DETROIT (Feb. 9, 2011) - Judge Takaaki Shintaku, an assistant judge with the Sendai District Court of Japan, will compare the foreclosure procedures of the United States and Japan in a lecture titled "The compulsory execution system of Japan" at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, in the third-floor faculty lounge of the Wayne State University Law School.

Judge Takaaki Shintaku

"We are pleased to welcome Judge Shintaku to the Law School for this lecture," said Wayne Law Dean and Professor of Law Robert M. Ackerman. "He will provide attendees with an opportunity to understand how foreclosure laws are created and interpreted in different countries."

According to Shintaku, he will discuss the benefits of the U.S. and Japanese systems and why, in his opinion, the Japanese foreclosure system is better suited for buyers.

"One difference is that the Japanese system requires the lender foreclosing on the property to provide to prospective buyers information on the condition and appraised value of the property," Shintaku said. "The American system leaves it to the buyer to conduct an independent investigation."

Judge Shintaku is here as part of a special arrangement that began in 2007 between Wayne Law, the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan and the Supreme Court of Japan. The arrangement provides for a judge from the Japanese judicial system to visit Michigan to research and study the American judicial system, with a special emphasis on Michigan trial courts.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided. For more information about this event, please call the Law School dean's office at (313) 577-3933.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.

For more information about Wayne State University Law School, visit law.wayne.edu.