Team size: 8

What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Reviewing and negotiating historic infrastructure contracts valued at billions of dollars to ensure that the contracts comply with local and federal laws & regulation, and that they are in the best interests of the people of Puerto Rico. Lead efforts for a comprehensive and holistic reform of Puerto Rico’s regulatory system.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

During periods of crisis, it is essential to maintain calm and composed. During my time with the FOMB’s Contract Review team, I reviewed numerous contracts under strict deadlines, including the end of the local and Federal Fiscal Years On June 30 and September 30. In situations where a contract is crucial and time-sensitive, like those pertaining to Health or Education, cooperation and communication between the parties is essential to ensure that all information is compiled to ensure that an educated decision has been made.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?

I think every lawyer will respond similarly to this question. The rise of AI platforms, not just ChatGPT but Claude, CodeXPR, Copilot, and others is changing the legal landscape. These platforms should be another tool to assist lawyers in reducing costs, maximising efficiency, and improving their research. In-house attorneys should educate themselves on how to use these platforms to aid their work, not replace it. Moreover, the enterprise tiers of these platforms include data privacy protections that are essential to protecting privileged client data and complying with data privacy laws.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?

Procurement reform. I have been reviewing government procurements for over 4 years and basically dream about RFPs every night. However, it might be more accurate to call them nightmares in Puerto Rico’s case. The procurement regulations in Puerto Rico are messy, inconsistent, and full of exceptions that allow agencies and public corporations to easily bypass procurement requirements. Puerto Rico needs comprehensive procurement reform where competitive purchases are the norm rather than the exception. Doing so would reduce compliance costs, result in more competitive bids, and reduce the risk of post-procurement challenges.