What do you do when a global financial crisis derails your carefully planned legal career before it even begins? Rather than hold out for the law firm role she wanted, Nancy Miyaji threw herself into the deep end and built her career anyway. With a superpower of bridging perspectives, Nancy's story is one of resilience, clarity of purpose that shows another successful pathway in law, whatever is happening around you. 

What do you do when your first employer hands you a uniform and tells you to serve tea, despite having a law degree from Tokyo University? For Sachiko Ichikawa, the answer was to quit, pick up law again, and spend the next three decades collecting edges that no one else had.

Dajeong Lee is a partner specialising in dispute resolution and insolvency, currently in Japan as a research fellow at Waseda University. Dajeong's story is about the moments no one plans for. With wisdom drawn from jazz music, long-distance running, and the rhythm of daily life in Japan, Dajeong offers a refreshingly honest perspective on ambition, identity, and what it really means to keep moving forward through career detours and parenthood.

Welcome to the premier of Season 12! K. Lesli Ligorner is a partner with Morgan Lewis and shares what it takes to build a successful legal career spanning two decades across China and Japan. We hear how Lesli has mastered the art of finding flexibility within rigid statutory frameworks while leading diverse teams across cultures. If you are wondering how you will lead a team in Japan in the future, this is the episode for you.

What does it take to transform from a technical legal expert into a strategic conductor of organisational change? Keiko Uchida, Head of Legal and Compliance at Roche Diagnostics Japan, shares her journey to leadership from playing the figurative “violin in an orchestra” to becoming “the conductor.” Discover what it means to move from solving one case with 100 pieces of evidence to solving 100 questions with almost none, and why doubling productivity in Japanese companies has become Keiko Uchida’s driving purpose.

What do you do when everyone tells you it's impossible? D. Didem Tari is a Turkish lawyer who refused to let jurisdiction, language barriers, or naysayers stop her from building a legal career in Japan. Now working as a legal advisor at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Didem shares her remarkable journey from 13 years in an Ankara boutique firm to finding her dream role in Tokyo. This is a story about shaping your own mold when you don't fit the typical template and proving that passion combined with persistence can overcome any barrier.

Guest Host Yoko Oshima leads this episode’s interview with host Catherine O’Connell as Lawyer on Air reaches the milestone of 5 years on air and 100 guests. Catherine shares her remarkable journey from a shy New Zealand teenager to an award-winning lawyer, podcast host, and board member at companies like Toyota and Fujitsu. You will hear about the pivotal moments that shaped her career, and why she believes courage must come before confidence. If you love listening to LOA and want to know more about Catherine, this is the episode for you.

"I thought you didn't want to be a partner" - Maya Ito heard these stunning words at a meeting to discuss her firm’s view that her lack of career progression at Big Four law firm Nishimura & Asahi, was simply because she had children. Plot spoiler: she's now a partner at that same firm, she’s leading cross-border project finance deals, and all the while, she’s running an almost entirely female team. Maya shares a deeply personal story of utter loss that forever changed how she approaches every single day of her life, reveals the Japanese warrior philosophy that defines her service to clients, and also explains why monthly team lunches replaced late-night drinking sessions. If you are looking up at senior partners wondering how they got there, or simply want to know what it really takes to sustain a career in Big Law while living with no regrets, grab your headphones and get ready to get to know Maya Ito in a way you never have before.

Sayaka Matsui is General Counsel and Representative Executive Officer at Unilever Japan. Sayaka shares how she unlearned something that she thought was helping her to do better. When she did that amazing things happened and she reached new career heights as well as achieving personal goals too. If you are wondering if your career path is “on track” or you are struggling with self criticism, this episode is for you!

Midori Yamaguchi is a Senior Associate at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto in Tokyo whose career spans Singapore, the US, and Japan. We hear about her two-year secondment to METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), where she was the only lawyer on the legislation drafting team where she helped create Japan's new pre-insolvency regime - literally dreaming about the law every night. If you're contemplating a step off the well trodden career path of private practice, and think it’s not possible to come back on track, or if you are seeking inspiration, this episode is for you.