The Catherine O’Connell blog
Keep up with the latest news about doing business in Japan on the Catherine O’Connell Blog!


Lawyer Learnings Log #6 - Smooth Seas Don't Make Skillful Sailors ⚓️
2020 has been a tough year. but as they say “Rough seas reveal the true character of a person.” Read more here…

I'm doing the Unbreakable 90-day Focus Challenge 💥
Gaining back control for the rest of 2020 - one small but essential business to do item a day for 90 days.

Gold Medal 🥇Legal Checklist for Startups - FEW Career Strategies Seminar 2020 presentation
I’m presenting at FEW Japan’s signature event of the year "Bold is Gold Careers Strategy Seminar. I’ll be presenting my 10 Step Gold Medal Legal Checklist for Startups …

Lawyer Learnings Log #5 - Doubt whom you will, but never yourself!
Running my own business has its ups & downs. Part of being a #lawpreneur(legal entrepreneur) is riding through the turbulence. But it’s easy to let a negative emotion creep in & take over real estate in my head if things are not going well…. Read more here …

Thinking Outside the Lawyer Box 🎁 - Olga V Mack
“I am grateful for the first law firm employer to hire me after my first career in tourism. They could see that would leverage client intake, even though at the time I didn't make that link in my brain myself. I'm also indebted to my second corporate in-house job as a legal department leader, who hired me in Sydney for a job in Tokyo when I had no in-house experience. He saw more potential in me beyond my Japanese language skills….” Read more here…

Japan Law Awards 2020 - Award night excitement! 💥
Waiting for the online Japan Law Awards 2020 Event to start…

Finalist comments for the Law Awards 2020
We found there were even silver-linings to the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of helping clients do projects they had put aside, and assisting them get to grips with remote working x Zoom. Read more here …


RIP Ruth Bader Ginsburg - there will be no one like you ever again
“She was an unlikely pioneer, a diminutive and shy woman, whose soft voice and large glasses hid an intellect and attitude that, as one colleague put it, was "tough as nails."

Lawyer Learnings Log #4 - Pivoting "I wish" to "I will"
“I wish” is a passive way of going through one’s life. In the last few weeks, I’ve made a conscious effort to tweak just two actions a day and move from the passive “I wish”, to the action-based “I will”. Read more here …

Lawyer Learnings Log #3 - Habits and an Unlikely Alliance
I thought I had nothing in common with new Prime Minister of Japan Suga san. But strangely I am finding a sudden #alliance with him because I too am striving for this dedication to an exercise routine, and focus on health and wellbeing. Read more here…
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”