Japan 2024 – GC Powerlist
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Japan 2024

  • Industries

  • Powerlist

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Aki Tomita

Executive officer, head of general affairs and legal | Sumitomo Corporation

Industrials and real estate

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Akiko Kikuchi

Member of the Board of Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd., General Counsel and VP Legal, Ethics & Compliance | Novo Nordisk

Healthcare

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Akio Miura

Chief legal officer and chief compliance officer | Manulife

Insurance

Alex Choe

Attorney | Wizards of the Coast

Sports and media

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Andreas Höppel

Chief legal officer and general counsel | KOKI Group

Information technology

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Angela Yuen

Deputy general counsel – global legal, tech and innovation | JERA

Energy and utilities

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Angela Krantz

Vice president and associate general counsel | Amazon Japan

Information technology

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Anri Okamoto

Senior executive officer | ANDPAD Inc.

Information technology

Anthony Luna

General counsel | IBM Japan

Information technology

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Aramide Fields

Associate general counsel | Autoliv

Consumer products

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Arshad Karim

Legal director and head of legal Japan | Abbott Japan

Healthcare

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Asako Ouchi

Senior attorney | IBM Japan

Information technology

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Rising Star

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Atsuhiro Yamane

SCM general counsel | Coca Cola Bottlers Japan

Food

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Atsushi Sakurai

Corporate vice president and general manager of legal division | FUJIFILM Holdings

Consumer products

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Ayaka Takeda

Chief legal officer, SaaS business and head of risk management | Uzabase

Information technology

Rising Star

Ayako Shotoku

Director, member of the board, executive officer, group general counsel | Panasonic Holdings Corporation

Industrials and real estate

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Brian Chi

General counsel Japan | Kyndryl

Information technology

Brian Yu

Senior legal counsel | Tencent Japan

Information technology

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Chika Hirata

Head of Japan/JPBU ethics and compliance, global ethics and compliance | Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

Healthcare

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Chikara Matsumoto

Chief legal and risk officer, executive general manager of compliance and information security division | Benesse Holdings

Commercial and professional services

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Claire Mitsuru Chino

Managing executive officer, corporate communications division | ITOCHU

Industrials and real estate

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Daiske Yoshida

Senior counsel, Google regulatory affairs | Google

Information technology

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Daniel Liu

Managing director | Fortress Investment Group Japan

Financials

David Aughey

Managing director and head of Japan legal | Barclays Securities Japan

Financials

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Eddie Lo

General counsel and chief operating officer | PAG Renewables

Energy and utilities

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Edward “Ted” Johnson

General counsel | Liquid-Market-Solutions

Information technology

Emi Takeda

Managing director and Japan legal head | Accenture

Information technology

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Fumika Ito

General counsel | SAP Japan

Information technology

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Fumitaka Eshima

Managing director and general counsel Japan | UBS

Financials

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Hajime Seki

Chief legal officer | Square Enix Holdings

Information technology

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Hidetaka Sumomogi

Legal director (Johnson & Johnson MedTech Japan & South East Asia) | Johnson & Johnson

Healthcare

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Hideyuki Sakamoto

Chief legal officer, executive officer | The Gibraltar Life Insurance Company

Insurance

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Hiro Kato

General counsel | INPEX Corporation

Energy and utilities

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Hiroaki Asahara

Head of legal | MICIN

Information technology

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Rising Star

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Hiroe Kajiwara

Director, portfolio management and legal | Eight Roads

Financials

Hiroki Matsumura

Head of legal | Reazon Holdings

Financials

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Hiroko Yoshika

Corporate officer, general manager of intellectual property, legal and compliance | Gunze

Consumer products

Hiroko Tanaka

Executive officer, general counsel, managing director | Citigroup Global Markets Japan

Financials

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Hiromi Furushima

Director, international legal | Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Healthcare

Hiromi Shiraishi

Country counsel for Japan | HP Japan

Information technology

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Hiroshi Mori

Chief legal officer | MUFG

Financials

Hiroyuki Urase

General manager and head of legal and compliance | Sony Financial Group

Financials

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Jeffrey Wong

Regional general counsel and compliance officer | AESC Group

Consumer products

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John P.H. Vigman

General counsel | Veolia

Energy and utilities

Jun Niwa

Senior managing legal director | Dell Technologies

Information technology

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Junichi Ebihara

Executive vice president, legal and intellectual property | Chugai Pharmaceutical

Healthcare

Junji Kaneko

Director of the corporate planning and legal department | Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS Corporation

Sports and media

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Justin Wilson

Deputy general counsel | INPEX

Energy and utilities

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Kanki Hirata

Head of legal | Neuberger Berman

Financials

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Kaori Takezawa

Senior vice president, legal, compliance and privacy | Sony Group Corporation

Industrials and real estate

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Kasumi Nakamura

Head of legal Japan | Standard Chartered Bank

Financials

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Kazuki Nemoto

Director, legal department | Kyowa Kirin

Healthcare

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Kazunari Fukuda

Group legal and compliance director | LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Japan

Consumer products

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Kenichiro Aoya

Senior executive officer and general manager of legal division | Nitori Holdings

Consumer products

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Kenji Fujimoto

Chief operating officer and head of legal | BlackRock

Financials

Kenji Hosokawa

General counsel | MUFG Innovation Partners

Financials

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Kenji Tagaya

Head of legal and secretariat division | JERA

Energy and utilities

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Kensuke Mamiya

Vice president legal Japan | UiPath

Information technology

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Kento Asai

Head of legal | READYFOR

Information technology

Rising Star

Kiyoko Takagi

Managing legal counsel | T. Rowe Price Japan

Financials

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Kohei Mima

General counsel, chief privacy officer and chief compliance officer | Nestle Japan

Food

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Koichi Okimoto

Director, legal and compliance | Nippon Otis Elevator Company

Industrials and real estate

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Koji Tsurumi

Vice president regional counsel, Asia Pacific | Kenvue

Healthcare

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Kozo Sasaki

Head of legal | Amuse

Sports and media

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Kyoko Mizuguchi

Corporate executive officer, EVP and general counsel | Fujitsu

Information technology

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Makoto Shinto

General manager, group governance, legal and compliance unit | Tokyo Electron

Information technology

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Mami Yoshida

Chief legal officer, NewsPicks business | Uzabase

Information technology

Mari Hiraizumi

General counsel Japan and member of the board | GlaxoSmithKline

Healthcare

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Maria Wachi

Head of legal | FWD

Insurance

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Masahiro Sogabe

Executive officer, general manager, legal division | ITOCHU Corporation

Industrials and real estate

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Masaki Ueno

Head of transactional legal | Orix

Financials

Matthew Datum

General manager, legal and intellectual property | Bandai Namco Entertainment

Information technology

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Mikako Cho

Chief legal officer | Prudential Holdings

Insurance

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Mina Hoshizawa

Compliance manager and legal manager in charge of consumer health | Bayer

Materials and mining

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Rising Star

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Mitsutaka Hibino

Vice president, head of legal office | Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT)

Telecommunication services

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Mizuho Uchida

Senior director, head of legal for Japan and Korea | Tapestry Japan

Consumer products

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Nana Kishikawa

Vice president, deputy head of global legal | Fujitsu

Information technology

Rising Star

Naoki Hamada

General counsel Japan | HSBC

Financials

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Naokuni Kuwagata

Corporate officer and country legal head Japan | Novartis Pharma

Healthcare

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Natsue Ishida

Managing director of legal and intellectual property division | SEGA Sammy Holdings

Information technology

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Natsue Nagato

Head of legal Japan | Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities

Financials

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Nobuharu Sakai

Head of legal Japan | BNY

Financials

Nobusuke Nakamiya

Associate director | Accenture

Information technology

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Rising Star

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Osamu Nagotomo

General manager of legal department | Tokyo Gas

Materials and mining

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Ryo Asakura

Vice president, general counsel Japan | Olympus

Healthcare

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Satoshi Kurata

Executive officer and general counsel | JGC Holdings

Industrials and real estate

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Sawako Miyauchi

Head of group legal department | Nomura Holdings

Financials

Sayaka Matsui

Representative executive officer and general counsel | Unilever Japan Holdings

Consumer products

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Sayo Kondo Takizawa

Managing director | Blackstone

Financials

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Shiho Koizumi

Chief legal officer | NISSIN FOODS Holdings

Food

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Shin Kato

Vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer, intellectual property, internal control | Eisai

Healthcare

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Shinichiro Akiyama

Head of legal Japan | Deutsche Securities

Financials

Shintaro Sakurada

Chief legal officer | SOURCENEXT

Information technology

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Sho Imanaka

General counsel | Medley

Healthcare

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Shoko Kimijima

Chief legal and compliance officer and executive vice president | LIXIL

Industrials and real estate

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Steven Howard

Legal director, Asia Pacific | Fiskars Group

Consumer products

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Susumu Sakurai

Director legal | Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

Materials and mining

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Susumu Saeki

General manager, legal department, legal and corporate affairs division | Chiyoda Corporation

Industrials and real estate

Tadashi Koizumi

Statutory executive officer and chief legal officer Japan | MetLife

Insurance

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Takahiro Hasegawa

Senior counsel, Japan | Uber Japan

Information technology

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Takahiro Homma

General counsel | Renesas Electronics

Information technology

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Takahisa Shimizu

Senior legal counsel | FedEx Express

Transport and infrastructure

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Takamasa Makita

Managing director, legal and contract management | Accenture

Information technology

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Takashi Shimodaira

Principal expert, general manager | Asahi Kasei

Materials and mining

Takashi Yoshida

Legal and compliance counsel Japan | Getinge Group

Healthcare

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Takehiro Nakamori

Head of legal department | Sumitomo Corporation

Industrials and real estate

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Takeshi Kotera

General manager legal | Teijin

Industrials and real estate

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Tim Mackey

Corporate officer, group chief legal officer and group compliance officer | SoftBank Group

Financials

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Tomoaki Kuragano

Japan legal director | Medtronic

Healthcare

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Tomohisa Nishimura

General manager, legal department, administration headquarters | Konoike Construction

Industrials and real estate

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Tomoko Akashi

Head of legal Japan | Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Financials

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Tomoko Takezawa (Kramer)

Vice president | Visa

Financials

Tomomichi Takao

Director, member of the board and chief legal officer  | Funds, Inc.

Information technology

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Rising Star

Tomoya Hashimoto

Deputy general manager of legal department | Marubeni

Industrials and real estate

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Toshimi Itakura

General manager, legal department | Sojitz Corporation

Industrials and real estate

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Toshiyuki Nakai

Head of legal Japan | Macquarie Securities

Financials

Tsuyoshi Futoo

General counsel Japan | Air Liquide Japan

Materials and mining

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Yoichi Sudo

Executive officer in charge of legal, intellectual property and government relations | SECOM

Commercial and professional services

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Yoshiaki Sakurai

Head of legal Japan | Olympus

Healthcare

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Yoshie Namiki

Head of governance group | SoftBank Group

Financials

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Rising Star

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Yoshiko Mitani

Department manager, legal department, legal and intellectual property division | Nikon

Consumer products

Yoshio Sano

General counsel | Chubb

Insurance

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Yosuke Fujisawa

Head of markets legal | Goldman Sachs

Financials

Yuichi Takano

Executive managing officer, general counsel and executive committee member | Mitsui & Co.

Industrials and real estate

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Yuichiro Watanabe

Lead counsel | Airbnb Japan

Hotels

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Yukiko Kido

Co-head of legal, Japan | JP Morgan Securities

Financials

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Yumi Harada

Head of legal | CBRE

Industrials and real estate

Yuri Yasue

Director, executive officer and head of legal Japan | Societe Generale Securities Japan

Financials

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Yusuke Iwaya

Legal manager | Kojima Productions

Information technology

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Rising Star

Yutaka Hashimoto

Chief risk management officer, general manager of legal and risk management department | freee

Information technology

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Yutaka Miura

Head of legal Japan | BNP Paribas Securities

Financials

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Yutaka Nakamura

Head of legal | Asurion

Insurance

The Legal 500 is delighted to present our second GC Powerlist: Japan. This year, we in our research team were faced with the considerable challenge of updating the list of awardees to reflect market changes while retaining a core of the most impressive leading GCs in the previous edition. In a legal market as complex and awash with talent as Japan, this was no easy task!
With that said, I am pleased to announce that the 2024 GC Powerlist: Japan succeeds in these two somewhat contradictory objectives, building on the huge success of 2023’s Powerlist while adding a raft of top corporate counsel who are appearing for the first time. As is perhaps unsurprising given Japan’s position as an economic behemoth, the list of GCs contained here categorically stands alongside or above any others worldwide. \
The insights available from our interviews are also well worth reading. To pick one of many examples from our conversations conducted, Hidetaka Sumomogi of Johnson and Johnson gave this picture-perfect overview of the current conversations around legal AI use:
‘”Are the effects of AI on the legal world overplayed, or underplayed?”
At this point, I would say neither. AI is here to stay and just like any other industry, AI has naturally impacted the legal industry, and the industry, in return, has embraced AI and other technologies. That said, if the implication of the question is whether AI will ultimately replace lawyers, then in my humble view, the answer would be no. If anything, the role of in-house counsel will likely only increase. AI may be able to adequately supplement, perhaps even overtake, legal expertise and hard skills per se. 
However, the critical responsibility of an in-house counsel is not only to provide legal counsel; rather, it is to provide ethical guidance and leadership in the context of both the culture of the company and the matter at hand. 
In other words, AI can answer to the question of legality – but can it solve the question of whether a decision is right or wrong (even if legal)?
The totality of natural and professional human experience gained through our human senses is required to answer that question, and my personal view is that it may take significant time, if it is possible at all, for AI to reach that stage. We cannot underestimate the development of AI and AI is here to help us, but my personal belief is that it will be very difficult to completely replace our ultimate ethical judgement.’
 
On behalf of everyone at the Legal 500, huge congratulations to all of those featured on the list, especially those appearing for the second time. Being able to launch the GC Powerlist Japan for the first time in 2023 was one of the crowning achievements of our in-house legal research team, successfully improving on that in the second edition, highlighting a range of unbelievably impressive new GCs in the process, is another huge honour for us.
Joe Boswell
Global Editor: GC Powerlist Series
Legal 500

GC Powerlist Middle East 2024

On the evening of Wednesday, 30th October, The Legal 500 proudly hosted the launch event for the GC Powerlist Middle East 2024.

 

The event brought together a distinguished group of in-house counsel from across the Middle East, thanks to the support of our sponsors: Taylor Root, ALC, Al Muhamoon Al Mutahidoon, Lawyers On Demand, Meysan, Nami Associates, Omar Al Rasheed Law Firm, and Sharq Law Firm.

 

Sara Maggi, deputy editor for The Legal 500 GC Powerlist Series, opened the evening with a warm welcome. Following her, representatives from our sponsors shared their congratulations. Bapsy Dastur, general counsel and head of corporate risk, compliance and legal at VFS Global, offered valuable insights into the challenges currently facing general counsel in the region. Abdullah Najjar from Meysan also took the stage, celebrating the Powerlisters for their adeptness in navigating today’s complexities, highlighting the shift in their roles from traditional legal duties to broader business leadership.

 

The celebration continued as Abdulwhahab Sadeq, Partner at Meysan, invited attendees to receive their certificates on stage.

 

We extend our sincere gratitude to our sponsors for their support and partnership. Most importantly, congratulations to all featured in the 2024 edition; your recognition is a testament to your hard work and dedication. We look forward to 2025, aiming to showcase an even wider representation of the region’s top in-house lawyers.