2007-2008 Fellow; Mexico
Ms. Gonzalez joins Columbia Law School from Mijares, Angoitia, Cortés y Fuentes, S.C. in Mexico City, where she is a senior associate in constitutional and administrative practice. In 2002, Ms. Gonzalez was selected to be the youngest-ever lead staff attorney in the Supreme Court of Administrative Justice for Mexico City, a position she held for three years. After earning her LL.M. at Columbia, Ms. Gonzalez plans to return to her firm and to teach administrative and constitutional law at the university. She will also become a member in the first mediation center at Universidad Iberoamericana, a pro bono project that will provide low-income people with legal assistance to obtain fair solutions to their everyday problems.
2008-2009 Fellow; Brazil Flávia came to Columbia Law School after being an associate member of Veirano Advogados in Rio de Janeiro, where she is a labor and employment specialist on mergers, acquisitions and corporate reorganizations. Flávia has worked on executive compensation matters, negotiated with labor unions, conducted due diligence of employment matters in mergers and acquisitions, and worked with the employment aspects of business planning. As a firm with a strong pro-bono practice, Veirano Advogados encouraged her to use her skills in helping the community. To this end, she worked four years with the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra helping them with employment and litigation matters. Her experience with this non-profit inspired her to work with institutions and organizations that are committed to making culture and higher level education accessible to the underprivileged. Flávia received her J.D. from Universidade do Rio de Janeiro and is an assistant professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School.
2008-2009 Fellow; Mexico
Andrés comes to Columbia from Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C. in Mexico City, where he leads the financial law practice of the firm and also acts as senior associate in its corporate law and arbitration practice. At Von Wobeser y Sierra, Andrés specializes in corporate law and commercial arbitration, both national and international, banking and finance, securities, secured transactions and project finance, and mergers and acquisitions, among other areas. In addition, Andrés has taught law at various prestigious educational institutions in Mexico, such as the Universidad Iberoamericana and the UNAM. Even before he graduated from law school, Andrés joined the Asociación de Servicios Legales, A.C., a subsidiary entity of the Mexican Bar Association, where he created the pro bono project “corporate program,” which helps nonprofit organizations maintain a legal and corporate status that permits them to take advantage of their legal benefits and to focus on their pro bono social assistance. Due to his experience and leadership skills, the partners of his law firm invited him to develop, along with other senior associates, the firm’s pro bono program, which recently received national and international recognition. Andrés also assisted Dr. Claus Von Wobeser in drafting the Pro Bono Declaration for the Americas. Upon completing the LL.M. Pro Bono Fellowship, Andrés plans to return to his firm and to continue teaching law. He also is interested in helping to develop the pro bono program of the Mexican Bar Association.
2007-2008 Fellow; Mexico
Mr. López-Coll comes to Columbia from Cervantes, Aguilar-Alvarez y
Sainz, S.C. in Mexico City and brings with him a strong commitment
to pro bono and entrepreneurship. At his firm, Mr. López-Coll is responsible for a legal team that approaches legal matters with creative and innovative solutions. Mr. López-Coll has focused a substantial part of his pro bono service on assisting nonprofit organizations in Mexico that serve the poor and disadvantaged by providing counsel in corporate and regulatory matters in order to enhance their capabilities. Likewise, Mr. López-Coll dedicates a substantial portion of his spare time to acting as legal counsel for a nonprofit organization in Mexico City whose goal is to link immigrants' nonprofit organizations in an effort to generate tangible benefits to immigrants in the social, economic and cultural spheres. Upon completing the LL.M. Pro Bono Fellowship, Mr. López-Coll plans to return to Mexico as senior associate at Cervantes, Aguilar-Alvarez y Sainz, S.C. and hopes to become a partner at the firm.
