Research Projects
Publications
Corporate Legal Practice and Technology: How LegalTech, Generative AI, and ALSPs Transform Practice
- Author: Ichiro Kobayashi
- Publication Date: September 2025
- Publisher: Shojihomu
- ISBN 978-4-7857-3187-8
This monograph by Professor Ichiro Kobayashi provides a multifaceted analysis of the intersection between corporate legal practice and emerging technologies. It examines how LegalTech, Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs), and Generative AI are reshaping the structure of corporate legal affairs and the professional role of lawyers.
By employing contract governance as its analytical axis, the book conceptualizes legal functions across practice, organization, and institutional layers, highlighting both the driving and constraining factors of technology adoption. It theorizes the uniquely Japanese phenomenon of “institutional silence,” situating it within comparative institutional debates.
The book offers perspectives ranging from the reorganization of legal practice at the firm level to broader implications for institutional orders and professional transformation. It serves not only as practical guidance for legal professionals but also as a theoretical framework for researchers and policymakers interested in the convergence of institutions and technology.
Who Do Institutions Respond To?: The Structure of Institutional Silence in Relation to Generative AI and Access to Justice
- Author: Ichiro Kobayashi
- Publication Date: July 2025
- Journal: NBL No.1293, p.11
This article by Professor Ichiro Kobayashi analyzes the particularities of LegalTech and Generative AI adoption in Japan from comparative and institutional perspectives.
It frames the current situation—where generative AI is spreading rapidly while Japan’s legal institutions remain largely unresponsive—as “institutional silence.” The article demonstrates that this silence does not necessarily imply inaction but represents a rational form of order maintenance, grounded in the structures of the Attorney Act, related professions, and the relative invisibility of access-to-justice issues.
By contrasting Japan’s “accommodative” silence with the “confrontational” institutional responses evident in the U.S. and Europe, the paper shows how Japan’s distinctive approach shapes the pathways of LegalTech and AI adoption. Based on empirical analysis, it further illustrates paradoxical patterns of technology acceptance depending on the presence or absence of institutional labeling.
The article provides a novel perspective for understanding the relationship between institutions and technology, contributing to ongoing debates on legal digital transformation and access to justice.
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