Bernardo Porras has been recognised as one of the “Leading individuals” in Dispute Resolution matters in numerous international publications including Chambers Latin America 2010 – 2017, Getting the Deal Through, Who’s Who Legal and Latin Lawyer.

He specialises in Dispute Resolution, Asset Recovery and Insolvency, Administrative Law, Private-Public Projects and Banking Law, and jointly Co-Heads the Dispute Resolution Department at Hughes & Hughes. Among other positions, he was a former President of Legal Matters’ Commission of the Uruguayan Bar Association.

Bernardo holds a Doctorate in Law and Social Sciences from the Universidad de la República School of Law; Academy for American and International Law, Center for American and International Law, Texas, USA. Has authored several articles regarding telecommunications, administrative and antitrust law, and is also a frequent lecturer at national and international seminars on matters related to Asset Recovery, Brokerage Regulations, Financial Entities Regulations, Project Finance, PPP’s, Public Trusts and Antitrust Law and Administrative and Procedural Law.

Hughes & Hughes

Founded in the 19th century, Hughes & Hughes is one of the oldest and most prestigious law firms in Uruguay. The firm has had considerable growth during recent years and has successfully encompassed the long-term expertise with a modern, sophisticated and practical approach of the business. Accelerated changes in today’s business world require from our attorneys prompt adaptation and close attention to identify and meet our clients’ needs and the needs of our foreign clients willing to develop activities in Uruguay.

We have extensive experience assisting clients in bankruptcy proceedings, including financial institutions and brokers. We have developed an organised structure prepared to efficiently deal with complex asset recoveries, including those generated by business crime. We have strongly developed our strategies for an effective search of assets to enable important recoveries. This proven experience has led to an increasing demand of this type of services by leading companies from all over the world.

Fernando specializes in corporate criminal law, integrity policies, compliance and investigations, advising companies and international organizations such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. He is recognized as a leading practitioner in the field of corporate compliance by Chambers and Partners, and as a “Leading individual” by The Legal 500. Additionally, Who’s Who Legal has recognized his excellence as an expert consultant and his expertise in criminal law and anti-corruption policies.

He leads the Executive Education course “Current Topics in Compliance and Investigations” at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and is a senior researcher at the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Universidad de San Andrés. He was a visiting professor at Southwestern University School of Law (USA). He has published several articles on criminal law, constitutional law, and anti-corruption policies, and is frequently invited as a speaker at conferences on matters of his specialization.

Pamela has been practicing law for more than 25 years, and specializes in tax, commercial, and bankruptcy law, as well as complex litigation. Since her expertise ranges across a wide remit, she can provide a holistic approach on matters.

Pamela started her career at the Chilean Bankruptcy Superintendence, moving onto to PwC, one of the biggest consulting, tax and accounting firms internationally. She later went on to represent creditors and debtors involved in complex reorganization and liquidation, money laundering, torts and collection proceedings.

Pamela was the Chilean legal advisor and link between courts, the creditor’s comity, the debtor and the superintendence in regard to the first cross border case in Chilean history, which recognized the rights of Chilean liquidators to recover assets in different jurisdictions (case: Onix-A.Chang).

Pamela is based in Santiago de Chile, where she founded Lathrop Blanco Goldbaum Abogados. She also founded Goldbaum Advisors LLC in Florida, USA, and leads multidisciplinary teams composed of lawyers, accountants, auditors, forensics, finance experts, among others as necessary for the best outcome.

Pamela is known for her incisive analysis, strategic planning, and being determined and driven in all her cases. She has a commercial and practical approach and can explain complex situations using simple terms. She has been a professor of tax law and economy at the law school of Universidad Catolica de La Santisima Concepcion, Chile, has lectured on insolvency and asset recovery in Latin America, United States and the European Union; and is the Co-Chair and founding member of the Latin America Chapter of IWIRC (International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation).

Ms. Plochocki is an experienced advocate who focuses her practice on complex transnational disputes, both at the trial and appellate levels. Her matters have included high-profile, multi-jurisdictional financial frauds and insolvencies, in which she has represented investors, individual executives, and corporations. Ms. Plochocki has a proven track record in international judgment enforcement and asset recovery. She has prevailed in contested applications for evidence for use in foreign proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 and won recognition of disputed international arbitral awards and regularly speaks on US asset recovery tools and strategies.

Ms. Plochocki also has expertise in the extraterritorial application of U.S. law and jurisdiction and regularly counsels and represents international clients on civil and criminal liability in US courts. She has successfully defended clients from allegations of material support for terrorism and achieved favorable resolutions for clients facing exposure to liability for business and financial activities conducted abroad. In recognition of her excellence in the field of International Law, Ms. Plochocki was selected as a Washington DC “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers in 2017 and 2018.

Ms. Plochocki graduated with honors from the University of Michigan Law School and Barnard College of Columbia University. She is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Washington D.C., New York, and California.

William is a litigation partner at New Zealand’s largest litigation firm, Meredith Connell. He specialises in cases involving suspected corporate fraud, investment disputes, professional negligence, and other white-collar matters.

He has made hundreds of appearances at every level of the New Zealand courts, for public- and private-sector clients. He conducts jury trials on behalf of the New Zealand state.

In 2015, William graduated Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge, with first-class honours and a Leonard Coling scholarship.

Between 2015 and 2019, he worked as an attorney in the London office of an American law firm, in one of the world’s top white-collar-crime practices.

In 2017, he was admitted to the English Bar and is a member of Middle Temple. In 2023, he was admitted to the Bar of the Pitcairn Islands.

William is a former editor-in-chief of the Auckland University Law Review. He is the current author of the New Zealand chapter in J. Seddon et al (eds), The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (GIR, Sixth ed. 2022). His published articles have appeared in the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal (UK), the New Zealand Business Law Quarterly, the New Zealand Law Journal, the Supreme Court Law Review (Canada), the Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice (Aus) and the Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice (Aus).

Examples of past cases are:

Counsel for one of New Zealand’s largest construction companies in investigating and freezing the assets of past employees and contractors suspected of a long-running, multi-million-dollar invoicing fraud (see e.g. THL (2005) v JDR Ltd [2022] NZHC 3627).

Advisor and counsel for the New Zealand subsidiaries of a large multinational company through a major internal investigation and subsequent high-profile litigation against its former directors and auditor in one of the largest alleged revenue frauds in New Zealand history (see e.g. Fujifilm Business Innovation New Zealand Limited v Whittaker [2021] NZHC 3292).

Overseeing the successful application to the English High Court to release two high-net-worth individuals from a world-wide-freezing order because of non-disclosure, with indemnity costs obtained (see Banca Turco Romana SA v Cortuk [2018] EWHC 662 (Comm) (28 March 2018)).

Advising a state government on a multi-jurisdiction investigation of historic fraud and corruption involving alleged losses of over US$1 billion, including regulatory and asset-recovery advice and engagement with US and Swiss law-enforcement agencies.

Representing a high-frequency trading firm facing charges of market manipulation in China following the 2015 Chinese futures crash, in a high-profile and politically significant case.

Advising and representing an international financial institution in litigation involving allegations of suspected money-laundering by its customers.

Karel Frielink is the managing partner of BZSE Attorneys at Law Curaçao. He has been an attorney as from 1989. Karel is admitted to the Dutch Caribbean bar and thus licensed to practice in Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba.

Karel is an experienced litigator, specializing in finance law, corporate law and corporate governance. He is very knowledgeable in the areas proving fraud, asset location and recovery techniques. Karel not only dealt with highly complicated, multi-jurisdictional fraud cases, he also lectured on fraud, bribery and corruption at training seminars organized by the Dutch Institute of Chartered Accountants (NIVRA-VERA).

As of its incorporation, BZSE Attorneys at Law and Tax Advisers has been active throughout the Dutch Caribbean. Independence and integrity are paramount to the lawyers of BZSE. They operate and litigate in an open, transparent and independent manner in order to represent the best interests of their clients. This has provided the lawyers of the firm with a strong reputation, notably among local and international corporate clients.

Karel has (co-) authored over a hundred seventy books and articles on various aspects of Dutch and Dutch Caribbean law. He is the author of the leading textbook on Dutch Caribbean law: Kort begrip van het Nederlands Caribisch Rechtspersonenrecht (A concise understanding of Dutch Caribbean corporate law; 1st edition 2017; 375 pages) and of Karel’s Legal Blog (http://www.curacao-law.com).