Get out the party hats! We are celebrating Catherine O’Connell Law and Catherine O’Connell being nominated as finalists in the ALB Japan Law Awards, announced on July 10, 2020.

“Next Level” word of the year in action. First with upgrading my ACCJ membership from “Individual” to “Commercial” and also elevating my role from Vice Chair to Chair of the ACCJ Legal Services & IP Committee

Choosing a word or phrase of the year can inspire you for 365 days. From “Audacious” in 2019, to “NEXT LEVEL” in 2020

The Christchurch native became the first foreign female lawyer to establish a solo practice in Tokyo.

“Having male champions is so crucial for progress. Changes are happening in Japan but they are tiny, tiny steps often introduced by a few progressive companies and law firms. I’ve heard of cases where employers are talking openly about career planning for both men and women, but, particularly for women, taking into account the possibility of parental leave at some stage.” - Catherine O’Connell

A huge thank you to the BCCJ for hosting Catherine O’Connell at the Small is GREAT XV- Tips for entrepreneurs last week. Full article here.

On 26 June, at the invitation of ANZ Bank Catherine presented to a group of 40 lawyers and accountants from NZ Law and NZ Chartered Accountants (NZCA) during their Combined Offshore Conference 2019. NZ Law and NZCA are associations of independent law and accounting firms with 55 and 30 members respectively across New Zealand.

It was a tremendous privilege to be selected as a Judge again in 2019 for Asian Legal Business 15th Annual Japan Law Awards held on June 13th 2019. These prestigious awards pays tribute to the outstanding performance of private practitioners and in-house teams in Japan and around the region. I was representing The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Legal Services Committee and of course, Catherine O'Connell Law

The Canterbury Westland District Law Society (New Zealand) republished an article about me “Catherine O’Connell Christchurch Lawyer in Japan” in the June 2019 issue of Canterbury Tales.

You can view the article here (Page 5 & 6)

Lovely to be featured in and article from Asia New Zealand Foundation's Media Centre in an article titled “The Kiwi lawyer leading the way in Japan’s legal profession.” - The Asia New Zealand Foundation is NZ’s leading authority on Asia.

It was a pleasure to be interviewed by Tao Lin, a journalist based here in Tokyo.

Having to negotiate and formalize a contract is great news for a business. What it means is, you’re in business! But it also means you’ve come to a place where your choices and actions have real consequences down the track for how you grow, on-sell and wind-up your business.

Q: What events trigger a contract amendment?

When the daily operations of business with your business counterparty deviates from what you originally agreed to with them in the contract, I recommend that you think about amending your contract to reflect the actual practice. An example is where you extend the term of the contract (say, from 1 year to 3 years) where, due to wishing to continue the good working relationship or if the project has extended beyond term.