93: Arthur Mitchell, Senior Advisor, White & Case

<p>Arthur Mitchell is a Senior Advisor at White & Case in Tokyo. White & Case is a global law firm with a global presence. White & Case is just over 120 years old, having started in 1901, it has progressed to the global firm it is today and serves clients worldwide. Mr. Mitchell has a long history with Japan. He has been in Japan for 54 years. Mr. Mitchell came to Japan when he was 14 years old for a short trip, again when he was 17 and a few years later again as a third-year exchange student in college. After this exchange, he returned to the US, to complete his undergraduate studies at the University of Berkeley and went on to Harvard University for Law School. After Law School, in the US it is typical to get hired at a firm that you did an internship in a previous summer, but Mr. Mitchell didn’t want to work immediately after graduation, so he decided to take up a Fellowship at Kyoto University.</p> <p> </p> <p>Mr. Mitchell is getting the sense that there are innovative things going on in Japan. He is seeing that the young people are not necessarily aspiring for government roles or large corporate roles, they are aspiring for more entrepreneurial roles or ventures. Speaking from the perspective of law, he says that the law usually changes with innovation. He is seeing from the 2 companies, where he serves on the board, that the senior management is seriously considering moving towards digital transformation and innovation. Mr. Mitchell not only relies on younger staff within his firm, but also young friends outside the firm to help him further understand technological innovation.</p> <p> </p> <p>Mr. Mitchell explains some of the things that he has been doing to improve engagement with his employees. Before COVID they used to have in-person seminars, this moved to online webinars, but these leave very little room for personal interaction. Typically for more complex matters, the best way is to sit in a conference room, use a whiteboard and have back and forth discussions, but COVID has made this very difficult a