About

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 New York, Fernando Freire moved in-house as corporate counsel for Grupo Insud in 2007. A diversified holding with activities ranging from the pharmaceutical, agro-industrial and fisheries sectors to publishing, film production and design (as well as a not-for-profit Foundation), Grupo Insud had no internal legal capability whatsoever upon his arrival; as result he has had to develop both its structure and processes from the ground up. Today he directs a 30-strong department (20 of whom are lawyers), and has overseen the restructuring of the group’s forestry and fisheries businesses (Pomera Maderas and Garruchos Agropecuaria, respectively) as well as the $32m acquisition of Danzer’s Argentine forestry holdings in 2011. He justifiably takes pride in the fact that all the group’s constituent businesses look upon the legal team as ‘an ally and a counsel when it comes to decision taking’. (‘He’s been a significant asset to our firm’, notes one internal client). Commentators speak of ‘a lawyer who really understands the law in each of its distinct areas, has broad negotiating skills, and is capable of developing successful legal strategies, be it in transactional matters or in complex litigation’. Admirers also note his human qualities, pointing to his ‘honesty, good faith and respect for his colleagues’; as he himself notes, ‘trust is priceless in the professional life of a lawyer and it is not earned from one day to the next but rather on the basis of hard work and the development of a relationship of mutual confidence with the client, be they internal or external’.