Episode 92-An Expat Lawyer and Podcast Host Reflects on Her Career in Japan

The pandemic put a damper on international travel.  It also reduced the opportunities for American lawyers to practice law overseas.  But as travel has returned, the demand for legal talent trained in the United States has never been stronger in the Far East. One country where the need is particularly strong is Japan. So what does it mean to practice in Japan? How do you find opportunities? What are some of the cultural differences and what do lawyers who are thinking about an international adventure need to know? My guest, Catherine O'Connell, has practiced law in Japan for over 20 years and has a lot of the answers. Catherine O’Connell is originally from New Zealand, and has worked for major firms in New Zealand, Tokyo and London. She has held several in-house positions for well know Japanese companies. Today, she has her own boutique law firm in Tokyo where she serves as a fractional lawyer providing on demand legal services to big and small companies. She also serves as an outside general counsel on retainer. She is the first foreign female lawyer to launch a firm in Tokyo. Catherine has won numerous awards and as host of the award winning Lawyer On Air Podcast. In the episode, Catherine discusses her experience in assimilating into the Japanese legal community.  We also be talk about lessons she has learned from producing her own podcast.

Om Podcasten

Counsel to Counsel is a periodic podcast produced by Stephen Seckler of Seckler Attorney Coaching (www.counseltocounsel.com). It addresses important career, marketing, and leadership issues facing attorneys. The target audience is associates, counsel and partners at law firms of all sizes; but the podcast also addresses issues that are relevant to in-house counsel, law students or any lawyer who is looking for career insights inside or outside of the law. Counsel to Counsel is aimed at individual lawyers who are looking to increase their own career satisfaction and build their marketing and leadership skills. The podcast features interviews with leading consultants, career professionals and marketing experts who advise attorneys on careers, marketing, law firm management and related issues. The guests are also a roster of successful attorneys who have found career satisfaction inside and outside the law. Counsel to Counsel is a direct outgrowth of the blog Counsel to Counsel which Stephen Seckler has been publishing since 2005. Since graduating from law school in the late 1980s, Stephen Seckler has been advising lawyers on career and marketing issues and working with a broad mix of law firms and corporate law departments. He began blogging when legal blogging was in its infancy and his blog Counsel to Counsel was named to the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 in 2007 and 2008 (the first two years that list was in existence). Steve has written extensively on career and marketing issues and he has spoken at many law school, law firm and bar association events. He served on the Boston Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Work Life Balance and was Vice Chair of the Law Practice Management Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association. He is active in the Senior Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association, the ProVisors business network, and has been quoted frequently in the legal and business press.