In Volume 13 of  Diversity rocks innovation! we talk to the inspiring Catherine O’Connell, a lawyer and entrepreneur who runs her own boutique law firm, Catherine O’Connell Law, and hosts the podcast, Lawyer on Air. Catherine is originally from New Zealand and has been an inspirational leader as a lawyer in Japan, she has particularly been an inspiration to me during the journey of hosting this livestream and podcast, and also as you’ll find out in the conversation, we have inspired her too! 

Join us and listen to this conversation as we discuss Catherine’s amazing career and life as a lawprenuer in Japan!

In this episode you’ll hear:

• About Catherine’s early foundations growing up in New Zealand in an inclusive and supportive family 
• How a love of the Japanese language segued into working in tourism, and then moved into studying law
• How an egalitarian philosophy guides Catherine in her use of language and treatment of others
• About Catherine’s passion for encouraging, mentoring and supporting women lawyers in Japan
• Why Catherine decided to open her own law firm and start her own podcast in Japan

About Catherine:

Catherine O’Connell is Principal & Founder of her award-winning boutique law firm, Catherine O’Connell Law. She is the first foreign woman to set up a law practice in Tokyo and winner of the British Chamber British Business Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2020. 

Prior to launching her commercial & corporate law practice in 2018, Catherine most recently served as Head of Legal and APAC Regional Legal Counsel for Molex Japan LLC. She has held senior In-House Legal Counsel positions at global brand name companies Panasonic, Olympus and Mitsubishi Motors, and has extensive private practice experience at Hogan Lovells (Tokyo and London) and Anderson Lloyd (New Zealand). 

Her business experience includes promoting legal services to SMEs and women entrepreneurs, legal support for launching businesses/services in Japan, legal & compliance risk-opportunity strategic consulting (pre-acquisition) post-acquisition integration of legal systems and legal literacy, bicultural and bilingual commercial transactional support, transcultural management issues, compliance policies and procedures, ethics investigations, in house legal department operations, management and procedures. Catherine is also the President of Women in Law Japan.

Catherine has lived in Japan since 2002 and is host of the award-winning “Lawyer on Air” Podcast sharing inspirational stories about business and life in the law from women working in the law in Japan. She believes that no two lawyers are the same and every lawyer has an inner lawyer extraordinaire whose story is just waiting to be unlocked. She has three passions: empowerment of women in Japan, wellness and flexible working for lawyers and the intersection of law and entrepreneurship.

Connect with Catherine:

www.catherineoconnelllaw.com

https://www.instagram.com/lawyeronair/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oconnellcatherine/

https://www.facebook.com/catherine.oconnell.148  

Connect with Jackie:

Website: https://en-joi.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-f-steele-phd/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enjoidiversityandinnovation

https://www.facebook.com/jackiefsteelephd 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/enjoi_diversity_innovation/