The Foro Gerencias Legales Miami 2026 will be held next Thursday, June 11, at Akerman’s Miami office, solidifying the city’s position as the leading meeting point for senior corporate legal leadership in the Americas. The forum, organized by Gericó Associates, is the premier platform where general counsel, compliance officers, and partners from leading firms analyze how regulation, artificial intelligence, and reputational risks are redefining the strategic role of legal departments within organizations.
In an environment marked by increasing regulatory complexity on both sides of the Atlantic and by the accelerated technological transformation of business, the role of the general counsel has evolved from a support function to a strategic lever in corporate decision-making. This is the context that gives meaning and urgency to this year’s agenda.
The event is sponsored by Akerman, Consortium Legal, Robalino, DMK Abogados, Aguilar Castillo Love and Estudio Olaechea, as well as having the institutional support of the University of Miami – School of Law.
The program kicks off with one of the most pressing issues in the legal field: how to manage reputation, crises, and litigation when any conflict can escalate globally in a matter of hours. From media scandals to regulatory investigations, the first panel will analyze how companies are responding in markets where exposure leaves no room for error.
Compliance and risk management will be the focus of the second session, at a time when regulatory frameworks are constantly evolving and regulatory tolerance is tightening on both sides of the Atlantic. This session will cover evolving frameworks, detection tools, and, above all, how to build a genuine compliance culture within organizations operating in multiple jurisdictions.
Miami has been consolidating itself as a leading legal hub for the Americas for years, and the third panel will address this: why the city is becoming the natural center for international arbitration in the region and what that means for companies operating from here.
Financial sustainability and capital markets will occupy the fourth block, with a focus on something that is redefining the legal agenda of many companies: new green financial products and the role that legal areas play in their structuring.
The fifth panel will focus on international expansion – mergers, acquisitions, cross-border operations – and the increasingly strategic role that general counsel assume when a company decides to grow beyond its borders from a base in the United States.
The closing session will focus on artificial intelligence. Automation, cybersecurity, and corporate governance in the digital age: the sixth panel will address the legal challenges that are no longer just a trend but an everyday reality for regional companies.
The forum will feature presentations by general counsel and legal leaders from some of the most prominent companies with operations in Latin America and the United States. Speakers will include Jorge Meneses, general counsel at Marsh McLennan; Valeria Plastino, EVP and chief compliance officer at Cirion Technologies; Francisco Pinilla, head of legal operations for Mastercard in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean; Andrea Mon, global head of ethics, compliance, and investigations at John Deere; Victoria Meni, associate general counsel at Airbnb for SSA Latam; and María Isabel Pradilla, assistant general counsel at Venture Global LNG.
The full panel of panelists also includes Ana Salas Siegel, founder and CEO of GESA Globalist Ventures; Arnold Y. Castillo, managing director of Secretariat; Christiane Reis, from the international law program at the University of Miami School of Law; Daniel Robalino, partner at the Ecuadorian firm Robalino; Florencia Ortiz, head of legal-US at Greening Group; Gerardo Hernández, partner at Consortium Legal in Nicaragua; Leonardo Berrio, general counsel at ESENTTIA in Colombia; Luis A. Perez and Pedro A. Freyre, both from Akerman, where they lead the Latin America and Caribbean and international practices, respectively; and Marc Gericó, global managing partner of Gericó Associates.
