As a non-lawyer near the top of the hierarchy at a Fortune 1000 legal department, Peter Gavrushenko is an odd duck–at least in the European Union.

Indeed, when Lausanne-based Philip Morris International (PMI) installed Gavrushenko as director of legal services in October with strategic responsibility for budget, planning, training and technology, a European legal magazine hailed the appointment as an “innovative new model” for in-house legal teams.