William Terrell
ALUMNI PROFILE | WILLIAM TERRELL (JD ’13) Senior Attorney, FedEx Trade Networks Go to law school, see the world!
That’s the not the typical sales pitch most people would use to sell someone on becoming an attorney, but maybe it’s something more students interested in Memphis Law should consider. Soon after graduating from Memphis Law, Terrell was presented with several opportunities to further his legal career on an international level, and his successful legal journey has since taken him across the world and back home again. Not long after wrapping up at Memphis Law, he went to work as an associate attorney at a local Memphis firm, but an opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom as a Pegasus Scholar with the American Inns of Court presented itself to him, and across the pond he went for a crash course in the English legal system. After his Pegasus program ended, Will came back to the U.S., but soon found himself with a new job taking him back overseas. Soon after returning from London, he heard about an opportunity with FedEx in Dubai and two short months later, Will started
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working for FedEx as an international legal advisor in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where he was responsible for addressing a variety of legal challenges with the TNT/FedEx integration, as well as supporting internal FedEx Express International departments in the Middle East, Africa and the Indian subcontinent. He is now responsible for overseeing the day-to-day legal and regulatory compliance issues for FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage and FedEx Cross Border business units, under the FedEx Logistics, Inc. umbrella. His advice for the law student looking to work internationally: “Don’t be afraid to take risks. I would start by studying abroad, preferably U.K. law. Outside of America, most of the world adopted the British legal system. If you have a working knowledge of British law, you increase your chances of working in an international center like Dubai, Hong Kong or Singapore. I encourage all law students to have an open mindset. The experiences I had in Dubai were life-changing and I will remember them forever.”
