Humanities Alumni Spotlight:

Alumna Leads Distinguished Career in International Law

Just a few short years into her international law career, Kate Mueller was the only counsel sent by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate with delegates from the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi. Her counterparts, older men outfitted in traditional dress, were surprised to see a young woman, but cultural differences were quickly overcome. During her fours years as assistant general counsel, Kate represented the U.S. in dispute settlement at the World Trade Organization and served as lead lawyer for free trade agreement negotiations with African and Middle East countries.

Now an associate in the real estate group of DLA Piper US LLP in Washington, D.C., Kate applies her negotiating skills and knowledge of the international trading environment to cross-border real estate transactions. She also counsels clients on international trade issues, including market access, U.S. trade agreements and negotiations, customs matters, and export controls.

Kate’s distinguished career was launched by a distinguished undergraduate career at Ohio State. A philosophy major, Kate was mentored by Professor Allan Silverman, who taught her "how to analyze a difficult text and put [her] thoughts into writing clearly and concisely, while passing on not just his respect but his outright enthusiasm for different points of view and different kinds of people. These are truly ‘transferable’ skills that make a humanities degree valuable."

As an undergraduate, Kate conducted research on Immanuel Kant’s moral and political philosophy through a National Endowment for the Humanities Younger Scholar grant and under the guidance of Professor Daniel Farrell. She also studied abroad at the University of Hamburg. Her exceptional scholarship earned her an Outstanding Senior Award, and she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, with Distinction in the Liberal Arts.

She went on to earn a law degree from Harvard where she co-founded the Harvard European Law Association, which planned lectures on European legal topics and encouraged interaction among European and U.S. law students. One summer program took her to Zurich, Switzerland, where she provided language and legal assistance for a Swiss corporate law firm with several American clients.

Kate says her study-abroad experiences gave her "bona fide credentials for applying for jobs with an international component." They also helped her feel more comfortable in all kinds of "foreign" situations and gave her a greater appreciation for the expressive power of language, both of which have made her a better lawyer.