Profile: Pedro J Martinez-Fraga

Commercial Litigation

Biography: Commercial Litigation

Pedro J Martinez-Fraga is a lawyer at Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP, where he serves as coordinator for the Florida and Latin American IDR practice group and deputy coordinator for this practice group firm-wide. He received his JD from Columbia University in 1987 where he was designated a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar and awarded second place in the National Defense Council National Law School Writing Competition ('Choosing a Forum Without Losing a Contract', Defense Council Journal, Vol. 55, April, 1988). He received his BA from St John's College, Annapolis, where he was designated a faculty scholar, Johnston trust scholar, and awarded the Senator Tidings Award for Oratory.

Mr Martinez-Fraga has lectured and published widely in the area of international law and civil procedure. He is the author of four books on private international law and is the president of the global dispute resolution centre of the Maiestas Foundation.

He has represented as lead counsel the Republics of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the Kingdom of Spain, as well as numerous geopolitical instrumentalities and subdivisions of South American and European countries.

Mr Martinez-Fraga has prosecuted numerous cases before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti. He is currently lead North American counsel for the CDE (Chile's Department of Justice) in pending actions against former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Among Mr Martinez-Fraga's awards and recognitions are 'Most Effective Lawyer Award for International Law', Daily Business Review, 2005; Best Lawyers in America (2005 and 2006 editions); Chambers & Partners USA Guide (national rank), 2004-2005 edition; Chambers & Partners Global Guide, 2006 edition; '2001 Lawyer of the Americas', by the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review; listed as one of the 'Top Lawyers in South Florida' by the South Florida Legal Guide, 2001 through 2005 editions; listed in 'Best of the Bar', by the South Florida Business Journal, 2003 through 2005 editions; was selected 2001 'Lawyer of the Americas' by the University of Miami School of Law; and is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI) since 1999.

Mr Martinez-Fraga is on the approved list of counsel for defendants and victims of the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Mr Martinez-Fraga is a visiting professor at the Universidad de Navarra School of Law and an adjunct professor of law at the University of Miami, where he teaches international litigation and transnational arbitration.