The Japan In-House Lawyers Association (JILA) recently celebrated the latest achievements of in-house legal teams and professionals at the annual In-House Legal Awards at Kabukiza Tower in Tokyo.
In the group awards for mid-sized legal departments, QVC Japan and Uber Japan scooped the grand prize. QVC Japan also secured the partner function award and innovation award.
IBM Japan and Uber Japan won the partner function and guardian feature awards, respectively.
Among large legal departments, Medley took home the overall award, partner function award and guardian feature award. Bayer Holding received the innovation award.
In the mega-class legal department category, LIXIL Corporation won both the grand prize and innovation award. Renesas Electronics Corporation received the partner function award. The guardian feature award was shared between Renesas Electronics Corporation and Panasonic Holdings Corporation.
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Corp collected the local organisation award.
Imanaka Sho, senior vice president and general counsel at Medley, was honoured with the overall award and an award for information and communications/information services.
Among individual awards, Nobuhisa Hayano, senior counsel at Uber Japan received the innovation award. Yoshinaga Kouhei, public lawyer at Kasugai City, won the public servant lawyer award and local lawyer of the year.
Kuragano Tomoaki, head of legal ? Japan at Medtronic, was recognised in the pharmaceuticals, medical devices and medical services category; Kurokawa Hitomi, regional counsel at Patagonia International, won in the manufacturing and services division; and Imuta Masaru, general counsel at QUNIE Corporation, was honoured in the trading company/consulting category.
Hirakawa Masumi, general counsel at Safie, received the partner feature award, while guardian feature award went to Kawashima Hiroki, deputy director at the Japan Fair Trade Commission.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also received a special award for making a significant contribution to expanding the presence of in-house lawyers in companies and government agencies.
The event was supported by platinum sponsors including Nishimura & Asahi, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, Ernst & Young ShinNihon, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, PwC Japan, LegalOn Technologies, Hubble, MINTSQ, BoostDraft, DT Legal Japan, GVA Tech, Lawyer’s Info, and Agaroot Career. Gold sponsors included Linklaters, Epic Systems, EY Law, and Just Legal.
The event on 24 January also aimed to share best practices, increase the presence of in-house lawyers, and enhance team building.
