Building an International Corporate Law Career with Priscilla Bonsu

Welcome to Studying Law Around the World. I'm Claudio Claus. In each episode, I talk with lawyers, law students, and professors from different parts of the world to talk about legal education, careers, and what the profession looks like in real life. We talk about the hard parts, the surprises, and the decisions that shaped their paths. Whether you're planning to study abroad, thinking about working in another legal system, or just curious about how law works around the world, this podcast is for you. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Studying Law. Today I have the opportunity to host Priscilla Boozoo. She has a very interesting story. She's studied law in Germany. She studied both at UC Berkeley and Emory University in the US and is now working in very interesting deals in the US and also with cross-border deals, including Canada and the US So I'm very excited to chat a little bit about her story and her career. Thank you so much for joining us today, Priscilla. Absolutely. Thank you so much Claudia for having me. This is so exciting. Thank you. Thank you. And just start over conversation. I'd love to dive into a little bit about your story. Yeah, sure. So my name is Priscilla. Hey, families originally from Ghana, Africa, and I was born and raised in Germany, were up there and went to law school at Heidelberg University in Germany where I focused on obviously German laws, like the main course, the main class that we have to take, but we could focus and like choose specializations. And so I chose public international law while I was enrolled at Heidelberg. And I also worked for the Max Planck Institute as a law student at the time, focusing on public international law. At that time, I thought I was going to be a diplomat. For some reason, I thought I would move to Berlin and be a diplomat and then, you know, move around the world. For that reason, I actually did an internship at the German Embassy in Washington, DC. That was the law student at Heidelberg. I did that for about 3 months, which was very interesting. I learned a lot that's to see a lot. Sort of came back and graduated and then pretty much I was set on an LM. I knew I wanted to come back to the US and actually learn about the US legal system. So I was admitted to UC Berkeley. So I flew all the way from Frankfurt at that time. That was my first straight flight to San Francisco, which was like I think 14 hours nonstop flight. And I, I did a accelerated Jalen program there over 2 consecutive summers. So altogether 6 months the, I graduated, went back to Germany and realized, OK, if I do want to be an attorney, it has to be in the US. I enjoyed it so much. I would love to come back and actually be, you know, AUS attorney that I saw. I was pretty much done with the German system after graduating from a Heidelberg University. And I realized also that with the yellow lamp itself, it's very difficult to sort of get an opportunity. And I knew that the JD degree, that is the classic US degree and that sort of is what everybody has. And I think that would have, you know, at that time I thought it would improve my marketability or my chances to, you know, get an opportunity. So I looked around and I came across Emory University in Atlanta, GA, which had a two year JD program for foreign attorneys. And I thought, OK, like, why not do this instead of like going back to law school and doing a full 3 year program. And so I applied and I got in and I ended up in Atlanta, GA. I did a two year program there. And after I graduated, I started out at a firm in Atlanta. And from there the pandemic started. I was actually already, yeah, it was 2020. And then I ended up in New York City and I have been in the state of New York ever since. It's been five years since I have been incorporated in the state of New York. And I have never deviated from corporate. I really enjoy it. I, I love the fact that I chose corporate. Before that I was more in like international arbitration back in Europe. But when I came to the US, I was so set on business law, corporate law annual. Exactly. That is exactly what I want to do and I've been doing it ever since. That's that's quite the story. I love hearing it. And I really, it was really nice to know that you came to know your passions as time went along. It's been one of the very, very interesting things to listen to stories in this podcast is it's to see builders. Definitely a group of lawyers that are kind of grew up thinking, Hey, I want you to do law and I want to work with this area of law. And then I would say another group that kind of learns along the way and they're like, I started law school loving criminal law, but then I realized that working with criminal law was a lot harder than it seemed. Anyways, it was just very interesting to see, you know, the different ways that people come to find their passions and and corporate is I'm also curious to know if there were, you know, really big shocks are are hard legal or cultural adjustments that you have to that you had to go through when you were moving from, you know, a civil law jurisdiction into a more of a common law jurisdiction. Yeah, absolutely. Actually, I think the hardest part was to actually let go of the civil law system and completely open yourself up for the common law system, because I didn't know anything else but the civil law system. So usually in a situation like that, you sort of hold on to what you know and you try to approach the new thing with the approach that you had for the old thing. So it was hard for me in the beginning to sort of just let go and just completely do what needs to be done for the common law system and totally approach it the way it needs to be approached because I just didn't know that approach. I wasn't sort of familiar with it. And yeah, so whenever panic set in, it would just be like, why isn't it like that? And why isn't, you know, I would just try to look at it from a civil or perspective. But after a while, you start to get more comfortable with it and things like that. It's really just a matter of time and until you get comfortable enough to actually just do what needs to be done for the common law system. So I think that was one of the lessons that I learned. And I think it's it's an important one because I think you can only go wrong if you approach the common law system like the civil law system and vice versa. Those are two separate cultures, completely different cultures, just like countries. You know, you wouldn't wanna do certain things in one country and do the same thing and others. You, you just don't do that, even though it's tough and it's, it's difficult for someone who's coming from a different culture. Still, while you'll get used to it. So also be kind to yourself. Everything is really just a time and matter of time. So after a while, you get used to it. And then you, you, you feel more familiar with it and you know, everything will just flow eventually. But in the beginning, of course, it's, it's very hard. It's very difficult if that's the only thing you know and you don't know anything else. Yeah. Absolutely. I loved, really loved hearing that they're kind of building on that experience as well and and considering the work you build and what you do these days. So I understand you. You work with corporate and then private equity venture capital. What's the world lesson that you learned about how deals get done in this international setting? I realized, I mean, everything was teamwork. I have a great team, lots of folks, lots of attorneys on one team and we all sort of work together. It's not a one person or one man show, honestly. It's really knowing everyone, you know, sort of sharing the work and delegating and you know, being able to rely on each other and being able to reach out to each other. Like, hey, I have this question, or can you help me with this? Or, you know, would you be able to take over that part? You know, as I'm doing something else, I think it's very important to sort of have a group of people around and also learning how to be a teammate, how to engage within a team, then how to work together as a team. Because these, the deals get bigger and bigger, like super large and complex sometimes. And I've never seen one person being able to do everything at the same time, Especially in law firms where you're working on a number of matters, a number of deals, It's very quick. Like it happens very quickly that, you know, you forget things or you won't catch certain things. So you literally depend on your team. You're literally depend on everybody else around you. And you spend a lot of time together, whether physically you spend time together or by e-mail, you know, virtual, but it's a lot of meetings, a lot of emails, a lot of putting our heads together, even internal meetings and calls just to structure, like plan the structure or strategize and things like that. So you spend a lot of time with your teammates. And I think one of the lessons is exactly that knowing how to be a good team player, you know, how to understand people and also time management. I believe it's, I'm still working on that, to be honest. I'm not perfect at it, but I think time management is also very important to make sure that you're not over promising and then under delivering because people rely on you, people trust you, people expect you to sort of, you know, do exactly what you promised you would do. And yeah, so it's, again, it's teamwork. And so you have to know yourself. You have to know what you're capable of, whether you'll be able to deliver certain things at a certain time or not. Communications obviously also very important. And yeah, so those are, I think those are the essential things that are important. For sure. And I also saw that you serve as a Co chair in one of the committees for the American Bar Association. I'd love to hear what that experience has been like for you and also what Roe has, you know, interacting with other lawyers and being really with peers in the profession has played in your own career. Has learned a lot, actually. We are a group of corporate attorneys from literally all over the world seem to talk to corporate lawyers from Asia, from Latin America, from Africa, Europe. It's very, it's a very diverse sort of group, a very diverse committee altogether. And it's again, very interesting to hear everybody's approach, what people do here and there, what their priorities are, things they do, things they do not do. I have enjoyed being in the ABA tickle in the in international section. I've met a lot of people from again, all over the world and I've had, you know, you have a lot in common. It's, it's interesting to see, you know, how, you know, you meet people from all over the world and realize that, hey, you know, I think the same way. I have the same, you know, I had the same thought about this and it's kind of cool to meet somebody from the other side of the world actually had the same thought, you know, things like that. So I, I really have always enjoyed like an international environment, a particularly my LM. And that's, that was the first time that I was in a very international environment. And I realized that I thrive in those spaces. And, and so that is another reason why I decided to do the World Bank training ship because again, it was my favorite environment, like everyone from all over the world. And we're all working together and learning from each other. And, you know, I grew a lot during that time. And yeah, it's the same for the ABA. It's, it's been very exciting. It's been, Yeah, just very interesting. And I've grown a lot from being a member of the international section of the. Yeah, fantastic. I also saw that you've been featured on the BBC before, and I wanted to hear about, you know, how did this opportunity come about? And also, how have you learned about communicating law to a wider audience that is not necessarily trained in law? Yeah. So I have always been interested in journalism, to be honest. It's always been sort of like a law slash journalism thing that at that time when I was in high school, educated high school, there weren't really like a lot of, I would say like international channels or, you know, place anything where I could have done any of this. So I sort of locked it away and just focused on law. And when the pandemic happened, that was the first time that I kind of thought, OK, maybe I should sort of consider it now because people were now sort of like tuning in gradually and you could literally be anywhere in the world and still sort of contribute and be a commentator. And I thought this is the perfect opportunity for me to sort of combine the two and finally be an attorney, but also be in media and sort of serve as an as a journalist by just commentating on certain or providing comments on certain legal issues. And so that is pretty much how it started. I started off at a few African news channels from Nigeria, from South Africa, from Ghana. And then I sort of came in contact with BBC Africa. And that was also around the time when the Twitter deal happened and when Twitter shut down it's office in Ghana. So that was the first time that I was on BBC just to comment on the effects of them shutting down that office in Ghana. So it's been, yeah, it's been very exciting. I've really enjoyed being a legal commentator or legal analyst on these news channels. And next month, interestingly, I'm going to be on CNN for the first time. So that has always been a dream. So we'll see how it goes. But it's it's finally here, so I'm excited about that. I'm glad that I got the chance to interview you here in in this capacity as well. Something that I always try to ask our guests because I'm cognizant of who my audience is here. And there's a lot of pre law students and an early career professionals rider, you know, going to law school right now or going through revalidation or credentials in a different country or you know, early career professionals in general, but they definitely dream with working internationally or in cross-border corporate law. That's what I've heard from people who have reached out to me, and I always try to ask my guests, what are a few pieces of advice that you give, you know, whether it be something that you wish you knew from the start or that you would have told your younger self, or maybe even some practical steps that you might suggest for whoever wants to get into this kind of career. Yeah, I think location is very important, but to be honest, for international careers, so it's really about making sacrifices, I guess moving to those places and everything is about positioning yourself, I think, and marketing yourself. And if, you know you want to do like international work, I think there are certain places where you could find that international work and you have to just be willing to go there and maybe move there and actually live there and do a lot of networking too. I think there's so many international communities where you could find that kind of work you want to do. You can and people who have been doing that kind of work and you can find mentors, you can find sponsors in those communities. So I think networking is very important. It's being in touch with people who can help you. And then also again, just being where the work is. So physically being there and um, yeah, positioning yourself right, just to make sure that you are being seen, that you are actually getting that opportunity that you're waiting on, looking for. And then also being patient, you know, because I also struggle with that because sometimes I get too excited. It's like, why is it not happening? I need it now. I needed to happen now, you know? So patience is very important. And yeah, same open minded as well as you're being patient, you know, there might be other options and one opportunity can lead to another. It might not be directly what you want, but it can lead you to, you know, where you want to be, what exactly you want to do. So I think that would be my advice. Amazing cheer up of today's episode. I wanted to ask you, if you look back on your career so far, was there are moments that that you pause and think This is why I chose this path. Yes, there were actually a few moments where I felt like I've actually accomplished what I was looking for. For example, when that happened would be BC I was like, wow, this is a moment. This is exactly what I wanted to do years ago when I was a kid, when I was living overseas in Europe, you know? So here's the opportunity, finally, a licensed attorney who's on TV with a journalist and talking to the audience and explaining the law. You know, that was an amazing moment for me that I felt like, no, I'm definitely doing the right thing. I'm definitely on the right path. But also they're just smaller moments. Even, you know, in a even during a stressful day where you just sort of like working on this huge transaction and all of a sudden you have these ideas like, oh, maybe we should do it this way and that way. And then it's like, am I really doing this? What's this really? Is this me? Then you feel like, OK, no, this is exactly what I should be doing. I feel like I'm on the right track. This is the path because why is it coming naturally that I'm literally sitting here and I'm, you know, it's just working. It works, you know. So, yeah, those those there are few moments like that so and a feels great, yeah. Amazing. Well, I wanted to thank you once again for taking the time to being in the podcast for today and sharing a little more about your story. I hope that this may be just the first conversation of miniature. Come absolutely. Thank you so much for having me, Claudia. Really appreciate. It and thank you all for tuning into today's episode and we'll see you on the next one.