Team size: Nine

What are the most significant cases or transactions that you have been involved in over the past year?
One of the most significant cases is the further strengthening of the capital and business alliance between menu, inc., a group company of Reazon Holdings, and KDDI. · What innovations have you made to the way your legal team works in the past year? In the past year, as the head of the legal department, I have primarily focused on three key areas: expanding legal functions through strategic hiring, establishing and enhancing intellectual property functions within the legal department, and improving legal operations, particularly in terms of operational processes and knowledge management. Firstly, the legal department of our company, Reazon Holdings, is responsible for the legal functions of numerous subsidiaries, including those in social gaming, food delivery services, web advertising, Web 3.0 businesses, and startup investments. Previously, a shortage of legal staff meant that each member had to manage multiple business departments, leading to insufficient legal support. Since assuming my role, I have focused on increasing our legal personnel and hiring two new lawyers over the past year. As a result, our legal department now has six lawyers, each dedicated to a specific business department. This change has allowed each lawyer to concentrate on their designated area, improving both efficiency and expertise. Next, until last year, our company did not have members specializing in intellectual property, with lawyers covering these areas in addition to their regular duties. Over the past year, we have created an intellectual property function and hired three specialised professionals in this field, including two patent attorneys. This led to the formation of a dedicated intellectual property team within the legal department, enabling us to provide higher-quality services, especially in areas where legal and intellectual property issues intersect. Lastly, our company previously had an outdated and inefficient system where business departments consulted the legal department via email. Over the past year, we have utilised Slack workflows, Google Apps Script (GAS), and other tools to develop an optimal operational process. This new system has made it easier for business departments to consult with the legal team and has allowed the legal department to track better and manage operational status efficiently. Importantly, these improvements were achieved without incurring additional costs, which is a significant advantage compared to using external legal vendors. Additionally, there was no centralised tool for accumulating the cases and knowledge handled by each legal member, resulting in dispersed information. We have established a portal site to consolidate cases and expertise, creating a system for regular updates. This allows all members to access information on cases and legal points handled by others, enhancing overall skill levels and ensuring consistency across the team.

Based on your experience, what is the key to collaborating successfully with business partners?
Based on my experience, the key to successful collaboration with business partners is “imagination.” Imagination is crucial for conflict resolution. However, as an in-house lawyer working with various departments and individuals both inside and outside the company, I believe it is also indispensable for driving the business forward. For example, when working on a project with an internal business unit, I always strive to imagine, “What does the business unit expect from the legal department? How do they want us to operate?” By anticipating their needs and acting proactively, we can prevent the legal function from slowing down project progress or operating in isolation. Without this approach, inefficiencies could arise across the entire organisation. Additionally, when advancing business with external partners, interests may sometimes diverge. In these situations, applying imagination to understand the partner’s perspective allows us to appropriately adjust our interests to maximise overall benefits.