WBD strengthens Latin America practice with new partner
Womble Bond Dickinson has announced the appointment of Francisco Balduzzi (pictured) to the firm’s Corporate and Securities group as a partner in the firm’s Houston office.
Francisco has more than 25 years of international experience as a senior legal executive and in private practice, particularly in Latin America. He has a strong practice in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, transactions and disputes within the energy and natural resources (ENR) and mining sectors, as well as divestitures, joint ventures, operational set-up, compliance, and foreign investments.
He has served as in-house counsel to multinational companies in the natural resources sector. He was head of legal affairs in LATAM and Asia Pacific for mining company Barrick Gold Corporation, where he was a member of the executive team and led legal services in those regions. He was also general counsel and head of legal affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean at the consulting and engineering firm Wood.
Balduzzi is fluent in Spanish, speaks and reads Portuguese, and has managed legal matters in several jurisdictions, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Suriname, the United States and Venezuela.
His law firm experience includes being a foreign legal consultant at Norton Rose Fulbright, and an associate at the Argentine law firms Beccar Varela and Zang Bergel & Viñes.
He has served on multiple boards of directors and served as president of the Houston Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and as chairman of the board of directors of the Argentine Oil and Gas Institute of Houston.
He received an LL.M. from Northwestern University School of Law and a J.D. in Argentine law from Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina.
