Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our legal department is structured to render strategic and business legal...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The head of the legal department is David Estuardo Portilla Rivera...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals within the department? The legal team is structured into five areas: The legal directorate – which is...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Orlando Zuniga, Legal assistant manager, giving the strategy, the coordination, and...
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What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years? In 2019 the legal team supported Banistmo’s issuance of...
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Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Ivannia Montero is business partner for crop science, seeds and environmental...
BAT’s legal team is a highly experienced group of attorneys with a long track record in the region. The team is headed by Fernando Robles, who has a demonstrated history...
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Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured? We work as one team under a regional service delivery model in which we have commercial lawyers who work and...
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Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Citi’s Central America (CA) legal team is structured with general counsels...
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Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is structured in two divisions formed by three...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Legal manager, Maricel Álvarez Chavarría, is a key leader since he...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? We are divided by the functions we are providing support to...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? We are a ‘hands-on department’, focused on providing direct practical answers...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? We provide legal support and guidance to the business aligned with...
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Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal department that supports DHL Express Central America and Dominican...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Aside from general counsel Central America and the Caribbean Zamira Zapata...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Eli Lilly Latin America is divided into five affiliates: Mexico; Brazil,...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal department is structured with a general counsel, a group...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The FIFCO legal department for our Central American operations consists of...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team in Central America and the Caribbean is very...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our legal team consists of three lawyers, a compliance officer and...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal department of consumer healthcare at the Latin American northern...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The senior manager and six equally-ranked young lawyers of the team...
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The Intel legal team is distinguished by its highly experienced attorneys. The team is characterised by having a strong, deep and detailed knowledge of different and specialised practice areas which...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal and compliance department in Central America and the Caribbean...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? We are currently in a divestiture process and we are only...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Mastercard’s Law, Franchise and Integrity (LFI) team is structured in four...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Melania Calzada and myself are responsible for dealing with all legal...
What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years? We have worked on a number of significant cases...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team senior team is composed with legal regional counsel,...
What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years? Our company’s legal team was invited to join the...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team of the vice presidency of legal affairs of...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is structured in predetermined roles, in which each...
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What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years? In 2017 SUEZ were awarded a contract with the...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team of Scotiabank Dominican Republic is structured as follows:...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our team is small but our culture is characterised by doing...
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Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? As a mega region, there is a division by sub regions...
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our department is structured under three areas that report to Walmart...
Since first being published as The Corporate Counsel 100, The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist series has grown exponentially since its beginnings in 2013. It started by covering four of the world’s most established legal markets, and whilst the core objective of the publication – highlighting the most capable, outstanding and innovative in-house counsel in a jurisdiction – has remained the same, the reach and scope of the GC Powerlist has since become almost unrecognisable. Now present in a vast array of jurisdictions and with a portfolio of 70 unique editions, the GC Powerlist series has gone from strength to strength and has firmly been established as the “go-to” title that assesses and features leading corporate counsel across the globe.
Not content to rest on our laurels, we at The Legal 500 are evolving the GC Powerlist series even further, deepening our commitment to ensuring not only the widest geographical coverage, but to highlight and explore issues and challenges at the forefront of the minds of leading in-house lawyers. Therefore, this and future editions of the GC Powerlist will have a very different look to their predecessors. Instead of profiling individual counsel or in-house legal teams, more incisive insights from in-house thought leaders on the topics of the day will be featured throughout our new look GC Powerlist publications.
This new look entails the publication of Q&A transcripts regarding legal and business challenges, comment pieces on specific industry or regulatory affairs, more detailed analysis as to where the market is heading and content related to soft-skills, work ethic and business relationships that general counsel utilise. This new format will not only provide more thought leadership and insight, but provide more clarity on what is driving legal business forward in each market that we cover.
This brings me to Central America. The Legal 500 has covered the Central American in-house legal market since 2016, which has allowed us to become familiar with the deep pool of in-house legal talent that exists across various industries and levels of seniority within the country. Whether it’s facilitating key company projects, adopting the latest technology to drive efficiencies or adjusting to new laws and regulations, the region is brimming with in-house lawyers and teams who seamlessly adapt with the latest international business developments.
It was our pleasure to speak to and extensively interview counsel based in the region spanning Fortune Global 500 companies, domestic business titans and organisations at the cutting edge of technology and the future of work, each with their own priorities and challenges. I would like to thank our sponsor Arias for supporting this publication. I’d also like to thank our extensive network of law firm partners and in-house counsel in the region whose opinions we canvassed during the course of the research phase. Of course, your feedback is valuable and welcomed, so if there are any comments or suggestions please feel free to get in touch with these.
Last but not least, I would like to congratulate all those featured in this year’s list. Their selection means they have been identified as legal teams who are amongst the standard bearers of the in-house legal profession, and as specialists who confront and manage commercial and legal challenges in a way that marks them as market leaders. They are not only talented legal teams, but instrumental partners to and crucial components of their respective organisations, demonstrably helping them drive success and move business forward.
Rejoice! Congratulations on being named a leader amongst leaders. General counsels (GCs) have been blazing new trails in the legal marketplace for years and it is a testament to your leadership to be named in the GC Powerlist. We praise your extraordinary work and invaluable responsibility to propel the legal profession and we likewise, want to praise your accomplishments. It is a delight for Arias to have the privilege to sponsor this activity that perceives a remarkable gathering of individuals.
Grander Purpose. It is our pleasure to distinguish each and every single one of you because it is your diligent and outstanding work that provides prosperity for your stakeholders and development to the region. This is not a simple job; the role of a general counsel (GC) has developed substantively over the last decade due to increasingly complex regulation, technological advancements and globalisation. We acknowledge that all of you now bring more to the table than just your legal expertise and act as strategic legal and business advisers to the chief executive and executive leadership teams. All of you represent the greatness that arises from individuals operating together for a grander purpose; we appreciate all of you and hope that we can continue to work side by side for the years to come.
The GC Powerlist and Arias, Across Borders. Arias and The Legal 500 GC Powerlist members have had a long relationship. As the first Central American law firm with presence in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, Arias has being adding value to clients with a regional operation since 1998. Arias has grown and excelled just like your companies in the region, our success goes hand in hand; we thank you for your trust.
We are your strategic partners. We relate and feel close to the vision and aspirations of your companies and your teams. We also relate with your teams because we know how hard you work every day, as we are usually your companions in the journey, for seeking better and more efficient and innovative solutions for your legal matters, but also giving you advice every step of the road.
Cheers! We have said this on multiple occasions however we can’t pass up on this chance to express it once more: we feel fortunate to have the chance to work with you, and we trust that you keep on surpassing in your work and life, and that we continue on this path as growth partners.
On March 18th, the Legal 500’s GC Summit: Cyprus 2025 brought together leading legal professionals, in-house counsel, and industry experts for a day of insightful discussions on key legal and regulatory challenges. The event served as a platform for exchanging ideas, examining recent developments, and exploring best practices across various legal disciplines. Held at the Hilton Nicosia, the conference gathered nearly 100 legal professionals, fostering a day of enriching conversations and valuable networking opportunities.
The event was made possible in association with our esteemed partners: Harris Kyriakides, Elias Neocleous & Co and Hadjianastassiou, Ioannides LLC (member of the Deloitte Legal network). With their support, the Legal 500 curated a dynamic agenda featuring four insightful panel discussions, each designed to address pressing issues facing in-house counsel today.
The sessions began with a welcoming address from Francisco Castro, Research Editor at the Legal 500, who emphasised the importance of fostering meaningful dialogue among corporate counsel and strengthening connections within the country’s in-house legal community.
The first panel explored competition law developments, focusing on Cyprus while incorporating perspectives from Greece, the EU, and the UK. Moderated by Michael Kyriakides (Harris Kyriakides), the discussion examined recent M&As, enforcement priorities, and legislative updates affecting businesses. Panellists, including Hara Nikolopoulou (Hellenic Competition Commission), Angelos Stenimachitis (Compass Lexecon), Victoria Mertikopoulou (Kyriakides Georgopoulos), and Eleni Neoptolemou (Harris Kyriakides), provided valuable insights into risk mitigation strategies and compliance best practices. Attendees gained a clearer understanding of how evolving competition laws impact market dynamics and corporate decision-making.
The second session focused on the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and its implications for financial institutions. Panellists discussed whether DORA enhances market resilience or imposes excessive compliance burdens. Moderated by Andrea Kallis Parparinou (Elias Neocleous & Co LLC), the panel featured insights from Emilios Charalambous, Michael Ioannou (both from Elias Neocleous & Co LLC), and Sofia Savva (Societe Generale Bank Cyprus), the latter providing insights from the financial sector. The discussion underscored how organisations can transform compliance obligations into strategic advantages, balancing regulatory adherence with business growth.
The third panel addressed the EU Pay Transparency Directive, emphasising its role in reinforcing equal pay and anti-discrimination principles. The discussion, led by Calliopi Nicolaidou (Hadjianastassiou Ioannides), covered key provisions, potential challenges in transposition, and the business benefits of pay equity. Contributions from Michalis Georgiou (Hadjianastassiou Ioannides), Lena Panayiotou (Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation), and Angeliki Fotopoulou (Coca-Cola HBC Greece & Cyprus) provided practical strategies for integrating compliance with organisational values, highlighting the directive’s far-reaching impact on hiring, compensation, and corporate culture.
The final panel discussion, moderated by Francisco Castro (Legal 500), explored the transformative role of AI in legal departments. Panellists Margarita Malai (GlobalDots), Evgenia Smirnova (TAPCLAP), and Stepan Chplakhyan (Smartcat) discussed how AI is reshaping in-house legal work, the ethical and regulatory complexities of AI adoption, and best practices for leveraging AI-driven tools. The session provided attendees with a roadmap for integrating AI while maintaining compliance and strategic alignment within their organisations.
Francisco Castro concluded the summit by thanking speakers and participants for their contributions, as well as the amazing audience in attendance. He reiterated the importance of ongoing collaboration within the legal community to navigate emerging regulatory and technological challenges effectively. The event wrapped up with an engaging networking lunch, providing attendees with an opportunity to connect and continue discussions in an informal setting.
The GC Summit: Cyprus 2025 successfully brought together industry leaders to discuss pressing legal issues, share expertise, and explore forward-thinking strategies. The discussions reinforced the need for legal professionals to proactively engage with regulatory changes and technological advancements, ensuring that legal departments remain key drivers of business resilience and innovation. The Legal 500 looks forward to returning to Cyprus and further strengthening its relationships with the country’s in-house legal community in the future.
