Karl is a partner in the Tokyo office of A&O Shearman, an international law firm of nearly 4,000 lawyers across 29 countries in 51 offices established on May 1, 2024, by the merger of Allen & Overy LLP and Shearman & Sterling LLP.

Karl has extensive experience representing Japanese investors on major projects around the world in the energy (shale gas/LNG, offshore wind, solar and hydrogen/ammonia) and infrastructure (power generation, shipping and rail) sectors, having worked with numerous trading companies (Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Marubeni), utilities (Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas, Chubu Electric, TEPCO), energy companies (JERA, JAPEX, INPEX) and financial investors (JBIC, Development Bank of Japan, JOGMEC, Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corpoiration (JOIN)) on projects in the US, Canada, Mongolia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Papua Guinea, Australia, India, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Spain, Italy and the UK.

Fluent in Japanese, Karl has been an adjunct professor at the Keio University Law School since 2014 teaching a course on comparative corporate finance.  Karl holds a B.A in economics and Asian studies from the University of Victoria and a J.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.