Ute Krudewagen

Krudewagen is co-chair of the DLA Piper US international labor and employment subgroup and a member of the firm's executive and policy committees. She focuses her practice exclusively on global labor and employment law issues.

"I don't litigate," she said. "My practice is transactional and counseling."

She cited as an example her work representing a global corporation operating in a multitude of countries. When the company announced it would spin off a subsidiary, Krudewagen swung into action, overseeing the global employment aspects of the carve-out transaction. The deal is said to be worth more than $2 billion.

"This is still unfolding, so details are not fully available," she said, declining to name the client due to the sensitive nature of the ongoing maneuver. "In a carve-out, you move the employees to a new business. Part of doing that is that we need to determine what local rules govern each employee."

The transaction spans more than 50 jurisdictions across the world."It's a pretty elaborate transfer process that takes place," she said.

DLA Piper's multinational presence, with offices in more than 40 countries, is key to helping it happen, she said. "I work with our lawyers in the UK and Italy, plus Brazil, Argentina, the UAE and Saudi Arabia," she said. "There's also Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago. For me, there's not really a lot of travel. I am at the center point."

Krudewagen and her DLA Piper colleagues represent Synopsys Inc. in labor and employment matters in more than 30 jurisdictions worldwide. Issues include global overtime compliance, global contingent worker compliance, global flexible work arrangements and global policies compliance.

Also, Krudewagen's team represents Austin, Texas-based Silicon Laboratories Inc. in global labor and employment aspects of its $282 million acquisition of Sigma Designs Inc., which builds system-on-a-chip semiconductors. She provides employment and employee benefits advice in multiple jurisdictions worldwide.

And she represents the Coca-Cola Co. on numerous acquisitions around the world, including the $125 million sale of a Guatemala-based Coke bottler and distributor to Mexico-based Coca-Cola FEMSA S.A.B. de C.V., the world's largest Coke bottler. She also helped Coca-Cola in its $142 million acquisition of the equity interests in Anheuser-Busch Inbev's non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage business in Zambia, among other deals.

It can be hectic work. "It's absolutely crazy, like juggling 55 balls at once," Krudewagen said. "Fortunately, I have a lot of people helping me to try not to drop them."

-- John Roemer