What are the most significant cases, transactions or projects that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Recently, the legal team has been involved in the settlement of large-scale construction disputes. As a team we have had several arbitration claims that we have been pursuing for many years, and we have come to learn many valuable lessons in the process, so I am excited that we have reached a successful resolution.

Could you share an example of a time when your team came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

The team came up with the innovative idea to introduce a comprehensive contract lifecycle management system (CLMS) within our legal department. The idea has been very successful and has led to significant increases in the department’s efficiency. Many of the business processes have now been streamlined and are easier to follow. The CLMS means that the team are now able to make key requests quicker, instantly share knowledge among the department, and the visibility of work and reporting has improved drastically.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values?

Picking the right external lawyers to work with is essential for us if we want to meet our company goals. For example, when we are building new business lines, if the outside counsel is not aligned with our values and mission, we will not be able to achieve the outcome that we desire or that which is required for the betterment of the business. It is important that we spend enough time determining our goals before we choose our outside counsel to ensure that they are aligned with us.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

In order to become a successful in-house lawyer, it is key that you become a true partner to the business. An in-house lawyer must also understand the business as well as the legal regulations surrounding it. To help the legal team understand the core of our business as an international engineering firm, JGC Holdings has implemented corporate-wide programs for lawyers in which they are assigned and exposed to the construction sites at an early stage of their career. We also collaborate with clients where lawyers shadow the business operations team so that we can understand and provide the best legal counsel. We introduced periodic workshops and seminars to further educate and support our business teams and consolidate our role and relationship with the business.