"Judicial scrivener" is a term used to refer to similar legal professions in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Judicial scriveners assist clients in commercial and real estate registration procedures and in the preparation of documents for litigation.
In Japan, judicial scriveners (司法書士, shihō shoshi) are authorized to represent their clients in real estate registrations, commercial registrations (e.g. the incorporation of companies), preparation of court documents and filings with legal affairs bureaus.
[1] When Japan adopted a Western-style court system in 1872, it established a profession of daishonin (代書人) to represent clients in the preparation of documents, alongside the daigennin (代言人) who represented clients in courtroom arguments (this latter profession became known as Attorneys at law (弁護士, bengoshi) in 1890).
A 1919 statute established a separate tier of shihō daishonin (司法代書人) to handle court documents.