The 2025 Lawdragon 100 Lawyers You Need to Know in South America

Honorees in our inaugural guide include Veronica Yepez of Covington, Julie Bédard of Skadden and Talbert Navia of Winston & Strawn.

Tenemos el honor de presentarles a los 100 abogados de Lawdragon que debes conocer en Sudamérica.

Which is to say, in Rio,

Temos a honra de apresentar a Lawdragon 100 advogados que você precisa conhecer na América do Sul.

And, of course, to our Lawdragon friends at home in the U.S.: We’re honored to introduce The Lawdragon 100 Lawyers You Need to Know in South America.

The world is as vast and interconnected as ever. And the practice of law encapsulates how a pebble thrown into the Atlantic can ripple throughout the Amazon. Or, these days, as likely vice versa.

From Bogotá to Buenos Aires, Montevideo to Miami and Lima to Lexington Ave., these are the lawyers who provide the guidance for billions in infrastructure development, mining rights and other energy deals, counsel global business on expansion and handle the international arbitrations that arise when things go, well, South.

Global law firms have long practiced in South America, drawn by its riches in energy, mining, other natural resources and vast population. Globalization has increased that focus, which is epitomized by the global standard bearer among U.S. firms, Baker & McKenzie. The firm was contacted in 1955 by a lawyer in Caracas, Venezuela, to open a joint venture. Donald Baker, the founder’s son, headed South and the rest is an ongoing history.

We selected this guide with a focus on lawyers practicing in South America as well as global lawyers whose practices either largely focus on South America or whose cases or deals include some of the biggest matters on that continent. We used our time-honed process combining nominations (gracias!) with journalistic research and discussions/vetting with peers and experts.

As with our prior 100 lists, this is our take on the leading lights across a sampling of firms and practices. And it’s one that’s left us eager to dig in to create more comprehensive guides to the legal riches South America offers.

Those with asterisks are members of our Hall of Fame.

First	Last	Organization	Location	Practice
Rafael A.	Aguilar	Winston & Strawn	Miami	Real Estate
Werner Federico	Ahlers	Sullivan & Cromwell	New York	M&A, Project Finance, Energy, Natural Resources
John	Anderson	White & Case	São Paulo	Capital Markets, Energy, Project Development, Restructuring
Filipe B.	Areno	Skadden	São Paulo	Capital Markets, M&A
Oscar	Arrús	Garrigues	Lima	M&A, Corporate, Finance
David L.	Attanasio	Womble Bond Dickinson	Washington, D.C.	International Arbitration, Cross-Border Litigation, Energy
Juan	Azel	Winston & Strawn	Miami	FinTech, Banking
Donald	Baker	White & Case	São Paulo	Capital Markets, Corporate Finance
Francisco	Balduzzi	Womble Bond Dickinson	Houston	Cross-Border Corporate, M&A, Energy, Mining
Julie	Bédard	Skadden	New York and São Paulo	International Litigation, Arbitration, Investigations
Maria	Beguiristain	White & Case	Miami	White-Collar Investigations, Litigation
Marcelo M.	Blackburn	Winston & Strawn	New York	International Arbitration, Disputes, Investigations, Energy
Marcela Cristina	Blanco	Diaz Reus	Bogotá	Business Transactions, Cross-Border Disputes
Gustavo A.	Boruchowicz	Baker & McKenzie	Buenos Aires	M&A, Private Equity, Real Estate
Jaime E. Trujillo	Caicedo	Baker & McKenzie	Bogotá	M&A, Private Equity, Finance
María González	Calvet	Ropes & Gray	Washington, D.C.	White Collar, Anti-Corruption, Global Risk, Litigation
Santiago	Carregal	Marval O'Farrell	Buenos Aires	Banking, Finance, M&A, Restructuring
Arturo	Carrillo	Baker McKenzie	New York	Capital Markets, Finance, M&A, Restructuring
Tatiana Garcés	Carvajal	Baker & McKenzie	Bogotá	Labor & Employment Law
Rodrigo	Carvalho	Winston & Strawn	São Paulo	Finance, Capital Markets, M&A, Energy, Venture Capital
Francisco L.	Cestero	Cleary Gottlieb	São Paulo	Restructuring, Corporate
Roberta Berliner	Cherman	A&O Shearman	São Paulo	Corporate & Financial Transactions
Edwin	Cortés Mejía	Holland & Knight	Bogotá	Infrastructure, Project Finance
Andrés	Crump	Baker & McKenzie	Bogotá	M&A, Private Equity, Energy
Maria-Leticia Ossa	Daza	Paul Weiss	New York	M&A, Cross-Border Transactions
Tito Amaral	de Andrade	Machado Meyer	São Paulo	Antitrust, Mergers, Investigations, Litigation
Alexandre	de Gramont	Womble Bond Dickinson	Washington, D.C.	International Arbitration, Disputes, Energy
Juan Carlos	de Los Heros	Baker & McKenzie	Lima	Project Finance, Infrastructure, Energy
Anna Tavares	de Mello	Trench Rossi (Baker & McKenzie)	Rio de Janeiro	Insurance, Reinsurance, Corporate, M&A
Fernando J.	de la Hoz	White & Case	Miami	M&A, Finance, Mining
Juan	Delgado	Winston & Strawn	Miami	Corporate, M&A, Private Equity, Venture Capital
Pedro Whitaker de Souza	Dias	Mattos Filho	São Paulo	M&A, Corporate, Agribusiness
Nicole	Duclos	Covington	New York	International Arbitration
Liliana	Espinosa	Baker & McKenzie	Lima	M&A, Finance, Investment Funds
Michael	Fitzgerald	Baker McKenzie	New York	Finance, M&A, Restructuring
Francisco	Flores	Winston & Strawn	Los Angeles	Structured & Esoteric Finance, Fintech
Miguel López	Forastier	Covington	Washington, D.C.	International Arbitration & Disputes
Carl	Fornaris	Winston & Strawn	Miami	Financial Services Regulatory, Fintech, Transactions
Jaime Iglesias	Gallardo	Garrigues	Bogotá	International Arbitration
Joy K.	Gallup	Baker McKenzie	New York	Finance, Restructuring, M&A
Sergio J.	Galvis^*	Sullivan & Cromwell	New York	M&A, Corporate, Finance
Juan G.	Giráldez	Cleary Gottlieb	São Paulo	Capital Markets, M&A
Sean	Goldstein	White & Case	Miami	Project Finance, Infrastructure, Energy, Natural Resources
Paloma	Gomez	Dentons	Washington, D.C.	International Transactions
Enrique	Gomez-Pinzon	Holland & Knight	Bogotá	M&A, Cross-Border Investment
Alejandro	González Lazzeri	Skadden	New York	Capital Markets, Banking, Latin America
Denise	Grant	A&O Shearman	New York	Project Finance, Banking, Energy, Mining
John	Guzman	White & Case	São Paulo	Capital Markets, Finance, Energy
Jonathan C.	Hamilton	Paul Hastings	Washington, D.C.	International Arbitration
Christian	Hansen	White & Case	Mexico City	International Joint Ventures, M&A, Finance, Aviation
Angelika	Hunnefeld	Greenberg Traurig	Miami	International Arbitration, Litigation
Yosbel A.	Ibarra	Greenberg Traurig	Miami/New York/São Paulo	M&A, Finance, Joint Ventures, Energy
Flávia	Jardim De Oliveira Stievani	Winston & Strawn	São Paulo	Capital Markets, M&A, Private Equity, Energy
Cynthia Urda	Kassis	A&O Shearman	New York	Mining, Energy, Infrastructure, Project Finance
Jonathan E.	Kellner	Paul Hastings	São Paulo	M&A, Private Equity, Finance
Chantal E.	Kordula	Cleary Gottlieb	New York	Finance, M&A, Infrastructure
Sey-Hyo	Lee	Winston & Strawn	New York	Capital Markets, Transactions, Energy
Jeffrey S.	Lewis	Cleary Gottlieb	New York	M&A, Joint Ventures, Private Equity, Energy
Paola	Lozano	Skadden	New York	M&A, Corporate, Latin America
Enrique J.	Martin	Winston & Strawn	Miami	M&A, Private Equity, Corporate, Transactions
Fernando Alvez	Meira	Pinhero Neto Advogados	São Paulo	M&A, Corporate, Finance
Gustavo J.	Membiela	Winston & Strawn	Miami	International Arbitration, Disputes, Investigations
Juan Manuel	Mercant	Guyer & Regules	Montevideo	Energy, Project Finance, Antitrust
Luis Felipe	Merino	Garrigues	Santiago	M&A, Corporate, Energy, Gas
Gabriel J.	Mesa	Covington	New York	Corporate, Joint Venture, M&A
Talbert I.	Navia	Winston & Strawn	New York	M&A, Private Equity, Finance, Capital Markets, Energy, Venture Capital
Timothy G.	Nelson	Skadden	New York	International Litigation & Arbitration
Javier E.	Patrón	Marval O'Farrell	Buenos Aires	Labor & Employment Law
Abraham	Paul	White & Case	São Paulo	Capital Markets, Securities, Cross-Border
Mariana	Pendás Fernandez	Winston & Strawn	Washington, D.C.	International Trade, Investigations, Regulation, International Arbitration
Anna Martini G.	Pereira	Willkie	New York	M&A, Private Equity
Ralph E.	Pérez	Skadden	Chicago/Houston	M&A, Private Equity, Energy
Jennifer	Permesly	Skadden	New York	International Arbitration, Cross-Border Litigation
Richard P.	Puttré	Winston & Strawn	Miami	Project Finance, Infrastructure, Finance, Energy
Danilo Romero	Raad	Holland & Knight	Bogotá	Litigation, Competition, Antitrust, IP
Arnaldo C.	Rego Jr.	Greenberg Traurig	Miami/São Paulo	M&A, Capital Markets, Private Equity
Pedro	Reyes	Baker & McKenzie	New York	Capital Markets, Equity & Debt Transactions
Julissa	Reynoso	Winston & Strawn	New York	International Arbitration & Disputes, Investigations, Energy
Nicholas E.	Rodriguez	Winston & Strawn	Miami	M&A, Private Equity, Corporate
Francisco J.	Roggero	Zang Bergel	Buenos Aires	Insolvency, Restructuring
Jeffrey	Rubinger	Winston & Strawn	Miami	International Tax
Ank	Santens	White & Case	New York	International Arbitration, Construction, Investor-State
Paul T.	Schnell^*	Skadden	New York	M&A, Capital Markets, Latin America
Fernando Eduardo	Serec	TozziniFreire Advogados	São Paulo	Litigation, International Arbitration
Claude S.	Serfilippi	Winston & Strawn	New York	Capital Markets, M&A, Private Investment Funds, Finance, Energy
Sabrena	Silver	White & Case	New York	Finance, Cross-Border
Carlos Fernando	Siqueira Castro	Siquera Castro	São Paulo	Corporate, Finance, M&A
Kevin	Smith	Winston & Strawn	New York	M&A, Private Equity, Energy
Cari N.	Stinebower	Winston & Strawn	Washington, D.C.	International Trade, Regulations, Investigations
Thomas	Thorndike	Garrigues	Lima	Finance, M&A, Restructuring
David Contreiras	Tyler	Womble Bond Dickinson	New York City	Capital Markets, Finance, Energy
Julia Ines	Velasquez	Holland & Knight	Bogotá	Corporate, M&A
Ines Elvira	Vesga	Holland & Knight	Bogotá	Energy, M&A, Corporate
John	Vetterli	White & Case	New York	Global Capital Markets, Private Equity
Carlos	Viana	White & Case	Miami	Infrastructure & Energy Investment
Paula	Vieira	Mattos Filho	New York	M&A, Corporate
José Luis	Vittor	Womble Bond Dickinson	Houston	Finance, Infrastructure, Project Development, Energy
J. Mathias	von Bernuth	Skadden	São Paulo	M&A, Capital Markets
Veronica	Yepez	Covington	Washington, D.C.	White Collar, Anti-Corruption, Global Risk, Investigations
Carolina	Zang	Zang Bergel	Buenos Aires	Finance, Banking, Capital Markets