Formerly in house at Telemar Norte Leste, Adriano Marcelo Baptista has been general counsel at CELPE, the power concessionaire for the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, since 2005. ‘It’s an incredibly...

‘An up-and-coming figure of genuine talent and with real push’, Alberto José Alcalá moved in house at Empresas Polar in 2004 where he gained invaluable industry experience before being appointed...

Formerly at The Legal 500 recommended firm Mijares, Angoitia, Cortes y Fuentes, Alejandro Cantú Jiménez is general counsel at América Móvil, Mexico’s largest mobile phone telecommunications company. ‘A very close...

‘An outstanding in-house counsel’ who ‘not only excels in the theory of law but also on the practical side’, country counsel for JPMorgan (Chile), Alejandro Rubilar also has responsibility for...

‘Accessible, creative and easy to work with’ Alexandra Bandeira is an up-and-coming figure who has been assistant general counsel at Brazil’s Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) since 2008. Her role has...

As general counsel of Corp Group, one of Chile’s major economic holdings, Alvaro Barriga directs an immediate team of three lawyers, but also, depending upon the matter in hand, works...

‘An excellent in-house lawyer who focuses rapidly on the key issues and is always an aid to her external counsel’, Ana Carina Turco is head of legal at Perez Companc...

Ana Carolina de Salles Freire spent over 15 years at leading law firm TozziniFreire, latterly as a partner, before moving in house at AES Brasil, initially as legal director, and...

A former senior manager in the law department at Coopers & Lybrand Madrid, Antonio Vazquez moved in-house at Kraft as director of legal and corporate affairs for the Iberian Peninsula...

General counsel at Total Austral, the French hydrocarbons giant’s Argentine subsidiary, Arturo Pera directs a nine-strong legal team comprising four lawyers and five contracts specialists. His tenure in the post...

‘Dealing with a very political and volatile Latin America, where protectionism and exchange-rate fluctuation can create complex legal disputes that are expensive for the companies that operate here is a...

Carlos Alberto Mechetti has been at publicly-traded, multinational retail company Cencosud for almost 20 years and has been the company’s general counsel since 1999. As such he has been the...

‘Intelligent and a great team player’, Carlos Henao is general counsel of Grupo Éxito, Colombia’s largest retail group. Also responsible for corporate matters, since his arrival he has overhauled the...

With extensive experience in private practice at a number of Argentine firms between 1996 and 2003, Carlos Lanardonne moved in-house at Empresa Nobleza-Piccardo as senior head of legal affairs for...

Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Carlos González is vice president and chief M&A counsel for Prudential Insurance. With an impressive private practice career, first at White & Case,...

Having begun her in house career at family-owned forestry group, Maderas Condor, Carolina Carrasco-Acuña has been counsel at the Chilean subsidiary of French multinational conglomerate ALSTOM for 11 years. Since...

Cristina Lloreda became vice president for legal affairs at holding company Sanford Management, where she handles the legal requirements of a portfolio of 15 companies, in May 2013. Having begun...

‘Dynamic and capable’ and with ‘an extensive knowledge of telecommunications’ Daniel Mora worked at Compañia Anonima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela (CANTV), before moving to Global Crossing (today Level 3 Communications)...

Assistant general counsel at América Móvil since 2001 (when the company was spun off from former parent, Telmex), Daniel Tapia directly manages a sizeable team of 36, and has18 legal...

With experience in both private practice and the public sector (notably as director general of legal affairs at the Ministry of the Presidency), Daniel Urbina moved in-house in 2000, occupying...

Daphne Zagal held in-house positions at Suez Energy (Peru) and Shell (Peru), before arriving as head of legal and compliance at pension fund manager AFP Intergra in 2006. Late in...

General counsel of the Latin American operations of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), the Macquarie Group’s alternative asset management business, David Handelsmann is ‘a dealmaker in every sense of...

Chief legal counsel for Latin America at global market analysis behemoth, The Nielsen Company, Denise Guillén’s responsibilities cover 18 countries. Since her arrival at the company three years ago, she...

Head legal counsel at AviancaTaca since 2012, Desirée Orsini has played a significant role in the growth of the Peruvian airline industry. Formerly chief counsel at Lan Perú for over...

With an MBA in banking and finance as well as an LLM in international business law, Edgar Trueba has over ten years in-house in the financial sector, initially at Banco...

In the dismal financial scenario resulting from the 2008 financial crisis, the decision by Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico to pursue a dual listing (in both the US and Mexico), in...

Eduardo Gedeon has been with leading Brazilian construction group, Odebrecht, for 25 years, during which time he has worked with a number of the group’s 14 different business units, such...

Formerly a member of the capital markets team at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Eileen Shin moved in-house at JPMorgan in 2007. She is currently executive director and assistant general counsel...

After approaching ten years in private practice, Eliana Crisafio moved in-house as regional head of legal affairs and compliance at pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim in 2007, before being appointed head...

Adecoagro’s chief legal officer for Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, Emilio Gnecco has been a member of the company’s senior management since 2005. Formerly in private practice at The Legal 500...

Formerly in the public sector, first as general counsel of government investment bank COFIDE and then as legal superintendent at Peru’s banking regulatory body, the Superintendence of Banking, Insurance and Pension Funds (SBS),...

‘In today’s world, being a corporate counsel in the Latin American region is an enormous challenge’, observes Esteban Mazzucco, currently legal director for Latin America at specialised agrochemicals company Syngenta,...

Formerly head of the litigation department at Barretto Ferreira, Kujawski, Brancher e Gonçalves Advogados, Fabiana Siviero has been legal director at Google Brasil Internet since 2008. ‘It’s exciting to work...

Appointed legal director of Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Janssen Cilag Pharmaceutical in February 2014, Felipe Alves was previously legal director of the parent group’s consumer division. He regards his most...

Formerly at Coca-Cola FEMSA, where he was general counsel with responsibility for South American corporate affairs, AngloGold Ashanti’s Felipe Márquez, vice president for corporate affairs & general counsel for Colombia,...

With private practice experience at Sáenz Valiente, Padilla & Asociados (today Sáenz Valiente & Asociados) and Pozo Gowland Abogados, and also as a foreign associate with Hunton & Williams in...

Legal director for the southern cone (& ‘LatAm Pacific’) at GlaxoSmithKline since 2005, Fernando Gestal has a small team in which he has sought to inculcate a culture of risk...

Fernando Devoto is the director of corporate legal matters and institutional relations for Grupo Gloria, a diversified Peruvian conglomerate active across the food & dairy, sugar and alcohol, cement, phosphates,...

Amat victoria curam (“victory loves preparation”) could be Francisco Hernández’ motto, according to external counsel who’ve worked alongside him. Recently appointed general counsel for growth markets at Tyco International, he...

Gonzalo Barboza began his career at Argentine firm Pérez Alati, Grondona, Benites, Arntsen & Martínez de Hoz (h) before spending two years with Hogan Lovells in Spain. Moving in house...

Currently associate general counsel for the Intelsat Corporation, Gonzalo de Dios has over 20 years’ engagement with the telecommunications sector, much of it with particular relation to Latin America. Moving...

With a strong background in the telecommunications sector, (he was formerly in house counsel at both Telecom Argentina and Telecom Personal), Gonzalo García Lussardi has been regional counsel for Tyco...

With a strong background in the finance sector, having worked as legal advisor at Banco de Credito, Santander Investment and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), Gonzalo Raffo also has extensive...

‘Long-time’ director of legal and regulatory matters at Venezuela’s largest privately-owned company, diversified food and drinks group, Empresas Polar, Guillermo Bolinaga has ‘extraordinary legal expertise and absolutely outstanding public relations...

Head of legal at Banco de Crédito del Perú, Guillermo Morales heads a team of 81, some 50 of whom are lawyers. Appointed in January 2010, he has since overhauled...

Once considered among the top three Argentine lawyers under 45 by Argentine (digital) newspaper Infobae, and the only ‘in-house’ likely to be a future leader in the legal field, Citibank’s...

Since beginning her in-house career at the Mexican Securities Industry Association (AMIB), where she worked for six years, the ‘exceptional’ Isabel Ocaña has built an increasingly distinguished career. She spent...

An unusual figure insofar as that he has held both legal and non-legal positions, Javier García García ‘runs the legal department of one of the largest and most sophisticated holding...

Currently managing director and partner with responsibility for legal and compliance across the treasury, corporate, asset and wealth management and investment banking arms of BTG Pactual, Jill Wallach has a...

Formerly in private practice at The Legal 500 recommended Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr. e Quiroga Advogados for almost a decade, João Camarota decided to move in house when...

A former chair of the Inter-American Affairs Committee of the New York City Bar and member of its executive committee, Joe Hill has had an impressive trajectory: having served as...

Formerly a partner with the Latin American-focused corporate finance and private equity practice at at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Jonathan Bisgaier joined Brazilian banking group BTG Pactual...

Twice the president of the Ecuadorian Banking Law Committee of the country’s banking association, Jorge Alvarado has been head of legal at Banco Promerica, since its founding in 2001, indeed,...

Jorge Álvarez has been head of legal affairs at integrated coal company, Carbones de Cerrejon, for over 20 years. During his tenure he has been involved in the exit of...

Jorge Dueñas Zapata is associate director for legal compliance and ethics for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean at pharmaceutical company, Boehringer-Ingelheim. Formerly in-house at Banco Capital where he was...

With ‘versatility, depth and an extraordinary comprehension of the agro-export business’, the ‘dynamic’ José Castelli is head of legal, insurance and corporate governance at diversified commodities and agribusiness group, Bunge,...

‘One of the top international attorneys of Latin American origin’, Peruvian national José Augusto Palma has an ‘impressive legal trajectory’. Dual-qualified (Mexico & Washington DC), he spent a decade in...

Juan Manuel Posada has 18 years’ in-house experience in Banco Nacional de Mexico (Citibank Mexico), generally regarded as the emblematic financial institution of the country and as being ‘at the...

Juan Pablo Barrera is currently corporate legal director at Organización Corona, a Colombian conglomerate with six business units and overseas operations throughout Central America as well as in Panama, Mexico,...

‘I believe finding and keeping the best talent, and maintaining a high performance team is the biggest challenge any head of internal counsel might face’, comments Leandro Telles, head of...

‘The role of in-house counsel is not only legal management; it implies the management of administrative and budgeting matters, participation in the company’s strategic planning and leadership of human resources’,...

Formerly at the group’s subsidiary, Viña San Pedro, Marcela Achurra González has been director of legal affairs at the Chilean-owned international drinks group Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (CCU) since 2005, during...

With experience in the finance and automotive sectors as well as in IT, Sao Paulo-based Márcio Silveira has been at Oracle for over 15 years and is currently head of...

A standout figure among the younger generation of Latin American in-house counsel, Marcos de Campos Ludwig, general counsel at Brazilian iron-ore company Manabi, has overseen the company’s growth from a...

Having begun his career in private practice at Bruchou Fernández Madero & Lombardi where he was ‘identified early as a potential star’, Mariano Mazur made the move in-house ‘with great...

With an LLM in international economic law (magnum cum laude), Maurício Bezerra has extensive experience having worked at consultants Arthur Andersen and PricewaterhouseCoopers and financial institutions including Standard Bank and...

Formerly with PricewaterhouseCoopers in both Bolivia and the United States, Mauricio Davila is the general counsel of Sumitomo Corporation’s Minera San Cristobal. Unsurprisingly, he has ‘an excellent grasp of tax...

Another of the younger figures on this list, the ‘stupendous’ Mauricio Ibáñez Campos, only took the ‘super high-profile position, both locally and internationally’ of general counsel at Grupo México in...

Vice president of the legal department and for corporate governance, and also a member of the executive board at Braskem, Mauricio Roberto de Carvalho Ferro is ‘a delightful person’, who...

General counsel at Peruvian holding company Grupo Romero, Michel Biber directs a 21-strong team that advises on all the legal requirements of the group’s constituent companies, with the exception of...

Michelle Beckers joined independent enterprise-software provider, Rimini Street, as corporate counsel in 2008 after almost seven years in private practice and rose rapidly to senior corporate counsel, before being appointed...

Formerly at Citibank in Bogotá, Colombia, Natalia Benítez has been at global pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories for almost five years and is currently counsel for the Andean region. ‘I chose...

Formerly in private practice at Araque, Reyna, Sosa, Viso & Pittier (now:Araquereyna), Nicolás Faillace joined Perenco (Venezuela) as legal manager in 2006. Appointed legal and administrative manager in 2008, he...

With experience in the public sector as legal counsel at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Industry and Commerce (where he participated in negotiating the foreign investment chapter of the US-Andean...

Formerly VP-Legal for REFICAR (at that time, a Glencore-Ecopetrol joint venture), Nicolás Rubio became general counsel of BHP Billiton’s Colombian ferronickel operation, Cerro Matoso, in 2010. In late 2012 he...

Formerly at Siemens with responsibility for the power generation, transmission and distribution division, Noe Pascario joined Schlumberger in 2008 and has risen quickly, from integrated-project-management contract manager to senior contracts...

Based in Brazil, Osvaldo Grossi is Latin American regional general counsel for HSBC Bank. He manages a sizeable team of over 300, including 186 lawyers, spread across Argentina, Brazil, Chile,...

With extensive experience at The Legal 500 recommended firms such as Argentina’s Estudio Beccar Varela and Brazil’s Pinheiro Neto, Pablo Gay Ger moved in-house at Repsol YPF Brasil (today Repsol...

During an in-house career of over 20 years, Pablo Reynoso Mendoza has worked for a number of major companies including Altria, Kraft and Philip Morris. He is currently general counsel...

Paola Cesarman spent six years in private practice at Holland & Knight–Gallástegui y Lozano, Mexico, before moving in house at Tyco in 2007 where she is regional counsel for Latin...

Patricia Barbelli has more than a decade’s experience in house, initially at PepsiCo, and subsequently at Bayer where she rose to senior legal manager. Since 2011, she has been Latin...

While he has worked in other industry sectors (principally aeronautics, at Embraer) and also spent time in private practice (at intellectual property specialists, Gusmão & Labrunie), Paulo Fonseca has primarily...

‘A great all round lawyer, practical, careful and engaged with the issues’, Pedro Mariani is general counsel for Brazil’s leading drinks company, Ambev, a global player that is regarded as...

‘A young lawyer, very intelligent and who always has vision’, Renato Maia Lopes joined Votorantim Metais as legal manager back in 1999. In 2008 he was promoted to general legal...

A former legal director of the Venezuelan intellectual property agency, Ricardo Colmenter moved in house at Halliburton in 2005 where, as part of the Latin American group, he was responsible...

‘Without a doubt, one of the most experienced, innovative and hard-working general counsels in the telecoms industry in Mexico’, Roberto Andrade Martínez has been at Telefónica Moviles for over a...

Rocio La Torre spent almost eight years in private practice at recognised energy-sector heavyweight, Estudio Muñiz, Ramírez, Perez-Taiman & Olaya Abogados, before moving in-house at Peru LNG in 2005. Moving...

With ‘remarkable industry knowledge’, Rodolfo Mario García Paredes has been at Colombia’s state hydrocarbons enterprise, ECOPETROL, for 14 years. His tenure stretches back to before the company’s crucial 2003 restructuring...

‘If all you do is provide great legal advice, we might as well go to a law firm’. This comment, shared by a top executive in a Johnson Controls’ legal...

Head of legal and corporate governance director for the Americas at engineering company ThyssenKrupp Uhde (Mexico), Rodrigo Pérez Elizundía ‘has maintained his company at the forefront of its sector despite...

With LLM’s in corporate law (magnum cum laude) and banking & finance law, the latter from the LSE, plus an MBA from the Fundacão Dom Cabral, Rogério Santos’ academic credentials...

Cuban-born, Princeton graduate Rubén Díaz Jr, general counsel of Nicaraguan holding company Grupo Pellas, has ‘a keen intellect, over 30 years’ experience, and is very capable’. From private practice at...

With over 25 years’ in-house experience, Rubén Sabatini ‘may be from an older generation but is without doubt a great lawyer and an excellent in-house’. Currently general counsel for Latin...

Chief legal officer at multi-business company Ultrapar Participações, since 2008, Sandra López Gorbe has built a reputation for being ‘a leader in best practices in the corporate governance and compliance...

With her most recent appointment as legal manager for institutional relations and social responsibility at Claro (Colombia), in November 2013, ‘dynamic attorney’ Sandra Monroy has taken a further step in...

Sergio Ricardo Salmi has over 15 years’ in-house experience in the Argentine finance sector, initially at Consolidar, BBVA’s insurance division; and since 2010, as general counsel at Banco Itaú’s Argentine...

Formerly in-house in the energy sector and with in-house experience at The Legal 500 recommended Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr. e Quiroga, Silvia Maria Ribeiro Lopes is general counsel...

‘Achieving the balance between being a business partner and, concurrently, remaining firm in one’s legal positions is an art and requires great assertiveness and the expertise to reach alternative solutions...

‘A rising star with great potential’, Victor Villafranca Moncallo is currently senior corporate attorney at Grupo Herdez, a Mexican company focused on the alimentary sector with facilities in the US...