High hopes

In the first of a new series of personality profiles, International Tax Report speaks to Hope Krebs, partner at Duane Morris in Philadelphia, about her career highlights, hurdles and ambitions to date.

When were you first drawn to the international tax environment and what influenced your decision to pursue it as a career?

I was drawn to international tax fairly early on in my career. I was a new tax associate working in New York City doing mostly domestic merger and acquisition and real-estate work when the recession of the early 90s hit. It hit New York City particularly hard. Seasoned lawyers were concerned about job security. So, as a young tax associate, I began looking for new opportunities. At the time the Wall Street Journal and New York Times were full of articles about companies venturing overseas and vice versa. I decided if I wanted job security, I had to broaden my tax experience to extend beyond US borders – and so I changed law firms to one that had a substantial international client base and ventured into the international tax arena.