A platform built for a moment of transition.

BluStraits is an international legal and regulatory development advisory platform. We work where legal systems shape whether markets function — particularly in emerging and transitional economies.

Mark Walter founded BluStraits to do the work that has anchored his career — helping governments and investors navigate the legal and regulatory environments where markets are actually made — in a moment when the institutional scaffolding for that work is being rebuilt.

An international development lawyer with twenty-five years of experience across more than thirty countries, he has led legal reform and capacity-building programs in partnership with governments, multilateral institutions, and the private sector. He served as Executive Director and CEO of the International Law Institute; directed the USAID US-ATAARI office at the APEC Secretariat in Singapore; was Chief of Party for the USAID-funded WTO Accession Project in Ethiopia, embedded in the Ministry of Trade and Industry; and held senior roles at Nathan Associates and DAI. He holds a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and sits on the Board of Advisers of its Center for International Legal Education.

How we work

BluStraits is not a law firm, and is not trying to be one. It is a deliberately lean advisory platform: international legal and regulatory expertise, comparative analysis, and technology-enabled research, brought to bear on practical, investment-oriented problems. We take on what we can credibly deliver, and bring in partners where the assignment demands deeper local, sectoral, or technical expertise.

That model keeps the work close to the ground. Local knowledge is not something we substitute for — it is something we connect to international standards, investment needs, and comparative best practice.