Principles & Approach
What we believe about the work of legal advice
The way Sekihi operates is shaped by a set of views about what makes legal advisory work useful and honest. These are not abstract ideals — they are reflected in how enquiries are handled, how engagements are structured, and how advice is communicated.
Return to HomeOur Foundation
Sekihi was established on a straightforward premise: that people seeking legal advice on civil, corporate and property matters deserve to receive it in a clear, documented, and predictable way.
This sounds obvious. In practice, it requires deliberate decisions about how work is scoped, how fees are structured, and how advice is communicated. Each of those decisions reflects a set of principles that are described on this page.
We do not think these principles are unique to Sekihi. We do think they are worth stating plainly, so that anyone considering an enquiry understands what they can expect and how we approach the work.
Clarity over scope
Every engagement has a defined subject and a stated endpoint. Work outside the defined scope is identified promptly rather than absorbed.
Written documentation
Advice given in writing can be referred back to. A verbal recommendation is harder to act on precisely and harder to revisit when circumstances change.
Transparent fees
The cost of each engagement is stated at the outset. No changes are made without prior written notice.
Philosophy and Vision
Legal advice is not always made as accessible as it could be. The cost is sometimes unclear before the work begins. The scope of what is covered is not always stated explicitly. The advice itself is sometimes given in a form that is difficult to refer back to or to act on without further clarification.
Sekihi's view is that this need not be the case for advisory work on civil, corporate and property matters. These are areas where the scope of a given enquiry can be assessed at the outset, the fee can be fixed, and the advice can be given in written form that the client retains.
The vision behind Sekihi is not complex: legal advice in these areas should be available in a form that is predictable in cost, clear in scope, and documented in writing. A company reviewing its compliance obligations, an owner selling a business, or a brand protecting its trade mark should be able to access careful advice without uncertainty about what they are agreeing to or what it will cost.
That is the standard Sekihi holds its own work to.
Core Beliefs
Belief 1
Documented advice is more useful than verbal advice
When advice is written down, the client can refer back to it, share it with colleagues, and act on it precisely. This is particularly important for compliance and property matters, where the specific wording of an obligation or recommendation can matter.
This is why Sekihi provides all advice in writing, and why each engagement concludes with a documented record rather than a conversation.
Belief 2
Scope should be confirmed before work begins, not discovered during it
A common difficulty with legal engagements is that their scope expands during the work, with costs following. This is not always avoidable — some matters are genuinely uncertain in extent.
For the advisory work Sekihi handles, scope can be assessed at the outset and stated clearly. A client who knows what is covered before they agree can make an informed decision.
Belief 3
Honesty about limits builds more trust than overpromising
If a matter falls outside what Sekihi handles, this is communicated clearly and quickly. A client who receives an honest assessment of whether their matter can be helped is better served than one who is kept uncertain while options are considered internally.
A clear referral when a matter is outside scope is not a failure — it is a more useful response than an attempt to handle something that does not fit.
Belief 4
The cost of advice should not be a discovery made after the work is done
Fixed fees allow a client to weigh whether to proceed with full information. This is relevant not only for individuals but for companies managing budgets, where variable billing against an unknown total creates practical difficulty.
Sekihi does not believe that open-ended billing is inherently wrong — it suits some types of work. For advisory engagements of defined scope, a fixed fee is the more honest structure.
Principles in Practice
On enquiries
Every enquiry receives a written response within three working days. That response states whether the matter falls within Sekihi's scope, what the engagement would involve, and what the fee would be. If the matter is outside scope, the response says so clearly.
On documentation
Every piece of advice is given in writing. For a compliance review, this means a gap list ordered by exposure and drafted policy text where documents are missing. For a business transfer, this means a risk list from the client's position and an explanation of the terms most often disputed after completion. For intellectual property, this means a search report and a renewal calendar for registered rights. These are not incidental additions — they are the core of what the engagement delivers.
On fees
Fees are stated at the confirmation stage and do not change during the engagement without prior written notice. The compliance review is ¥40,000. The business transfer advice is ¥45,000. The intellectual property protection service is ¥34,000. These are the full amounts for the defined scope of each engagement.
On timelines
Each service has an expected timeline stated at confirmation. The compliance review takes four to five weeks. The business transfer advice takes six to ten weeks depending on scale. The intellectual property service follows the registration route chosen. These are the working estimates — a client is told when they might expect each stage to conclude.
The Individual Behind the Matter
Legal matters are not abstract problems. They are situations that a person or company is dealing with, often at a point where something important is at stake — a business being sold, obligations that need to be understood, rights that need protecting.
Sekihi's view is that the person behind the enquiry deserves to be treated with the same care as the matter itself. This means responding promptly, communicating clearly about what can and cannot be helped, and not making the process of obtaining advice more complicated than it needs to be.
It also means not overstating certainty. Legal advice is not a prediction. It is a careful assessment of obligations, risks and options based on the information available. The distinction matters, and Sekihi tries to communicate it clearly in each engagement.
Respectful communication
Enquiries are answered by a qualified member of the team. No matter is treated as routine simply because the subject is familiar.
Honest about uncertainty
Where the outcome of a legal situation is genuinely uncertain, this is communicated rather than obscured behind confident-sounding language.
Adapted to the situation
A first-time business seller and an experienced company conducting a routine compliance review have different needs. The engagement is structured accordingly.
Considered Change, Not Change for Its Own Sake
Legal advisory work does not change quickly, and nor should it. The substance of what constitutes careful, reliable advice does not shift with fashion. Sekihi is not oriented toward novelty as an end in itself.
Where the structure of how advice is delivered — the way scope is confirmed, the format of the documents provided, the way fees are communicated — can be made clearer or more useful, Sekihi makes those changes. The motivation is always the same: to make the process of obtaining advice more straightforward for the client.
The obligation register on the home page is one example. It is not a replacement for advice on a specific matter, but it provides general orientation that a visitor might find useful before making an enquiry. That is the kind of adjustment Sekihi makes deliberately, in response to a genuine need, rather than as a demonstration of progress.
Integrity and Transparency
Stating limits clearly
When a matter falls outside Sekihi's scope, this is communicated in the first response — not after several exchanges, and not after work has begun. A clear answer, even when it is a referral elsewhere, is more useful than an uncertain one.
Fees stated in advance
No engagement begins without the fee being stated and confirmed. If circumstances change and an adjustment is necessary, this is communicated in writing before the change takes effect — not presented at the conclusion of the work.
Accountability in writing
Written advice creates a record of what was recommended and why. If the advice is later found to be incomplete or to have missed something, the written record allows a clear assessment of what happened. This is appropriate — advice that cannot be reviewed is harder to hold to account.
Working Together Through a Matter
Legal advice works best when the adviser and the client are working from the same information. Sekihi's process is structured around this — questions are asked in writing, documents are reviewed in the context of the specific matter, and the advice given reflects what the client has actually provided rather than assumptions about their situation.
For the business transfer service, this includes coordination with the accountant handling valuation. Sekihi does not work in isolation when another adviser's work is directly relevant. The letter of the law is easier to apply accurately when the commercial context is understood.
The process is documented at each stage. A client who needs to share the advice with a director, a partner, or another adviser can do so because what was recommended is written down and available to them.
Thinking Across Time
Documentation as a long-term resource
The written outputs of a Sekihi engagement are not intended to be set aside once the engagement ends. A compliance review gap list is useful for tracking progress in subsequent years. A renewal calendar for registered intellectual property rights remains relevant long after the initial registration. A risk list from a business transfer engagement informs how the client manages the new operation.
These are resources the client holds. Their value extends beyond the engagement period.
Obligations do not resolve themselves
A legal obligation that is identified and documented is easier to act on than one that is vaguely understood or assumed to be covered. Part of the value of a compliance review is that it converts a general sense of uncertainty into a specific list ordered by exposure, with a clear distinction between what needs attention and what is already in order.
This distinction matters not only for managing the obligations but for demonstrating to external parties — customers, regulators, partners — that the organisation takes them seriously.
What This Means in Practice, for You
When you send an enquiry, you receive a written response within three working days stating whether your matter can be helped and what the next step would involve — before you have agreed to anything.
The fee is stated at the confirmation stage and does not change. You know the full cost before any work begins.
The advice you receive is given in writing and remains with you. You can refer back to it, share it, and act on it at the time and in the manner that suits your situation.
If your matter falls outside the areas Sekihi handles, you are told this clearly in the first response. There is no ambiguity, and no delay in finding out.
The documents produced at the end of each engagement — gap lists, risk registers, renewal calendars, policy drafts — are yours to use as resources after the engagement concludes.
There is no obligation involved in making an enquiry. The first response is informational, not the start of a commitment.
If These Principles Suit Your Situation
The contact form is the appropriate starting point. A written response is provided within three working days. There is no obligation involved in making an enquiry.
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