Leadership and Law: Alexander Dmitrenko's Path to Managing Partner and Advice for New Lawyers

Alexander Dmitrenko is the Managing Partner of Ashurst’s Tokyo office and a dear friend Catherine has been wanting to introduce to the Lawyer on Air listeners. Get ready to hear how you can be successful in Japan and being a good person is on top of the list. If you are wondering about the culture and lifestyle of working at a firm such as Ashurst, make sure you catch this episode. 

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In this episode you’ll hear:

  • How Alexander’s upbringing in the USSR influenced his career choice in the law

  • How the transition from New York private practice to Japanese in-house changed him

  • Becoming Managing Partner and tips for the recruitment process

  • His favourite restaurant and other fun facts 

About Alexander

Alexander Dmitrenko is a partner in Ashurst’s Tokyo dispute resolution practice group.

He has nearly 20 years of experience specialising in compliance matters, internal investigations, and dispute resolution. He has substantial experience advising Asian and other companies on matters related to sanctions and export controls, anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering, cyber security and cyber fraud, ESG and forced labour and other compliance related laws and regulations. Alexander has gained particular expertise and client praise for his pragmatic approach to establishing compliance policies and procedures, undertaking due diligence exercises and conducting internal and regulatory investigations.

Alexander has conducted over a dozen sensitive internal and regulatory investigations covering allegations of bribery, accounting misconduct, internal violations, harassment and product liability in such jurisdictions as China, Ghana, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Russia, United States and Vietnam.

Alexander also advises financial institutions and other companies on compliance and risk mitigation measures related to US-China regulatory tensions and potential conflict of laws. He has particular expertise with airspace and the airline industry through his extensive work for Changi Airports International and on Sojitz' airport projects in Russia and Myanmar.

He is a member of our firm's specialized Sanctions as well as Corporate Crime groups. Given his unique skillset and expertise, he has been advising on various sanctions targeting Russia, from legal, regulatory and practical perspectives.

Alexander teaches, lectures and publishes extensively on various compliance-related topics. He chairs the Japan Subcommittee of Temple Law School’s Center for Compliance and Ethics. He

is an active member of the NPO community in Japan, particularly through his leadership at LLAN and TELL. Alexander leads our firm’s pro bono efforts to provide legal and other assistance to Ukrainian evacuees. He is a true diversity & inclusion champion. Alexander is also a proud honorary Ambassador for the beautiful island of Hachijojima.

Alexander is qualified to practice in England & Wales, New York, Russia and is a registered foreign lawyer (Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi) in Japan. He speaks English, French, Japanese, Russian and Ukrainian.

In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, including his dog Mykola (Miki), learning Japanese to which he devotes 45-60 minutes each day, spending time on Hachijojima, including gardening (he even grew a square watermelon a few years ago), tennis, yoga and his latest hobby is sanshin on which he performed at Tama Parthenon during a special fundraising concert for Tohoko & Ukraine.

Connect with Alexander 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-dmitrenko/ 

Links

Two Rooms: https://tworooms.jp/en/ 

Connect with Catherine 

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/oconnellcatherine/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawyeronair

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Challenging Norms: Courage and Career Reinvention in Japan with Tomoko Nakajima