcy, corporate liquidation, special liquidation and corporate rehabilitation cases shall be determined in accordance with the size of the case, including the amount of capital, assets and liabilities, the number of persons involved, and the amount of work required to handle the case, and shall be the following amounts for each.

However, attorney’s fees for preservation cases related to each of the above cases shall be included in the starting fees.

(i) Business personal bankruptcy cases: 500,000 yen or more

(ii) Non-business personal bankruptcy cases: 200,000 yen or more

(iii) Bankruptcy cases other than personal bankruptcy: 500,000 yen or more

(iv) Corporate liquidation cases: 1,000,000 yen or more

(v) Special liquidation cases: 1,000,000 yen or more

(vi) Corporate reorganization cases: 2,000,000 yen or more

2. The provisions of Article 17 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the remuneration of each case set forth in the preceding paragraph.

In such cases, the amount of economic benefit shall be calculated by taking into consideration the amount of dividends, assets to be distributed, the amount of discharged claims, profit from deferred payment, profit from continuation of the business, and other factors.

However, the remuneration for the cases set forth in items (i) and (ii) of the preceding paragraph may be received only when the client has received a decision of discharge.

3. The starting fees for a case in which the firm accepts only a petition for discharge (including an objection against discharge) without accepting a petition for personal bankruptcy shall be half of the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 1, item (ii).

In this case, the provision of the preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to remuneration.