Editor’s note: This is part of a series of Q&As with leading women in the legal profession, in honor of National Women’s History Month. They were conducted and written by the legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa.

Barbara Levi Mager, general counsel and global head of legal at Sandoz, studied law in Italy. She was interested in an international career, though she never studied English when she was in school. “I had a friend in New York who worked at a law firm that was looking for international people,” she says. “They needed someone to spend six months doing document review for a major litigation. I took the opportunity and moved to the U.S. for six months.” She ended up staying in the U.S. for eight years, learning English, taking an LL.M. in banking, corporate and finance law at the Fordham University School of Law, passing the New York bar exam and working for several law firms in the city. It was right after September 11 and not the best time to look for a job, but she wanted a new challenge, so she thought about moving back to Europe and working in-house. She received an offer from Sandoz, a Novartis Division, which was headquartered in Vienna. She took a very junior role even though she was a senior associate at the law firm. Today, she is the general counsel of Sandoz, leading the legal and IP departments with more than 250 associates. She has made her way up through the ranks of Sandoz and Novartis Pharma, holding many different positions, including compliance regional general counsel; head of legal for technical operations; head of legal for business development; and head of legal for product strategy and global franchises.

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