Japan 2024
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Executive officer, head of general affairs and legal | Sumitomo Corporation
Director, member of the board, executive officer, group general counsel | Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Head of Japan/JPBU ethics and compliance, global ethics and compliance | Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Chief legal and risk officer, executive general manager of compliance and information security division | Benesse Holdings
Legal director (Johnson & Johnson MedTech Japan & South East Asia) | Johnson & Johnson
Chief legal officer, executive officer | The Gibraltar Life Insurance Company
Executive officer, general counsel, managing director | Citigroup Global Markets Japan
Director of the corporate planning and legal department | Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS Corporation
Group legal and compliance director | LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Japan
Senior executive officer and general manager of legal division | Nitori Holdings
Director, legal and compliance | Nippon Otis Elevator Company
Corporate executive officer, EVP and general counsel | Fujitsu
General manager, group governance, legal and compliance unit | Tokyo Electron
Executive officer, general manager, legal division | ITOCHU Corporation
General manager, legal and intellectual property | Bandai Namco Entertainment
Compliance manager and legal manager in charge of consumer health | Bayer
Rising Star
Managing director of legal and intellectual property division | SEGA Sammy Holdings
Managing director and market unit contracting lead, legal | Accenture
Rising Star
Representative executive officer and general counsel | Unilever Japan Holdings
Chief legal and compliance officer and executive vice president | LIXIL
Corporate officer, group chief legal officer and group compliance officer | SoftBank Group
General manager, legal department, administration headquarters | Konoike Construction
Director, member of the board and chief legal officer | Funds, Inc.
Rising Star
Executive officer in charge of legal, intellectual property and government relations | SECOM
Executive managing officer, general counsel and executive committee member | Mitsui & Co.
Director, executive officer and head of legal Japan | Societe Generale Securities Japan
Chief risk management officer, general manager of legal and risk management department | freee
Member of the Board of Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd., General Counsel and VP Legal, Ethics & Compliance | Novo Nordisk
Corporate vice president and general manager of legal division | FUJIFILM Holdings
Chief legal officer, SaaS business and head of risk management | Uzabase
Rising Star
Managing executive officer, corporate communications division | ITOCHU
Corporate officer, general manager of intellectual property, legal and compliance | Gunze
Executive vice president, legal and intellectual property | Chugai Pharmaceutical
Senior vice president, legal, compliance and privacy | Sony Group Corporation
Vice president, deputy head of global legal | Fujitsu
Rising Star
Vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer, intellectual property, internal control | Eisai
General manager, legal department, legal and corporate affairs division | Chiyoda Corporation
Department manager, legal department, legal and intellectual property division | Nikon
The recent news that elite US firm Sullivan & Cromwell had apologised to a judge over AI hallucinations in a court filing prompted a collective wince from the legal profession.
But while some lawyers remain wary of AI, others are striking a more open-minded note, and at the LexisNexis AI Forum hosted this Wednesday (20 May) by Legal 500 and Legal Business, panelists argued that the risks are far outweighed by the opportunities.
Barbara Zapisetskaya, principal technology counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made the case that hallucinations and other potential pitfalls can be overcome with a shift in mindset.
‘What makes a difference,’ she said, ‘is empowering your lawyers to take responsibility for AI output – helping them become active AI operators, not just passive AI users. You have agency to decide whether you agree with the output or not.’
Zapisetskaya was among a line-up of leading in-house figures speaking on two panels, which covered everything from practical steps for AI implementation to the key decisions GCs need to be making in the coming months.
Financial Times general counsel Dan Guilford began by stressing the importance of building the right culture for AI adoption. In addition to proactively upskilling himself, Guilford talked about how he had implemented a voluntary weekly ‘show and tell’ meeting for team members to share successful use cases – or an exercise that became a gratifying measure of progress.
Other panelists discussed how increased in-house productivity is altering the dynamic with their external counsel.
While some see the use of AI by law firms as a precursor for reduced fees, Russell Davies, head of global operations for legal and compliance at Dentsu, said that faster results – however they are delivered – are something to be valued.
GSK assistant general counsel Anthony Kenny agreed, saying that while there was an expectation that external counsel would be utilising AI, the focus should be on the value of the output, rather than an overemphasis on identifying AI use as a justification to reduce fees.
Speaking on the second panel, MUFG EMEA general counsel James Morgan stressed the critical importance of education, noting that educating the C-suite on the advantages and risks of AI is just as important as enabling large in-house teams to use these tools.
Shanthini Satyendra, vice-chair of the AI Committee, Society for Computers & Law, CEO and founder of Manisain, offered a reminder of the importance of making the connection between tasks and the purpose behind them, extolling the virtues of identifying use cases for AI that can solve a meaningful problem.
Zapisetskaya concurred, adding that one of the most important tasks for GCs across the next six to twelve months is to create AI playbooks and templates, noting that ‘it is easy for lawyers to see problems – much harder for lawyers to see opportunities.’
There was also broad agreement among panellists that GCs should focus on upskilling their junior lawyers on AI, rather than – as some may expect – cutting back their workforce. As Satyendra summarised: ‘Some people are replacing human capital with AI without thinking about what’s required to make AI work. Retain your people and train them up.’
The panels were moderated by Emma Millington, head of the UK Lexis+ Finance Group, and LexisNexis director of segment management Stuart Greenhill.
