Description

Synopsis

What does it take to build a meaningful legal career in today’s fast-changing world? In this panel discussion, members of IBM’s Legal team will share how their professional journeys have shaped both their growth as lawyers and their personal perspectives.

The specially selected panel brings together lawyers with experience across multiple countries, industries ranging from technology to medical devices and gaming, and career paths that span private practice, the public legal sector, and in-house counsel. The discussion will be jointly moderated by Ajay Dua (Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, IBM) and Genevieve Chia (CFG@Law). Together, they will facilitate a conversation exploring the skills, knowledge, and experiences that make lawyers successful today.

Designed to inspire both undergraduate and postgraduate law students, the session will offer candid advice on navigating the early years of a legal career – from managing upwards to building strong stakeholder relationships – while also shedding light on the international dimensions of legal practice and how global exposure can accelerate development and broaden career horizons.

Do not miss this opportunity to hear directly from IBM’s Legal team on what it means to grow, adapt, and thrive as a lawyer in a global environment.

About the Speakers

Ajay Dua
Vice President & Assistant General Counsel, IBM

Ajay Dua is the General Counsel of IBM Asia Pacific based in Singapore. Ajay has cross jurisdictional experience having worked on a wide variety of matters ranging from contracts, regulatory, compliance, employment, litigation, acquisitions & divestitures, corporate-secretarial, to general advisory matters. Ajay is part of the leadership team in Asia Pacific and advices on strategic matters including responding to regulatory developments. Ajay is focused on building and strengthening a high-performance team which can be a trusted business and legal advisor.

Ajay has previously been the lead counsel of IBM Middle East & Africa based out of Dubai. Ajay joined IBM in India, which is microcosm of global IBM, and led the legal team in India/South Asia. Ajay has negotiated large complex deals, was the lead counsel for IBM’s strategic expansion in Africa and has also worked as part of the IBM development labs.

Prior to joining IBM, Ajay worked with a law firm dealing with matters such as project financing, privatization, foreign investments, acquisitions and general corporate advisory.

Ajay acquired his professional legal qualification in India and is a Qualified Solicitor of England and Wales.

Dom Keegan
Associate General Counsel, IBM Consulting 

Dom is the lead lawyer supporting the IBM Consulting business in APAC and Japan, based in Singapore. He works closely with the IBM Consulting leadership team as a trusted adviser, with a focus on simplifying our legal support, and helping to accelerate our growth in the region.

Dom joined IBM in 2015 and has held various leadership roles in the last 10 years. He was the Regional Counsel for Australia & New Zealand from 2016 to 2019 (based in Melbourne), and subsequently the Regional Counsel for India & South Asia from 2019 to 2021 (based in Melbourne).

From 2021 to 2023, Dom led the Global Markets legal team for the Americas region, and was based in Armonk. In that time, he worked with the team to become more commercially minded in their approach to deals and to focus on closing with speed. He also significantly grew the legal team engagement scores over that period, particularly in the US.

Dom was a key member of the ‘Project DAY’ team responsible for creating and delivering the IBM Deal Academy program in 2024, working closely with the program faculty to create a program to help our lawyers around the world become more comfortable with closing client deals quickly.

Dom is originally from the UK, but now calls Australia home. He is married to Gill and they have 3 young children.

Niki Mark
Senior Legal Counsel, Regional Lead, Investigations & Cybersecurity

Niki joined IBM in May 2022.  Niki is a Senior Legal Counsel and responsible for high risk privileged investigations in JAPAC, and the regional cybersecurity focal.  In these roles, she leads and reviews privileged investigations, gives legal support for high risk/high touch cybersecurity investigations, and provides thought leadership in the investigation and cybersecurity space.  She partners closely with the general legal attorneys, compliance officers, and Senior Business Leaders to support them through the investigation process and design remediation to prevent future occurrences.  Niki is currently leading the Communications Workstream in the Investigation Design Thinking project and on the Outside Counsel committee arranging legal education events.

Niki has been based in Singapore for 12.5 years doing similar roles working for US MNCs under monitorship (at Zimmer Biomet), with reporting obligations under a DPA (at HP, Inc.), was the only compliance person outside of the US covering all aspects of compliance including deal reviews and high-risk investigations in EMEA (at Adobe), and advised on sanctions and money laundering prevention work (at Marina Bay Sands).  Before moving to Singapore, Niki worked as an Investigations Counsel for the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General, was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and a Trial Attorney as part of the Honor’s program in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.

Niki received her JD from the University of Chicago Law School and her BA magna cum laude from Georgetown University.

Lisa Hui
Singapore Country Counsel

Lisa joined IBM in August 2024. Lisa is a Counsel and is based in Singapore. As Singapore Country Counsel, Lisa supports IBM’s business activities in Singapore, reporting to the ASEAN Regional Counsel. This role involves leading negotiations of complex transactions as well as advising on a broad range of issues covering contracts, competition law, dispute management & litigation, management of outside counsel, corporate secretarial, employment, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory, licensing and privacy.

Before IBM, Lisa was in private law practice as a counsel in the Corporate Transactions practice group of Ashurst’s Singapore office. Prior to that, Lisa has worked in other international law firms – Morgan Lewis, K&L Gates and Pinsent Masons. Her experience ranges from Cross Border and Tech M&A, Private Equity, Debt and Equity Capital Markets, High Growth and Venture Capital and Corporate Law.

Lisa earned her Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the National University of Singapore in 2010.

Jishnu Nair
Counsel, ASEAN Compliance Officer

Jishnu Nair is the Compliance Officer for the ASEAN region at IBM, where he leads the deployment of the company’s compliance program across the region. After transitioning from his role as APAC Regulatory Legal Counsel at the end of last year, he now focuses on advancing IBM’s compliance efforts within the dynamic ASEAN markets.

With over nine years of experience at IBM, Jishnu has developed extensive expertise in navigating regulatory challenges, particularly in the areas of privacy, AI, and cybersecurity. In his previous role as Regulatory Legal Counsel for the APAC region, he effectively managed complex regulatory landscapes, ensuring compliance while fostering innovation. Throughout his tenure, he has also held key positions such as APAC Lead Lawyer for cybersecurity incidents, Transactions Lead Lawyer for software and ecosystems in ISA, and TCO for Global Missions in ISA, among others.

Before joining IBM, Jishnu gained valuable experience working at a law firm in India and at Wipro, further strengthening his legal and compliance expertise.