The impact of the pandemic on Latin American law firms

Alexandre Bertoldi

Alexandre Bertoldi is the managing partner of Pinheiro Neto Advogados and a member of the firm’s Steering Committee. With offices in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, Pinheiro Neto Advogados is one of the largest law firms in Latin America and one of the most well-established in Brazil, with a near 800 headcount, out of which over 300 are lawyers.

Mr. Bertoldi practices in the corporate area, with a focus on M&A and Banking & Finance, having worked in the past years on some of Brazil’s largest deals. In 2007, he was named “Law Firm Leader of the Year” by Latin Lawyer Magazine.

He received an LL.B. degree from the São Paulo University in 1984 and an MBA from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, in 1990. He has been consistently named a leading lawyer by publications such as Chambers and Partners and Who’s Who Legal.

Nicolas Herrera

Nicolás Herrera, lawyer, mainly works in the Banking and Corporate Department. Former Professor of Commercial Law at the Catholic University (UCU). Former Vice Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay in 1990/1991 and negotiator of the Uruguayan External Debt under the Brady Plan. Former President of the Uruguayan-United States Chamber of Commerce (2001-2004), member of DESEM’s Junior Achievement Board and member and treasurer of Fulbright Commission (educational exchange program between Uruguay and United States). He is member of the Executive Board of CERES (Center for Economic and Social Policy Research) and member of YPO / WPO (Young and World Presidents’ Organization). He is part of the list of arbitrators of the Centro de Conciliación y Arbitraje, International Court of Arbitration for MERCOSUR, of the Bolsa de Comercio, Uruguay. His vast practice includes financing in the public and private sector, mergers and acquisitions, project financing and investment structuring, being specialist in commercial, corporate and banking law and stock markets. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and President of Fundación Impulso (high school education project in inner city Montevideo neighborhood).

Recognized among the 100 most influential persons in Uruguay by the daily “El Observador” (2008).

Adriana Castro

Adriana is a BLP Partner in the San José office. She specializes in the practice areas of Business Law and Telecommunications, Media & Technology. In addition, she has experience in Dispute Resolution and family-owned business issues.

Over a span of 14 years, she has advised national and transnational companies in day-to-day matters, as well as complex multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, coordinating work with law firms and legal teams from around the world, and directing BLP team members at our other offices in Central America. Her expertise also includes the review and implementation of contracts, debt restructuring, design and execution of corporate structures, tax, labor and organizational aspects of family businesses.

She is described as a lawyer focused on developing the business of her clients, with a comprehensive vision and great attention to detail, as well as highlighting the clarity of her answers.

Carolina Zang

Managing Partner at Zang, Bergel & Viñes Abogados, Carolina also heads the firm’s Banking and Capital Markets Practice. She specializes in corporate legal advice with emphasis in financing, capital markets, debt restructuring, M&A, investment funds, private equity and venture capital, and real estate. She is a former chair of the IBA Real Estate Committee and she currently serves as Senior Vice Chair of the Latin American Regional Forum. She chairs the Corporate Law Committee of the City of Buenos Aires Bar Association.

Carolina has recently been elected member of the Lawyer´s Council for Civil and Economic Rights by The Vance Center for International Justice which aims to combat corruption in Latin America.

Ms. Zang is the only female and the youngest member of the Board of Directors at ZBV. She also heads the Marketing & Communications Committee and the Pro Bono Committee at the firm. She is a frequent speaker on diversity and inclusion issues in the legal profession.

Prior to joining ZBV, she worked at the legal department of the National Secretariat for Natural Resources and Human Environment. She was also a Foreign Associate at Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York in 1998.

Carolina was awarded the Euromoney Legal Media Group´s 2016 Women in Business Law Awards 2016, for Best Finance Lawyer in Latin America.

Leopoldo Hernandez

He is a Managing Partner of KermaPartners, leading the practice for Hispanic markets. Based in Mexico City and Miami, Leopoldo primarily advises law firms on strategic planning and implementation, organizational structure transformation projects, partner and attorney compensation schemes, as well as corporate governance issues. Leopoldo is also an advisor to Ibero-American and Latin American alliances in their strategies for positioning and retaining talent; for seven years he was the founding partner and director of the firm HernándezRomano Consultores, S.C. Prior to the constitution of his consultancy, Leopoldo was the COO for the Mexico office of one of the top 10 New York law firms, being in charge of financial, administrative, human resources and IT matters. Previously, he worked for more than twelve years in one of the main cotton trading companies in Latin America, having served as Secretary of the Board and Commercial Director. Leopoldo is a qualified attorney and holds an MBA. Since 1994, he has been a professor at the Universidad Panamericana School of Law in Mexico City, where he has taught International Trade, International Commercial Arbitration and Firm Management. He has served as Secretary, Deputy Coordinator and Coordinator of the Commission for the Administration of Law Firms, of the Mexican Bar Association, A.C. Currently and once again, he is the coordinator of the Firm Administration Committee. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors. He is an active member of the International Bar Association (IBA), participates in the Management Committee of Law Firms in the Talent and Leadership working group and is an active member of ALA, Association of Legal Administrators. Since 2016, he was invited to be a member of the Board of Appleseed Mexico. He makes periodical publications and presentations on strategy and management of law firms.

Juan Carlos Rocha

Partner at PPU expert in Corporate / M&A and Real Estate matters. He has advised important clients in matters related to real estate, corporate, commercial and large scale transactions. He is a recognized expert in real estate matters, according to the most prestigious publications, and has represented Colombian and international clients on corporate, commercial and real estate matters, concerning important projects in Colombia.