Japan's Ministry of Justice has announced that it plans to ease restrictions on foreign law firms operating in the country by allowing them to establish corporate bodies and open multiple offices in the country.

It is believed that the proposed amendments will be submitted to the Diet in the fourth quarter of this year and could come into effect from January 2012.

The news is being closely followed by a number of foreign law firms who are believed to looking to places like Osaka as possible locations for second offices.

"Osaka is home to quite a few major Japanese companies like Toyota, Osaka Gas and Panasonic, but it is underserviced by foreign law firms," said Mark Weeks, managing partner of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Tokyo. "There are a lot of manufacturing clients in that [Western] region and it would therefore be an obvious place for foreign firms to consider opening a second office, if and when the market opens up. For Orrick, any decision to open another office in Japan would always be driven by client needs and we will definitely look at opportunities, but you really need to find the right people to make the endeavor worthwhile."

But many believe 'finding the right people' to anchor an Osaka office an international law firm could prove a difficult task.

"Once you get out of Tokyo, finding the right people becomes a difficult proposition," said a partner at a local Japanese law firm. "If you have a family, there are major quality of life, quality of education differences between somewhere like Osaka and Tokyo. This would make staffing an office out there very difficult for international law firms," the partner continued pointing out that it is with good reason that many Tokyo-based local law firms have chosen to not open there despite having the opportunity to do so.

Lawyers ALB spoke to are just as unequivocal in their assessment of what impact these changes will have on the complexion of the Japanese legal services market. "I don't really understand why these changes are needed," said one senior partner at a major Japanese law firm. "I would be very surprised if these had any impact on local firms at all. Major matters for Osaka and clients from other cities are handled out of Tokyo and this won't undergo substantial changes even if foreign law firms open in Osaka or elsewhere."