“A unicorn in a field of horses”: The globetrotting lawyer who has made her case on four continents

From Milan to London, New York to Sydney, and now Shanghai, discover how a relentless drive for reinvention made Rossana Bellina an in-demand global legal powerhouse.

When Rossana Bellina moved to Shanghai, she encountered a city living firmly in the future. Cash was obsolete. Credit cards were practically vintage. She unlocked her front door with a fingerprint. Yet, the most jarring adjustment was not the technology. It was stepping into the offices of Zhong Lun, a top-tier Chinese law firm founded in 1993 that, for 33 years, had never hired a non-Chinese professional.

Until her. Bellina is right at home.

Speaking with the Shanghai sun peeking over her shoulder, Bellina’s Italian accent is staccato and melodic. It is the Friday of a “long” week, yet Bellina is winningly engaging, as if a deal depends on it. “I am an ambitious person,” Bellina says. “Competitive with myself, and I do not like to be flat.” In fact, her career has moved at a breakneck pace and shows no signs of slowing down.

Bellina is an internationally admitted finance and M&A lawyer who has spent two decades building a career that defies the traditional boundaries of global corporate law. From her hometown to London, New York to Sydney, and now Shanghai, she has orchestrated complex cross-border transactions across the globe. Despite all the dizzying passport stamping, Bellina prides herself on never “just passing through”. Instead, she is committed to a philosophy of absolute cultural immersion.

“When you go to a new country, you have a choice. You can be an expat, or you can be an immigrant,” Bellina says. “If you go as an expat, yes, you live in a foreign country, but in reality, you only associate with people of the same nationality or other foreign people. You are looking at the people living in this foreign country as if you are watching a movie. You are ultimately just an outsider.”

While many professionals build international careers through short-term assignments or transactional exposure, Bellina’s trajectory is fundamentally different. Her international career was not built on business trips, isolated mandates or one-off cross-border deals. It was built through long-term presence, local credibility and cultural commitment. In each move, Bellina quickly works to establish insider knowledge and “integrate”. 

In Australia, for example, she joined eight boards and committees in addition to her main job. “When working closely with local business leaders,” Bellina says. “You understand how they take a break, how they write emails, and how they run a meeting. You can really understand this only if you work daily in the United States, Greater China, Australia or Europe.” 

The technical foundation supporting that philosophy is staggering. Bellina trained and re-qualified across Italy, the United States and Australia, earning top academic distinctions while navigating the high-pressure environments of elite global firms.

Her career took off in Milan at the English law firm Simmons & Simmons, before she transitioned to the global powerhouse Shearman & Sterling, working between its London and New York offices. New York, she said, “raised her bar”, transforming her from a “humble Italian” lawyer into a versatile, competitive dealmaker. 

She thrived in the “competitive” yet cordial atmosphere of Sydney as Special Counsel at MinterEllison, and continues to pursue philanthropic endeavours in Australia, including as a board member of the Sydney FC Foundation. If not for a nagging urge to continue to challenge herself, she may still be on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

“When you think you are the best in the room, then you have a problem. You have to change,” Bellina says. “That is a constant in my life, and I think it is the constant of every ambitious person. You start something, and it is scary, difficult, and a big challenge. Then you work through it, you understand how it goes, you improve, and you become good at it. Then suddenly, it becomes less of a challenge. Therefore, I say, what is next?”

At least part of this eagerness to accept the next challenge is to give her children a worldly view. “I do it first and foremost for myself, but I also do it for my family,” Bellina says. “I have two little kids, a five-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. I want to set an example, as a woman. I want my children to understand that things do not just fall from the sky, and you have to work for them. Ultimately, my husband and I built everything by ourselves. The kids are loving school in Shanghai.”

Their father, Bellina’s husband, is German-American, and the American-born children already speak English, Italian, and German and are now learning Mandarin. It is an enviable, cosmopolitan lifestyle, but Bellina says it comes with plenty of challenges. With each cross-continent relocation, she sacrifices the comfort and reputation she built in the previous market.

“Every time I move to a new country and start a new job, it is extremely risky,” Bellina says. “You always have to work twice as hard. The key is to keep a positive approach, put in the work, and try to understand the dynamics. They always say, ‘A winner is just a loser who tried one more time.’ You cannot let the challenges pull you down.”

“If you are Australian and want to acquire a property or a business in Europe, the United States or China, I understand you because I know how Australians think about investment, risk, and value. But I also know how the other side thinks. All lawyers in big law are amazing, excellent lawyers, but I can help you beyond the technicalities.” 

In Italian, Bellina is: “Un unicorno in un campo di cavalli.” In English: “A unicorn in a field of horses.” To translate that into Mandarin, we will have to ask the kids.

On this Friday night, they are attending a Lunar New Year festival. Bellina will leave her keys, credit cards and cash at home. After all, she is in Shanghai to stay. For now.