From a Ghanaian Immigrant Community in Germany to Wall Street – Priscilla Bonsu – S5E9

• Priscilla felt lost whilst in Germany and knew she was interested in media, tech, also entertainment.
• Most of this was in California, New York, LA and Atlanta.
• There were so many films being shot in Atlanta.
• There are lots of media and entertainment companies moving from California and Atlanta.
• Priscilla knew she wanted to be in that space.

Where did Priscilla’s strong passion for media stem from?

• The legal profession requires a lot of resilience, also patience and humanity.
• Even the greatest attorneys, the greatest people you have met in your life, do not know everything.
• The legal profession itself is humbling.
• Humility, drive or resilience are the main characteristics or traits you need to succeed in the legal profession.

5 powerful quotes from this episode:

1. “I think it’s important to send the right message, and images around the world because I believe that there are so many more people like that, you know, they see themselves on TV, and then realise, hey, I could actually to the same”.
2. “What matters is that you hold on to what you believe in, you hold on to your idea, and you just keep going”.
3. “…you just have to keep pushing, there will always be people who will say no, there will always be people who will really cool you plans”.
4. “…I think it’s important to just hold on to your original goal and your original vision and plan and just, you know, stick with it”.
5. “… the legal profession requires a lot of resilience, also patience and humanity”.

If you wish to connect with Priscilla, you may reach out to her via this link.

Enjoy the podcast?

Learning more about the exciting world of legal has never been this easy. If you enjoyed today’s episode of the Legally Speaking Podcast, hit subscribe and share it with your friends!

Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your family and friends so they too can learn from one of the top business podcasts.

Have any questions? You can contact me through email (rhanna@kcpartners.co.uk) or find me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening!

Sponsored by Clio: Clio is a legal case management software that work in partnership with the Law Society of England and Wales and is an approved supplier of the Law Society of Scotland.

For more updates and episodes, visit our website and subscribe to our mailing list.  

You may also tune in on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Youtube.

Finally, support us with BuyMeACoffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kcpartners.

To learning more about the exciting world of law, Robert Hanna and the Legally Speaking Podcast Team.

Transcript

00:01 Rob Hanna:

Welcome to the Legally Speaking Podcast. I’m your host Rob Hanna. This week I’m delighted to be joined by Priscilla Bonsu. Priscilla is a lawyer at Wuersch & Gering LLP on Wall Street in New York City providing memoranda on a variety of complex issues to firm’s attorneys who represent domestic and global companies seeking to expand internationally. If that wasn’t impressive enough, since the start of the year, Priscilla has been serving different news channels as a legal commentator. In addition to this, Priscilla previously volunteered at the Atlanta Community Food Bank working on poverty alleviation. So a very, very warm welcome, Priscilla.

00:43 Priscilla Bonsu:

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

00:44 Rob Hanna:

It’s our absolute pleasure to have you on the show. And before we dive into all your amazing achievements, and legal experiences to date, we do have our customary icebreaker question here on the Legally Speaking Podcast, which is on a scale of one to 1010 being very real. What would you rate the hit TV series suits in terms of its reality?

01:04 Priscilla Bonsu:

Oh, that’s a good question. I would probably give it a six.

01:11 Rob Hanna:

That’s a fair fair, it’s a bad answer that’s quite high. And why would you give it a six?

01:15 Priscilla Bonsu:

I would give it a six. Because what’s very real or true about the legal profession is this fight for partnership? Everyone wants to make it. And that’s very big for the show. That’s mainly what happens there. So that’s definitely true. And the rest is just I mean, entertainment. It’s, yeah, that’s it doesn’t really reflect how everything else is but the fight for partnership and making it being a partner track. That’s 100%. True. Yes. There we go.

01:43 Rob Hanna:

Well, I think you justified your answer beautifully. So we will move swiftly on to all about you. So let’s start at the beginning, as we always like to so tell us a bit about your family background and upbringing.

01:56 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, so I was born in the southwest of Germany, it’s a city called Saarbrucken. In a state called Saarland. And my parents are originally from Ghana, West Africa. My father actually sought asylum in Germany. My mother followed him. And yeah, that’s pretty much how it started. That’s the beginning of the story of my family in Germany.

02:22 Rob Hanna:

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing that and giving us that overview. So I previously talked about how you went to or you previously talked about how you went to law school against all odds. So tell us a bit more about this?

02:36 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, so I grew up in a Ghanaian community in the City of Saarbrucken. And I mean, it’s a very, very small community, much larger now than it was when I was a child. And it was just, it never happened. So I was the first one to actually graduate from law school. I wasn’t the first one to get into law school. But the first one to graduate and the whole community was celebrating it was it was a big deal, because we hadn’t seen it. It hadn’t happened. And I mean, I was very happy to make my community extremely happy to see them happy like that. And I received a lot of support from the Ghanians in Saarbrucken. And I still do, I’m still very much in contact with them. And they still support me and push me. But again, it’s a very, very small community overall, but a very loving and warm community.

03:26 Rob Hanna:

Oh, that sounds lovely. And I’m all about community. So I love that you talked about how warm and packed together it is. Okay, so where did the spark for wishing to move into the sort of legal space? Did you always want to be a lawyer?

03:42 Priscilla Bonsu:

That is a good question. So when I was a child, I pretty much wanted to do or be something else every single day. But at one point, I think I was starting to develop an interest in international politics and international relations. And I thought about becoming a diplomat. And then I when I started law school in the city of Heidelberg, at the workplace, Kaduna, visited, I chose public international law as a core subject. I also worked for a World Bank and then for the German Embassy, which I really enjoyed. But I figured that I kind of want to do a little bit more, not just politics or international relations. I wanted to actually deal with the law. I wanted to help shape the law. I wanted to be a part of the whole process of making laws. And so I realized becoming a lawyer is probably the best way to do that. It will give you a lot of options. I can either stay in the international space or move to a more domestic area of law, but I definitely want to actually deal with the law itself.

04:51 Rob Hanna:

Yeah, no. And again, thank you so much for a comprehensive answer. And after law school, you’re admitted to UC Berkeley. What What was that like? And what experiences did that provide you with?

05:05 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, I remember the day that I received the admission email and it was crazy. I just couldn’t believe it. I could not believe it, especially because I think one of my favorite professors at the postcards when he visited in Heidelberg, had also graduated from Berkeley. And so when I got the email, I just couldn’t believe that I was about to go to the same law faculty that he went to, I just felt so honored. And yeah, I mean, I was super excited. I had called my family and everyone was just screaming, it was such a crazy day. And I loved my time at Berkeley, Berkeley Law school is such a great institution. I had such a great time in California, I met so many great people, great jurists from all over the world that I’m still in contact with. And California, and Berkeley overall changed everything for me. Because I have to admit, after I graduated from the EU, place-card universities. And Heidelberg, I was a little lost. I was little lost in terms of what exactly I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, but I had no idea what area of law would be right for me. And when I started my master’s of law program at UC Berkeley, I just I realized immediately that I love corporate law, and I do love tech companies. I love entertainment companies and media companies. So it’s, it had to be something you know, related to to that. And I guess Berkeley kind of opened my eyes and pushed me into the right direction. It was Silicon Valley, I got a chance to go to the Facebook campus, Google campus, I met so many tech attorneys, and I got a chance to go to Los Angeles. So I did speak to someone from Warner Brothers and Universal Studios. It was just amazing. It was just such an amazing experience. And I knew exactly that, you know, corporate attorney for companies like that would be the best. That would sincerely like fulfill me. And so I decided to just continue and work on getting there.

07:16 Rob Hanna:

Yeah. And how impressive that is. And I just want to dive a little bit deeper around that in terms of, you know, why the move from Germany to the US? Was it the profession that inspired you just tell us a little bit more?

07:29 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes. So I had, I had a great life in Germany. So it was it wasn’t, it wasn’t like I was running from anything. It was more again, like I was a bit lost, and I, and knew that I was interested in media, I knew I was interested in tech, I was interested in entertainment. And most of all of this is in California or in the US. So it was either going to be California or was going to be New York, one of the two places. And yeah, I got that opportunity at UC Berkeley in California. But I always had New York in the back of my mind. And also Atlanta, Atlanta as the upcoming. I would say that upcoming la almost, there’s so much happening in Atlanta right now. So many movies being shot. And a lot of companies, media and entertainment companies moving from California to Atlanta. So I knew I just wanted to be in that space. And I found more of that in the US than I did in Germany in particular.

08:29 Rob Hanna

Yeah. And again, thank you so much for a sort of insightful answer. And I can clearly see how driven and passionate you are. And career focus, which is wonderful. And you say that, you know, your your experiences made you decide that you wanted to become a corporate lawyer in America working for media, and entertainment companies. Where did this strong passion for media stemmed from?

08:52 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, I have always been very fascinated by the effect that TV actually has on people. When I grew up in Germany that at that time when I was a child, there just weren’t a lot of people who look like me on TV. So most of this actually came from the US. You don’t have a lot of African American families on TV. I grew up watching The Cosby Show. I grew up watching. It’s a different world. Of course, they all have different titles in Germany, but that those were the shows that I grew up watching. And I remember deciding to go to college and actually going to university because I watched it’s a different world. It was just so exciting to me, that I told my parents, I want to do this one day, I will go to the US and I will go to university just like this. And yeah, I can’t believe that. I actually did it, you know, it started there. And so I because of the effect that it had on me, I kind of want to give back. I want to be a part of that. And I think it’s important to send the right messages. and images around the world because I believe that there are so many more people like that, you know, they see themselves on TV, and then realize, hey, I could actually do the same. It’s, it’s just so fascinating. And I feel like my whole career is actually based on that particular effect, that I just, I just, I’m glued to it. So I just want to be a part of it and help spread the right images to the right messages around the world.

10:28 Rob Hanna

And I love that just positive outlook on things. And I fully support that. And you’ve you recently talked about how you were ridiculed for wanting to become a lawyer. In the US when in Germany, why was that?

10:42 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yeah, unfortunately, there are just way too many people who are not that positive. I wouldn’t say that they are 100% Negative. A lot of them just have doubts. And they’ve never seen it happen, maybe in their own circle. But yes, it happened. I had colleagues who just didn’t support me at all. With my plans, they felt like I was very naive, that I wouldn’t succeed in the US that I would most likely come back and, you know, as a failure, I guess, as a failed lawyer. And yeah, it just happened a lot. I had a lot of naysayers around me. But I had a vision and knew what I wanted. And I was willing to give it my all and I just, you know, had the courage to jump across the Atlantic. And yeah, I’m still standing after four years, and I can’t complain, I would do it again. I really had a great journey, met great people. So yes, you just have to keep pushing, there will always be people who will say no, there will people there will always be people who will really cool your plans. And that’s only because they don’t see it. They don’t have the vision. They do not share the vision and it’s fine. It’s fine. It’s absolutely fine. What matters is that you hold on to what you believe in you hold on to your idea, and you just keep going.

11:59 Rob Hanna:

I couldn’t agree more. I’m a massive advocate for if you get naysayers say thank you and politely just remove them from your life, it’s the best thing you can do. And you can just keep cracking on with your vision. Because your passion is for you. Your purpose is for others and it’s your responsibility to deal with data both. So that leads very nicely on because you were then admitted to I think Emory’s two year Juris Doctor, and during your time here, you are also the recipient of a number of awards, such as the women of Excellence Award. So how did you do that?

12:33 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, so the Emory University has this award. I think it’s comes out every year around graduation. And at one point I was nominated by the Emory community. And then yeah, I received it at graduation. I was very excited about it. I had no idea I didn’t even know about this until I was told that I got elected by the Emory community. So it was a huge honor. And I still I am very excited about it. So very happy and very, very grateful, thankful for everything that Emory has done for me.

13:05 Rob Hanna:

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I love that sort of gratitude that you show because I think you have done a tremendous job. And as I said, throughout, you know, you’re driven, you have this vision, and you deserve all the awards and accolades that you get, but you’re still very gracious in the process. And so from, I think, 2019 to early 2020, you worked at a local firm in Atlanta called Smith, gambrel and Russell, what was that like?

13:28 Priscilla Bonsu:

That was very interesting. It was the very first time that I was actually working in corporate law, because when I was in Germany, I was mainly doing litigation or international arbitration. So when I decided to come to the US, I knew that I wanted to start as a corporate lawyer, that was that was the goal. And so it was entirely different, because now it was in a whole different country, a whole other country, dealing with a common law system, not civili anymore. And it was my first time actually doing corporate laws. So I learned a lot. It was completely I was entirely exposed to a world that I hadn’t been exposed to before. I have great colleagues that I also keep in touch with. And yes, I mean, I was I was very junior, at that time. So it was very, fairly, fairly new, like a new, like a whole Introduction to Corporate Law.

14:23 Rob Hanna:

There we go. But I love the fact you just chucked yourself into it. And, you know, you clearly, you know, did very, very well. And you also received an offer from your current law firm. At the beginning, I think of May 2020. At the time, that was right in the middle of the pandemic. So how did you find that period?

14:43 Priscilla Bonsu:

It was such a such an exciting and weird period. It just came out of nowhere. I I was I was very surprised. Like I stated earlier, New York has always been in the back of my mind and I believe that a lot of international lawyers who are here in the US, I think the majority thinks about going to New York, New York is the that is the place, right for all of us. Where we all feel comfortable, where you have everyone with an accent. Everyone has a different story, and everyone is coming from a different country. And yet we all feel comfortable here in New York. And so when I got that offer, I just, I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that Wall Street was calling. I had to I just again, I had to look over it a million times, I had to refresh the email two times just to make sure that I’m not mistaken or anything. But yes, I, I was hired by my current firm Wuersch & Gering and put right on Wall Street. And I was I’ve been excited ever since I’m working with a great firm. I have a very great team, very great, very helpful colleagues. I just, I couldn’t ask for more.

15:53 Rob Hanna:

Yeah. And again, I love that whole sort of gratitude that you you’re showing right away through our chat, which I’m thoroughly enjoying. And I couldn’t agree more with everything that you’ve been promoting throughout this discussion. And so you obviously successfully landed the job. You’ve talked about how you enjoy your team, and you couldn’t be happier. But could you kind of give us a day in the life? Tell us a bit about what you get up to day to day and what types of clients you work for?

16:17 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, so Wuersch & Gehring is a law firm that focuses on US and international companies. So what we do mainly is we help foreign companies to establish subsidiaries here in the US, and that of the matters that I work on, I actually related to German speaking companies. So a lot of clients from Germany, from Austria, and Switzerland. So this is mainly what I do. So I do a lot of corporate governance, meaning I’m taking care to like housekeeping work for the companies that are registered with us. And, and then pretty much like anything that is necessary if they, if there’s certain agreements that they need, or if they want to merge with a local, US company, we are in charge of that we do that. So it’s very exciting. I love talking to the German speaking business people, the questions that they have, I love answering those, I love explaining to them what the culture is like here what the legal culture is like. And also because I know both I know the German culture and legal culture and the US culture. So it’s, it’s, I kind of serve as an interpreter, I always like to say that it’s more like an interpreter between the two legal system and legal cultures. And I thoroughly enjoy it. It’s very exciting to see what people come up with what ideas they have for the US. And yeah, I’m learning every day. I’m just learning a lot more, and I’m definitely enjoying.

17:47 Rob Hanna:

Good for you. Good for you. And since the beginning of this year, you’ve been a legal commentator for different news channels. So how did this all come about?

17:57 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, so it’s actually kind of funny. I just got a random request from a Nigerian news channel. And they needed someone to comment on the election of Dr. Condry Wella, as the head of the world, the World Bank. It was, it was this, it was such an exciting moment, because I didn’t I did not expect it to. It just came out of nowhere, pretty much. And so I did that. And it was so much fun. I really enjoyed doing it that I was just booked for other discussions. And yeah, we just did it over and over again. And then all of a sudden, there were other topics. And so I said, Okay, why not? And then there was another South African channel and are asking then the Ghanaian channel asking. And so just at the beginning of 2021, that was just pretty much what it was about. It was mainly about Dr. kanji, Wallah. And then so and then other topics followed. But yes, so. So it was I pretty much stumbled into this. It wasn’t planned. It just happened. And so I’ve been doing it ever since. And I really enjoy it.

19:15 Rob Hanna:

Yeah. And I think you do a wonderful job with all the work that you do. And again, that leads on to when you make TV appearances. So can you tell us the types of things you’re usually asked to talk about there?

19:28 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, so I’m focused on international business. My last one was actually about international brand ranking. So it was it was pretty much about the role of European and American brands in Africa, for example, and how things developed over over the pandemic, and which brands are pretty much the most popular on the continent at this point. on the African continent, and the effect of the pandemic on those international brands, or American and European brands, in particular. So it’s it’s it’s just overall business, business topics of all international business topics, sometimes even international trade, I got a chance to talk about different summits or conferences, or the, or trade deals between the UK and Ghana, for example. So very exciting stuff. And I’m sure there’s more coming.

20:34 Rob Hanna:

I’m sure there is. And I’m excited to see it. And so before we look to wrap up, what would you say are the major challenges you’ve had to overcome so far in your legal career?

20:47 Priscilla Bonsu:

Oh, that’s, that’s a good question. Well, I mean, there’s been there’s been a couple of challenges, there’s been a couple of challenges, I think, one was definitely coming to a different country. And trying to make it here, being in a different culture, meeting completely new people, and not having a lot of support. And I think that was probably one of the main things that I can think of. And then yeah, I think always starting from scratch, being in a new area of law, I’m just starting out new learning from scratch. And it just requires a lot of resilience, I think, and ambition, I think it’s important to just hold on to your original goal and your original vision and plan and just, you know, stick with it. And yeah, just keep going.

21:41 Rob Hanna:

Yeah, I love that. And again, what would be as we look to to conclude your key piece of advice to those wanting to have a career in the law.

21:53 Priscilla Bonsu:

I think the key advice is, again, just resilience. I think it requires the legal profession requires a lot of resilience, also patience, and humanity. I think that you military is also very important to understand that you will never feel like you know, everything in law. That’s not possible. No one knows everything. Even the greatest attorneys that you look up to the greatest people that you’ve met in your life, they don’t know everything, they know something in a lot. But they do not know everything. And I think that is very humbling. So the legal profession itself is extremely humbling. And it’s important to deal with that, to understand that and accept it. So yes, humility, drive or resilience. Yeah, I think those are the main the main characteristics or traits you would need to have to succeed in this profession.

22:48 Rob Hanna:

Yeah, again, really sage advice, and I’ve absolutely loved having you on the show and present, I’m sure you would have inspired and really got people motivated to take their careers and just to get started in their legal careers following today. So if people want to follow or get in touch with you about anything we’ve discussed today, what’s the best way for them to do that? Feel free to shout out any web links or relevant social media handles and we’ll also share them with this episode for you too.

23:14 Priscilla Bonsu:

Yes, you can always reach me on my LinkedIn page is Priscilla Bonsu. And you can also reach me on Instagram, the global lawyer is the account that I have there. You can follow me and send me messages. And just anytime I’m always happy to talk to people about the legal profession. If you have any questions, or you need advice, please feel free to reach out. I’m always always happy to talk to people.

23:37 Rob Hanna:

Yeah, and I can definitely sense that following chatting with you today, Priscilla. So thank you. So so much. It’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show and we’re wishing you lots of continued success with your legal career but from all of us on the Legally Speaking Podcast over and out.