Miami 2025
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary | InspereX
Formerly Ethics and compliance executive and in-house advisor- Latin America and Global Marketing | Rockwell Automation
Executive vice president, deputy general counsel, Head of Global Content and Intellectual Property, Mexico Litigation and Regulatory, and International Distribution | TelevisaUnivision
Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel | Ingram Micro Holding
Augusto Aragone serves as executive vice president, secretary and general counsel for Ingram Micro, a leader in delivering the full spectrum of global technology and supply-chain solutions to businesses around...
Vice President and Regional General Counsel - Latin America and Caribbean | SAP
General Counsel | Universal Alloys
Daniela Rost is an accomplished attorney with over a decade of experience as in-house counsel for companies within the same corporate group, including Universal Alloys, Georgian American Alloys, Felman Production,...
Vice president & associate counsel - compliance and ethics | Southern Glazer's Wines and Spirits
Delia C. Reyes is currently the Vice President-Associate Counsel, Compliance & Ethics at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits (SGWS )– Central Region. Delia joined SGWS in March 2020 holding Legal...
Senior Associate General counsel | Visa
Diana M. Becerra is an international lawyer with over 15 years of experience in-house legal experience in start-ups, private high growth, and public companies. Her extensive expertise spans across various...
Formerly Director legal, senior counsel | Daikin Applied Americas
Vice President - Legal Affairs, Export Compliance Officer and Empowered Official | Barfield
Executive Vice President and General Counsel | Cisneros Group of Companies
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary | Fresh Del Monte Produce
Effie D. Silva has served as the senior vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary since 2022. In this role, Effie leads the company’s legal, risk management, food safety, government affairs,...
Central America and Caribbean Sub-Cluster Legal Head and Senior Counsel for Banking & International Legal | Citibank
General Counsel, Legal & Compliance, Latin America & Canada | Boston Scientific
Managing General Counsel for the Americas | ACS Infrastructure
General Counsel, North America, Caribbean & Asia | LATAM Airlines Group
Senior Vice President and chief legal officer | GSI Management
SVP, Chief counsel, North America | Mondelēz International
Legal director, payments and risks (Americas) | Uber Technologies
Jessica has over 25 years of legal experience. She is currently Uber’s Director of Payments Legal, covering payments-related matters for the Americas. Jessica began her legal career as a corporate...
General Counsel Latin America & Caribbean | Marsh Mclennan
Jorge serves as the General Counsel for Marsh McLennan in the Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) region. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory...
VP, General Counsel Corporate & Global Chief Privacy Officer | Millicom International
Vice President, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer | Laureate Education
Laura Paredes is an internationally educated lawyer, licensed in Colombia in 2003 and also in the State of Missouri, USA in 2020. Additionally, she is a registered and authorized in-house...
Vice President & Associate General Counsel (Regional General Counsel, Americas) | Japan Tobacco International
Senior vice president, senior counsel - corporate, m&a, public company | New Fortress Energy
Senior Director, Assistant General Counsel | Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium
Marc Weinroth is Senior Director, Assistant General Counsel for the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, where he is responsible for all legal matters, risk management, and government affairs. Marc...
Vice president, customs & regulatory affairs, DHL Express Americas | DHL Express
VP & Senior Counsel, Latin America and Caribbean | Marriott International
Marisol Mateos is an international bilingual attorney who has worked in the hospitality industry since 1992, having worked in Europe and Latin America. She has experience in hotel development agreements,...
Vice president, Issues, Events & Remediation, Control Management (Operational Risk) | American Express
The work I am currently supporting is heavily impacted by regulatory scrutiny of the operational risk and related control environment at American Express as the company grows to become...
Senior Vice President, general counsel | Miami Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, F1 Miami Grand Prix
Head of Legal, Wealth Americas Banking & Lending; Director, Associate General Counsel | Citigroup
Nilo Barredo is the Head of Legal for Citi Wealth’s Banking and Lending businesses in the Americas. In this role, Nilo supports Wealth’s diverse banking and lending products in North...
SVP, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary | Royal Caribbean Group
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Board Secretary | Ryder System
Director, legal (North America) | Verifone
Robert serves as Director for North America Legal at VeriFone, Inc, where he structures complex commercial partnerships and enterprise merchant agreements with major global payments partners. His strategic deal-making has...
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer | Millicom International
Executive vice president and general counsel | Cirion Technologies Solutions
Ms Plastino has 25+ years of experience in the technology and telecom industries, as well as in multinational investments in Latin America. She is currently based in Miami, FL and...
Associate general counsel - Product SSA Latam | Airbnb
Victoria´s background includes operating in fast-paced legal departments supporting the business and managing efficiency and simplification of in-house legal departments for over 20 years. Victoria is experienced in multi-country environments with varied...
Chief Legal Officer | Caban Energy
Violeta Longino, an internationally recognised executive leader, is the chief legal officer for Caban Energy, an energy infrastructure provider, offering end-to-end solutions for the largest telecom companies in the world....
Vice president & Associate general counsel, global M&A, Americas | Diageo
Legal 500 is thrilled to announce the third edition of the GC Powerlist Miami 2025, recognizing the outstanding senior in-house counsel who continue to lead the way in the legal profession. Each year, we have the privilege of celebrating the impressive achievements of individuals who are driving legal excellence, and this year, as we gather in Miami, we’re reminded of the city’s dynamic role as a global business hub where innovation and opportunity intersect.
As we enter 2025, the strategic priorities guiding in-house teams reflect both evolving challenges and transformative opportunities. As one general counsel shared, “Heading into 2025, our legal team’s priorities are grounded in technology and digital transformation, compliance, business integration, risk mitigation, and talent development. Legal technologies streamline workflows, improve contract management, and enhance data analysis.” Another noted the growing role of AI, stating, “Internally, we will continue to test and adopt the AI tools that empower our legal team to work more effectively and responsibly, as well as enhance our due diligence framework and body of precedents to reflect the evolving implications AI adoption, both by the fund and by our portfolio companies.” Sustainability also continues to shape legal strategies, with many prioritising ESG initiatives, “sustainability and ESG initiatives continue to shape our legal strategy, ensuring that environmental, social, and governance considerations are embedded in business operations.”
Legal 500 is incredibly grateful for the engagement of the in-house community, whose leadership continues to set the bar for excellence in the legal profession. We are honored to showcase these exceptional individuals and their teams, whose work drives lasting impact.
We would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to Winston & Strawn for their continued partnership and support, making this celebration possible. We look forward to recognizing the remarkable contributions of Miami’s top in-house counsel and the exciting developments shaping the legal landscape in the city.
Legal 500 was proud to host the second edition of the GC Powerlist: East Africa 2025 in Nairobi, honouring the top General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Legal Directors, and senior in-house legal professionals across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. This year’s reception brought together over 100 of the most influential and innovative corporate counsel from the region, and was an unrivalled success, cementing Legal 500’s role as the leading voice in recognising in-house legal excellence across Africa.
The evening was opened by Joe Boswell, lead editor of the GC Powerlist publication at Legal 500, who highlighted the growing prestige of the East Africa edition and the increasing challenge of selecting honourees from such a deep (and rapidly growing) pool of talent.
Guests were then treated to some particularly relevant insights from distinguished speakers. Rachel Musoke, Head of ENS Uganda, delivered a thoughtful welcome that reflected on the importance of collaboration between private practice and in-house teams. This was followed by a powerful keynote from Habil Waswani, Company Secretary & Director Legal Services and Regulatory Compliance at Kenya Airways, who shared reflections on leadership, regulatory stewardship, and the evolving role of corporate counsel in East Africa.
The highlight of the evening was the certificate ceremony, where this year’s honourees were formally recognised. Certificates were presented by senior representatives of ENS, including Désiré Kamanzi (head of ENS Rwanda), Rachel Musoke, Nigel Shaw (head of ENS Kenya), Donald Nyakairu (Partner, ENS Uganda), Dieudonne Nzafashwanayo (partner, ENS Rwanda) and Binti Shah (Partner, ENS Kenya) whose participation underlined the depth of the firm’s support for the GC Powerlist initiative.
The GC Powerlist: East Africa 2025 reaffirmed The Legal 500’s commitment to shining a spotlight on the region’s most talented in-house lawyers. With an even stronger field of candidates, this year’s edition stands as a powerful testament to the influence and expertise of East Africa’s legal leaders. Habil Waswani’s excellent speech, which got a raucous reception from those in the room, is reproduced below with his permission:
‘My name is Habil Waswani, and I have been an inhouse legal practitioner for the past 21 years in different sectors (having done law-firm practice for 2 years before that). Tt is indeed a true privilege and honour for me to be here tonight, surrounded by the sharpest legal minds and calmest crisis-handlers the East African corporate world has to offer.
First, let me thank the Legal 500 and ENSAfrica teams, for organising such a fantastic event and for bringing us together in such style. Congratulations to each of tonight’s honourees. You represent the very best of general counsel in this very dynamic corporate space the businesses we support operate in. Strategic, ethical, resilient, and, let’s be honest, often underappreciated leaders of industry.
I am so happy that this evening is not about contracts, or compliance checklists, or board packs. Tonight is about celebrating you, the people behind all of that. The steady hands guiding companies through complexities, uncertainties, and ensuring that the opportunities that lie within those difficult circumstances are lawfully realized.
We all know the role of GCs has evolved. We are no longer tucked away at the end of a corridor marked “Legal” or labelled the proverbial “cost centres”. These days, the GCs sit at the big table – helping drive corporate strategy, shaping desired culture, providing leadership and safeguarding business reputations. We have become indispensable partners to businesses, interpreters, navigators, protectors… and on some (many) days, therapists with law degrees. And yet, we mostly do it all so quietly. No victory laps, no press releases. Often, success for us means the expected disaster didn’t happen.
But tonight, we break that rule. Tonight, we raise a glass to the GCs who’ve blazed the trail courageously, with clarity, conviction, and tremendous resilience that only matches the expectations of the Leadership Guru John Maxwell when he said, “resilient leaders don’t wait for the storm to past — they learn to dance in the rain”. You have managed to balance growth and governance, risk and reward regularly. And, of course, always managed to deal with those 10pm messages: “Hey, just a quick question…Are you able to talk right now…?”
Let this evening serve as a reminder that you are not just experienced legal advisors. You are leaders — spear heads and enablers of execution — and without a doubt critical pillars of business strategy.
To all the honourees, congratulations once again for the well-deserved recognition. This is for the heavy lifting that you do, the standards you uphold, and the impact you make – quietly, consistently, and brilliantly so. You’ve earned this spotlight.
