Ms. Barale started her career in Hong Kong with Coudert Brothers in 1980, moving to their Beijing office in 1983, where she worked through July 1989.  She then spent the next four years in the firm's Washington, D.C. office, working with US-based clients on their China projects.

In 1993, she joined the Frankfurt office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where she advised European companies on their China projects through the firm's London, Paris and Frankfurt offices.  In 1996, she moved back to Hong Kong as a partner in the firm, traveling frequently to the Beijing and Shanghai offices.  She retired from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer at the end of 2006 and took up the position of adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center in 2007. She also teaches a seminar each spring at Renmin University Law School in Beijing.