Senior executive officer and general counsel | Medley
Sho Imanaka
Senior executive officer and general counsel | Medley
What are some recent high-profile matters in which your legal team has been involved?
We play a crucial role in all aspects of M&A processes, including the drafting of definitive agreements, negotiation and post-merger integration (PMI).
In our capacity as the secretariat for both the Board of Directors and the Nomination and Compensation Advisory Committee, we are instrumental in more than just facilitating meetings. We set agendas and foster an environment where directors, including external directors and auditors, can engage in significant discussions. Recently, we’ve guided the Nomination and Compensation Advisory Committee in developing an annual plan that outlines the critical topics to be discussed by the members. We ensure that our operations align with this plan to promote fruitful discussions.
Our organization comprises multiple subsidiaries both within Japan and abroad. We strongly believe that it is inefficient for each subsidiary to operate and be managed independently from the rest of the group companies. To this end, we are implementing organizational reforms to manage our entire group as a single entity. This strategy also applies to our international subsidiaries, which poses a considerable challenge in our effort to establish a unified global corporate structure.
The General Counsel also serves as the company’s risk management officer, overseeing the execution of our risk management process. For this year’s risk management process, the General Counsel has rolled out risk management training for all group managers and served as a project management officer for the risk management process.
How important is it to you that an external law firm subscribes to your company’s values when you select them?
Whether an external law firm aligns with our core values is a significant criterion in our selection process. For instance, our company has developed a set of core values named “Our Essentials”, and we insist that our legal partners consistently adhere to these values in all their undertakings.
What do you think legal members of a company should do to build good relationships with law firms and other business partners?
As an in-house lawyer, we believe it’s crucial to thoroughly understand an external lawyer’s area of expertise before entrusting them with tasks. Moreover, by clearly outlining our expectations and requirements, we as in-house lawyers can effectively manage our external counterparts, avoiding unforeseen issues or unsatisfactory outcomes. We also believe it’s vital to understand and respect the distinct roles of in-house and outside lawyers, fostering mutual respect between both parties.