PROFILES perspective . . . makes the competition just that much more valuable.” Payson also traveled to Ithaca in March 2014 to participate in “Raising the Bar: Careers & Experiences of CLS Alumnae,” an event hosted by the Women’s Law Coalition to allow female Law School graduates to share their experiences. Payson says she welcomed the opportunity to answer tough questions with tough answers. “When you’re coming in the door and you’re a young lawyer, if you want to develop a reputation for yourself . . . and if you want to be perceived as a go-to person, someone who’s dependable and reliable, it may mean you have to work a lot more than others may choose to work,” she told students. “And so when people ask me, ‘Did you have work-life balance?’ I just tell them flat out, ‘I really didn’t in my early years.’ But that was my own call, that was a decision I made.” Payson is similarly blunt with her advice for current Law School students. “Law school is really expensive. It’s too much money and too much debt to go through unless you definitely want to practice law,” she says. “You’ve got to be the master of your own fate. You have to take charge of your own career. Learn the basics. Seek out training and mentors.” And one more thing: “When you graduate, don’t wait too long to get involved with Cornell.” ~IAN MCGULLAM
44
|
FORUM
|
Spring 2015
Takayuki Kihira, LL.M. ’06: Makes Use of a “Global Mind-Set” During the upcoming 2015–16 academic year, Takayuki Kihira, LL.M. ’06, will visit Cornell Law School to teach a course on global M&A transactions. In addition to sharing his experience in cross-border M&A in the United States, Europe, and Asia, Kihira, who lives in Tokyo, hopes to provide students with guidance on Japanese commercial practice, including insight into some of the jurisdiction’s unique corporate culture and governance rules. It was an interest in deepening his own understanding of laws and practices in different jurisdictions that led Kihira to study at Cornell. He had been a practicing M&A lawyer in Japan with Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, one of the few full-service international law firms in the country, for four years when he opted to pursue an LL.M. program in the United States, a common move for Japanese business lawyers. Attracted to Cornell’s beautiful campus, with its surrounding lake and gorges, as well as to the school’s Ivy League stature, Kihira pursued his education at the Law School. In addition to the courses he took in corporate law and securities regulation at Cornell, Kihira distinctly remembers a class on initial public offering (IPO) offered jointly by the Law School and the Johnson School of Management. “The
class focused on the practical aspects of the IPO process, and hence it was very helpful in understanding IPO practice in the U.S.,” he says.
but also various cultures and different styles of communications, to gain the mind-set it takes to become an international lawyer.”
Kihira also notes the value of the LL.M. program’s diversity: “It was a pleasant experience to meet with students from various jurisdictions and cultural backgrounds. It has helped me in communicating with many international clients and also negotiating with counterparties in cross-border transactions.”
After graduating from the Law School, Kihira passed the New York State bar exam and practiced with Shearman & Sterling in New York City. Working with the M&A group and Finance group, he advised many of the firm’s international clients.
He adds, “With increasing globalization, there will be more and more international transactions. In dealing with multijurisdictional issues, lawyers need to communicate and negotiate with a global mind-set. Cornell Law is a great place to learn not only laws
Kihira then returned to Japan and is now a partner at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, where he practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate and securities laws, and international commercial transactions. Kihira has been selected by various media as a recommended lawyer in the corporate