How did the coursework and research you did while a student at UCLA prepare you for an international career?
For a career in international business law, US law is important not only for transactions with a direct link to the United States, of which there are many, but also since US investment banks and law firms have been able to impose the English language and US law-based standards on transaction without such direct connections. This is also a reason why LLM studies in the United States are more popular for foreign students than foreign LLM studies are for US students.
Can you speak a little bit about your career and how it has progressed since graduating from UCLA?
After graduation, I started as an associate at a boutique firm with offices in New York and Hamburg. In 1985, I joined a firm that became a “big law” firm. I was at the “German desk,” which first was in New York and Philadelphia and later in Frankfurt. In 1997, I joined a Dutch multinational as head of legal and worked 26 years in Rotterdam and New York. Now I am Of Counsel at the largest law firm in Switzerland in the Zürich office.
What would you say to a UCLA student who is planning on having an international career?
Science and IT don't have strong requirements for foreign language skills, though without them, the students will stay in a "cultural bubble." In legal professions, lack of understanding of other legal systems and languages can limit the lawyer's or scholar's work. This may be fine if the student’s idea is to “spend a couple of years in Paris” and work as an expatriate lawyer limited to such projects, but may not be a good choice if the goal is to work permanently outside the US.
Are you involved in any international UCLA alumni groups or support networks?
I am a mentor to a UCLA Law student.