D’Empaire promotes three to partnership
Venezuelan law firm D’Empaire announced the promotion of three lawyers to the partnership, an unusual development in a country affected by an economic and political crisis.
The new partners, Robert Mas, Paula Serra and José Valecillos are set to strengthen the corporate and tax practice areas at the firm, according to the announcement.
“The promotion of a group of talented lawyers to the partnership will make an important contribution to the organic growth of D’Empaire in a very challenging environment,” said Fulvio Italiani, managing partner of D’Empaire. “Roberto has been promoted to equity partner after showing extraordinary commitment to clients and the firm as nonequity partner. Paula and José have been promoted to nonequity partners following a strong record of accomplishment as associates. We are pleased to welcome them to our partnership.”
Mas has extensive experience advising clients on corporate matters, oil and gas, mergers and acquisitions, foreign exchange control regulations and real estate deals. He also regularly advises Venezuelan private companies and high-net-worth individuals on corporate restructurings and tax planning. Before joining D’Empaire in 2012, he worked as a senior associate at Deloitte.
Serra focuses on M&A and was an associate at the firm since 2011. She studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (Brazil) (J.D., 2003). Serra also has a PhD (2015) and a Master’s degree (2005) in Private International Law and International Trade Law from University of Paris 2 (Panthéon-Assas). She is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association (State of São Paulo) since 2003. She is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French.
Valdecillos has extensive experience on domestic and international tax matters including tax litigation. He holds a law degree from Universidad Metropolitana (2007) and a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center (2014).
D’Empaire was founded in 1972 and currently is one of the largest law firms in Venezuela, with 45 lawyers, including 16 partners.
