China 2019
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Head of legal, Greater China | Abbott
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? I personally see the in-house legal as a role that organically...
Legal director, legal and government affairs (Great China scope) | Sephora
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? A wholesale channel integration transaction for two famous internal brands. A...
Executive vice president – legal, compliance, joint venture affairs and corporate affairs; general counsel - Greater China Region | Nestlé (China)
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The divestment of Nestlé’s dairy factory in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia in...
Senior vice president, legal and government affairs | Qualcomm (China) Holdings
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? From 2016-2018, Qualcomm’s acquisition of NXP for US$47bn attracted attention from...
Vice president and general counsel, Greater China | KONE Corporation
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I managed and supported the tendering of over 8,000 real estate...
Vice president and chief legal officer | Foxconn Industrial Internet
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? First, the Wisconsin investment and Foxconn Industrial Internet’s (Fii) North American...
General counsel, deputy CEO | Baiyin Nonferrous (Beijing) International Investment Company
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? First, an asset restructuring project: The major asset restructuring project is...
Compliance officer, general manager of the legal and compliance department | China Life Insurance Company
Head of legal | Standard Chartered Bank (China)
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important transaction is the completion of Standard Chartered Bank’s...
General counsel | Agile Group Holdings
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? To establish a good relationship with business partners, in-house lawyers need to do the following three tasks: First...
Legal director | Royal Caribbean Cruises Service (China)
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? This requires: a positive mind-set that in-house lawyers are partners to the business and will support their business...
Vice president, legal general counsel and chief compliance officer, chairman of compliance committee | NIO
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? First, NIO’s successful listing on the NYSE. As the general counsel,...
Vice president, Intel legal department, general counsel, Intel China | Intel Corporation
Lead counsel, Greater China | DXC Technology
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The first example is related to a significant affirmative recovery on...
Senior legal director | Meituan Dianping
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I joined Meituan Dianping in February 2018. Since then I have...
Deputy general counsel and deputy managing director of the corporate strategy department (legal department) | China Telecom
Vice general manager of the department of legal security (in charge of legal affairs) | CITIC Bank
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The restructuring of the Luoshiwan project of Yunnan Zhonghao Group, which...
Legal director for North Asia | Hearst Corporation
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important commercial transactions in China are the ones related...
Regional legal counsel Asia | Gensler
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? In-house lawyers must understand the concerns and needs of internal clients and business people and address them accordingly....
General counsel, Asia Pacific | Kemira
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I handled an asset deal as a type of M&A transaction...
General counsel and vice president | United Energy Group
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? United Energy Group’s (UEG) US$200m acquisition of OMV Pakistan assets (OMV)...
Vice president and chief counsel for developed markets and business transactions, Upjohn | Pfizer China
General counsel Greater China | Continental
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? In 2018, we successfully completed the legal steps of the carve-out...
Chief legal officer | Shanghai Electric Group
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? In the past two years, being in charge of the Group’s...
Associate legal director | Skechers China
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Frist, a capex investment project in South China to build a...
Vice president and head of legal affairs and sourcing, North East Asia | Ericsson (China) Communications
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Earlier this year Ericsson agreed to acquire the antenna business from...
General counsel Greater China | Danone
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? We won important lawsuits to protect Danone’s key brands, including Aptamil,...
Lead counsel, General Motors China | GM China Investment
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The restructuring of Opel Group and the sale of Opel to...
Deputy general counsel | Tencent Holdings
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Over the last two years I have overseen around 600 M&A...
Vice president, general counsel and compliance officer | adidas Greater China
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Compliance IDW 980 Certification. This is an adidas global project which...
Chief legal officer Greater China and Korea | Henkel (China) Investment
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? One high profile and complex acquisition of another chemical conglomerate expanding...
General counsel, compliance officer and chief risk officer | China Pacific Insurance (Group)
Vice president, business reputation and responsibility, Greater China | InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
Chief legal officer | Mary Kay China
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? First I would mention the implementation of an enterprise-wide compliance programme...
Vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and head of risk management of Eisai China | Eisai China Holdings
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? We witnessed Lenvatinib, one great product, being marketed in China. As...
General counsel and chief compliance officer | Beijing Automotive Group
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? First, I would mention the BAIC BJEV listing project. We assisted...
Chief compliance officer and general manager of legal and compliance department | Taikang Insurance Group
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important transaction in the past two years is the...
Legal director | Autohome
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Autohome invested US$100m in TTP Car, a company operating an online...
General manager - legal (Mainland) | Hang Lung Properties
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? An in-house lawyer shall follow the “three S’s principle” in order to build a strong and positive relationship...
Vice president, legal and general counsel | Sony (China)
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? During the past two years, I have been involved in the...
Vice president, compliance officer and chief risk officer | The People's Insurance Company of China Group
Since first being published as The Corporate Counsel 100, The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist series has grown exponentially since its beginnings in 2013. It started by covering four of the world’s most established legal markets, and whilst the core objective of the publication – highlighting the most capable, outstanding and innovative in-house counsel in a jurisdiction – has remained the same, the reach and scope of the GC Powerlist has since become almost unrecognisable. Now present in a vast array of jurisdictions and with a portfolio of 70 unique editions, the GC Powerlist series has gone from strength to strength and has firmly been established as the “go-to” title that assesses and features leading corporate counsel across the globe.
Not content to rest on our laurels, we at The Legal 500 are evolving the GC Powerlist series even further, deepening our commitment to ensuring not only the widest geographical coverage, but to highlight and explore issues and challenges at the forefront of the minds of leading in-house lawyers. Therefore, this and future editions of the GC Powerlist will have a very different look to their predecessors. Instead of profiling individual counsel or in-house legal teams, more incisive insights from in-house thought leaders on the topics of the day will be featured extensively throughout our new look GC Powerlist publications.
This new look entails the publication of Q&A transcripts regarding legal and business challenges, comment pieces on specific industry or regulatory affairs, more detailed analysis as to where the market is heading and content related to soft-skills, work ethic and business relationships that general counsel utilise. This new format will not only provide more thought leadership and insight, but provide more clarity on what is driving legal business forward in each market that we cover.
This brings me to China. The Legal 500 has covered the Chinese in-house legal market since 2017, which has allowed us to become familiar with the deep pool of in-house legal talent that exists across various industries and levels of seniority within the country. Whether it’s facilitating key company projects, adopting the latest technology to drive efficiencies or adjusting to new laws and regulations, the region is brimming with in-house lawyers and teams who seamlessly adapt with the latest international business developments.
In the GC Powerlist: China 2019, we showcase a broad range of topics and insights, including the ongoing US-China trade tension, China’s economic outlook, the development and influence of legal technology, as well as the impact of various new legislations such as data privacy and cybersecurity law. This edition features talented in-house legal leaders from Fortune Global 500 companies, domestic business titans and organisations at the cutting edge of technology and the future of work, each with their own priorities and challenges.
I would like to thank our sponsors for supporting this publication and congratulate all those featured in this year’s list. Their selection means they have been identified as in-house counsel who are amongst the standard bearers of the profession, and as specialists who confront and manage commercial and legal challenges in a way that marks them as market leaders. They are not only talented legal practitioners, but instrumental partners to and crucial components of their respective organisations, demonstrably helping them drive success and move business forward.
Congratulations to you all for ranking in The Legal 500 GC Powerlist: China 2019! Under your leadership, your team has provided strong support for the operations and investments of your company with their expertise in their particular field. Moreover, it is your forwarding and proactive legal risk management that has actively and progressively promoted the healthy growth of the entire legal profession in China and enabled Chinese companies to build an internal protection system that is just as effective as that of leading global companies.
What you do reflects the wisdom of combining your law practice with your company’s business objectives and the value of your dual identity of being both a manager and a lawyer. In serving your company, you need to focus not only on each small piece but also on the whole picture. As a lawyer, we have served as a guardrail in the development of your company and have always been committed to providing more stable and effective support for you. Your professionalism and efficiency continue to urge us to accelerate the improvement of our professional competence and work efficiency. During the process, we have witnessed each other’s growth, which enables us to work more closely than ever before. In the future, we will continue to help you in your endeavor to seek certainty and predictability in an uncertain business world and achieve your management and business goals through our joint efforts.
In recent years, focusing on the building of the “Belt and Road”, we will attach equal importance to inbound and outbound business relationships, forming a pattern of opening to the outside world that is characterised by stronger ties between China and the world and mutually beneficial east-west cooperation, creating a nationwide economic service network and accelerating the cultivation of new strengths in international economic cooperation and competition. Facing the complicated situations at home and abroad, how to help businesses obtain one-stop and high-quality legal protection worldwide is the goal of our efforts. Dentons has grown rapidly over the past few years. Now we have more than 180 offices and more than 10,000 lawyers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Relying on the power of technology and the efforts of our regional management teams, more than 650 elite firms from the world have joined our Nextlaw Referral Network, which offers a strong complement to Dentons Global Legal Service Network and allows our clients to receive professional legal services from Dentons or a trusted local law firm wherever they go.
Dentons Shanghai Office was founded in 2001. After years of efforts, we have grown into an important legal service term in Shanghai. Now we have nearly 500 professional lawyers, 170+ of whom have experience of studying or working abroad. Many of our colleagues have been recommended by major rating agencies, and many of our deals have been rated “outstanding” by these rating agencies. We could not have made these great chievements without the trust and support we have been given inside and outside the industry.
Lastly, as a joint publisher of The Legal 500 GC Powerlist: China 2019, congratulations once again to everyone! We hope you continue pursuing your dreams in the realm of law, realise your ideals and ambitions as a legal practitioner, and play a leading role in promoting the growth of the legal profession.
Blackstone Chambers congratulates all of the in-house lawyers recognised in The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist China 2019.
Blackstone Chambers is a leading set of barristers based in London. Members of Chambers offer expertise in the international arena across a range of specialist areas, including arbitration, commercial litigation, financial services, public and regulatory law and international law.
The Legal 500 was proud to host the third edition of the GC Powerlist: Japan 2025 at the Capitol Hotel Tokyu, honouring the top General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Legal Directors, and senior in-house legal professionals operating at the highest level of Japan’s corporate legal landscape. Held in Tokyo, this year’s reception welcomed around 100 of the most respected and senior corporate counsel from across Japan. It was an unrivalled success, and cements Legal 500’s status as the leading force in legal media supporting the achievements of in-house counsel in Japan. The GC Powerlist: Japan 2025 marks the continuation of our commitment to recognising excellence in-house, and this year’s edition represents the most competitive and selective list to date.
Joe Boswell, lead editor of the GC powerlist publication at The Legal 500, opened the evening with an introduction that reflected on the growing prestige of the Japan list. He emphasised how the Powerlist has grown stronger each year, both in scope and quality, making the task of selection more difficult. This year’s honourees emerged from a deeply competitive field, making their recognition even more meaningful.
Boswell extended heartfelt congratulations to all honourees and acknowledged the critical support of key partners and sponsors who made the evening possible. Special thanks were given to Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Morrison Foerster, iManage, JustLegal, and SS&C Intralinks for their generous sponsorship and ongoing collaboration.
In a moment of reflection, Joe paid tribute to Tim Mackey, chief legal officer at SoftBank, who sadly passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. Tim had contributed to the Powerlist in each of its three editions and was known not only for his exceptional legal acumen but also for his warmth and generosity.
The evening featured insightful remarks from distinguished speakers representing our partners and the broader legal community: Mischa Mulligan, Japan Director at SS&C Intralinks; Hiroki Kodate, Partner and Management Committee Member at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune; Jeremy White, Global Co-Chair of M&A for Morrison Foerster; and, representing those awarded in the Powerlist, Naoki Hamada, General Counsel for Japan at HSBC.
Each speaker provided reflections on legal innovation, leadership, and the evolving role of in-house counsel in Japan’s corporate landscape. Their remarks added valuable context to the achievements celebrated throughout the evening.
The formal awards segment celebrated this year’s GC Powerlist honourees. With assistance from long-time collaborator Isaac Uchiyama who read out awardees’ names, recipients were invited to collect their certificates, pose for photographs, and be formally recognised by their peers.
Certificates were presented on stage by Hiroki Kodate or Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and Jeremy White of Morrison Foerster, whose participation further underlined the deep support of the Japanese and international legal communities.
The GC Powerlist: Japan 2025 reception reaffirmed Legal 500’s commitment to spotlighting the very best of in-house legal talent. With record levels of interest and unmatched quality among candidates, the Japan edition continues to solidify its place as one of the most respected publications in the global GC Powerlist series.
We extend our sincere congratulations to all honourees and thank our partners, sponsors, and speakers for making the evening a success.
We look forward to returning to Tokyo again next year. As a parting gift, you can view Naoki Hamada’s excellent keynote address below, where he touches on a lot of issues and themes that many other GC, whatever country they operate in, will recognise:
‘Good evening, everyone. I am Naoki Hamada of HSBC. I am very pleased to be here speaking to you today. It is a great pleasure and honor, and at the same time, I feel a bit overwhelmed being surrounded by the busiest and most expensive lawyers in the industry—even if I know that nobody will be charging us for their time. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Legal 500 for organizing such a great event, and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Morrison Foerster, iManage, SS&C Intralinks, and Just Legal for sponsoring and supporting it. And, huge congratulations on the recognition each of you is receiving, which is truly a great accomplishment and the result of your hard work and the accumulated trust the entire industry has placed in you.
It must be emphasized that this award is given only to general counsels. Being a general counsel means a lot more than just being a subject matter expert. You are a most reliable strategic partner for the business, and I am sure that you have distinguished yourself from the crowd by your ability to identify underlying risks, devise legal solutions, ensure the right processes and governance for corporate decisions, influence others, and educate the next generation of lawyers. This is what you are being recognized for.
Looking back on my career, I have been hugely helped by lawyers in other companies through various industry communities. When I joined the in-house world 12 years ago from a Japanese law firm, large international banks were all struggling with a huge wave of regulatory reform. Back then, I was relatively new to that particular area of finance, and my hiring was somewhat potential-based. Nonetheless, I was assigned to lead the regulatory reform efforts locally. My predecessor had left the bank before I joined, there was no sufficient handover, and I was completely lost as to what to do. What helped me most were the industry peer group discussions, where in-house counsels from major banks would get together to discuss common issues. I learned so much from what was discussed there and absorbed as much as I could. Without that network, I am sure that I wouldn’t have survived that time.
However, our situation today is far more difficult. The changes in the landscape we face today are unprecedented. Technological developments and the corresponding shifts in geopolitical and industrial landscapes are completely unpredictable, and the speed at which they happen is far faster than before. We might face a time that requires us to pivot, forcing us to redefine how we add value and rebuild the way we work. That is somewhat intimidating. But, I am confident that a way forward will be found through the collective wisdom and effort of the people in this room. I would like to be a part of that, and this network of people is enormously valuable and truly priceless.
Finally, let’s have a drink and celebrate our achievements for now – before your CEO calls asking you to join a call! Thank you so much.’
