Fees of court appointed attorneys will be raised by an average of 10,000 yen for cases invoiced with the Japan Legal Support Center (JLSC) beginning September 1, 2008.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) has been discussing increasing fees for court appointed attorneys with the JLSC and the Ministry of Justice because many attorneys were voicing their doubts that the fee standards for relatively simple cases were set too low when the operation of the court appointed attorney system was transferred from the courts to the JLSC in 2006.

For example, fees for a trial in a district court heard by a single judge without pretrial procedures are:
under the current standards,
a one-day trial-70,000,
a two-day trial-77,000,
a three-day trial-84,000, and
additional fees are provided from the fourth day; while
under the new standards,
a trial-77,000 without considering how many times the trial was held, and
additional fees are provided from the first day.

According to the new standards, fees for a one day trial of 45 minutes to less than an hour and a half without pretrial procedures will be 82,800 yen. This is an increase of 12,800 yen from the current standard of 70,000 yen.

Fees will be raised for cases tried in summary courts, district courts heard by a single judge, a three-judge panel, and a panel of professional and lay judges. Fees will remain the same for summary judgment cases and appeal cases. Overall, fees of court appointed attorneys will be raised by an average of 10,000 yen.

Cases subject to the new standards are those which are invoiced to the Japan Legal Support Center beginning September 1, 2008. For the cases which have been completed before that date, whether the current standards or new standards will be applied will be based on the date of invoice.