Holland & Knight LLP

Katharine Menéndez de la Cuesta is a litigator who handles international disputes and is based in Holland & Knight's Miami office. Clients rely on her experience to represent them in international arbitration proceedings in English and Spanish, and in litigation matters before U.S. federal and state courts in New York and Florida.

Ms. Menéndez de la Cuesta has handled international arbitrations applying the laws of New York, Florida, Illinois, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala, among other jurisdictions, and administered by the main arbitral institutions, such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC). She has acted as administrative secretary of arbitral tribunals, been appointed as arbitrator and was a representative for North America of the ICC's Young Arbitrators Forum (YAF) for its 2019-2021 mandate.

Ms. Menéndez de la Cuesta has been involved in disputes arising out of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), energy (including oil and gas and the mining industry) and transportation matters (airport and rail industries).

In addition, Ms. Menéndez de la Cuesta's background includes practicing international arbitration and litigation at a leading Spanish law firm for several years. She remains licensed in Spain, where she argued cases before Spanish courts concerning commercial matters. She is familiarized with the key differences between the common law and the civil law systems.

Ms. Menéndez de la Cuesta's experience includes serving as the chief research assistant to Professor George A. Bermann (chief reporter) for two years on the Restatement of the Law, The U.S. Law of International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration, at Columbia Law School in New York. She also coordinated several projects for Professor Bermann, including the publication of Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards: The Interpretation and Application of the New York Convention by National Courts.

Ms. Menéndez de la Cuesta co-teaches "International Conflict of Laws" to master students of the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE) in Madrid. She has lectured on advocacy and legal skills at ICADE, Universidad Europea in Madrid, University of Miami School of Law and Florida International University (FIU), as well as presented seminars about advocacy skills in Latin America. She also has organized several events related to international arbitration with Columbia University Law School, the Spanish Arbitration Club (CEA) and the Young International Council for Commercial Arbitration (YICCA).