Biography
Diego Pérez Ara is a Partner at the Miami, Florida office of León Cosgrove Jiménez, LLP. Civil and common law-trained, he helps clients navigate the murky waters of complex international disputes. His practice involves international and domestic arbitration (under most major institutional rules) federal and state court litigation, and proceedings before government regulatory agencies.
Mr. Pérez Ara has represented foreign and domestic corporates and sovereigns before Venezuelan and U.S. courts and all major arbitral institutions. His dual qualification allows him to understand the cultural and legal differences between the various legal systems and to help clients in whatever forum they may find themselves.
Mr. Pérez Ara has over a decade of experience navigating domestic and international disputes from inception through trial. He has successfully defended and prosecuted contract, non-compete, copyright, trademark, business torts and related matters. Mr. Pérez Ara has also handled international disputes, with a focus on Latin America, in energy, real estate, infrastructure and other industries, and both for and against sovereign governments.
Prior to joining León Cosgrove Jiménez, LLP, Mr. Pérez Ara worked at a large international law firm in New York and clerked for the Hon. Kathleen M. Williams, U.S. District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. While attending BU Law School, he was a research assistant for international arbitrator William (“Rusty”) Park and a teaching assistant for the BU Law LLM writing program.
Previously, Mr. Pérez Ara worked as a litigation associate in a major Venezuelan law firm in Caracas, focusing on international litigation and administrative law. As a civil law-trained lawyer, he has appeared before the Constitutional and Political-Administrative Chambers of the Supreme Court of Justice in Venezuela and before Superior and Trial Courts in Civil, Commercial, Labor and Administrative matters.