After more than four decades of practicing law, much of it involving multinational companies and cross-border transactions, I have come to believe that some of the most valuable lessons a lawyer can learn are not taught in law school—or even necessarily in a law firm. They are learned inside the business. Before entering private practice, I had the privilege of spending a significant part of my career as an in-house lawyer with major multinational companies, beginning with Shell and Hershey Foods and later serving in senior legal leadership roles with Dole Food Company and Nissan North America. Those experiences fundamentally shaped the lawyer I eventually became in private practice. They taught me something deceptively simple: A technically correct legal answer is not necessarily a useful business answer. And for companies operating internationally, that distinction can be crucial.
