Steptoe is pleased to announce that Brigida Benitez has joined the firm as a partner in the International Regulation & Compliance and Commercial Litigation practices. Ms. Benitez will be resident in the Washington office, bringing with her almost 20 years of experience in complex litigation, anti-corruption and investigations. Her practice focuses on high stakes dispute resolution, including international litigation and arbitration, and internal investigations and anti-corruption issues, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), with a particular emphasis on Latin America.
Ms. Benitez most recently served as chief of the Office of Institutional Integrity of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). During her tenure at the IDB, she served as a member of the senior management team, reporting directly to the IDB president and to the audit committee of the board, and overseeing a staff of attorneys, auditors and other professionals. She worked closely with leading international financial institutions to harmonize investigative processes and sanctions procedures.
In welcoming Ms. Benitez, Steptoe Chair Roger Warin noted: “In recent years, international financial institutions, led by the World Bank, have taken an increasingly important role in anti-corruption enforcement by putting in place internal rules governing bank-financed projects prohibiting fraud and corruption, among other types of misconduct, and imposing sanctions, including debarment, financial penalties, compliance monitoring and disclosure programs on companies found to have violated those rules. Brigida’s experience at the IDB, where she worked closely with her counterparts at other multilateral development banks, and handled investigations and anti-corruption matters, coupled with her private practice experience in high stakes complex litigation and internal investigations, will further enhance Steptoe’s compliance and anti-corruption capabilities, particularly in counseling and representing clients in World Bank and other international financial institution investigations, sanctions proceedings, cross-debarment matters and voluntary disclosures. Brigida also will further enhance our capabilities in Latin America, where there are growing opportunities in litigation and arbitration as well as FCPA investigations.”
“Steptoe has a strong reputation in the two primary areas of my practice: international regulation and compliance, and complex litigation,” said Ms. Benitez. “I am looking forward to working with the many talented lawyers in both practice areas, as well as utilizing the contacts I forged and the experience I gained during my time at the IDB and in private practice to help the firm further its reach into Latin America.”
Prior to joining the IDB, Ms. Benitez was a partner in private practice, where she focused on complex commercial disputes, including litigation and arbitration, as well as internal corporate investigations. Ms. Benitez directed internal investigations of a multinational corporation’s operating companies in South America involving FCPA issues, in which she managed multiple teams of lawyers in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and she led a significant internal investigation with potential FCPA implications for a leading multinational institution’s subsidiary in Mexico. She served as lead counsel in a multi-million dollar international arbitration resulting in a successful award before a tribunal of the American Arbitration Association, and as lead trial counsel for a $120 million private equity fund in a lawsuit involving claims of fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties. Ms. Benitez also second-chaired a landmark victory for diversity for higher education before the US Supreme court on behalf of the University of Michigan.
Ms. Benitez has received numerous awards and honors including being named Hispanic Business magazine’s “Woman of the Year” and one of the “100 Most Influential US Hispanics.” She has been named “Latina Lawyer of the Year” by the Hispanic National Bar Association, and one of Washingtonian magazine’s “40 Lawyers Under 40.” She has served in numerous leadership positions in professional associations and non-profit organizations.
Ms. Benitez earned her law degree, cum laude, from Boston College Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Boston College Law Review. She received a journalism degree with high honors from the University of Florida, where she was on the President’s Honor Roll and the Dean’s List.
The arrival of Ms. Benitez continues the expansion of Steptoe’s Latin American practice. In April, the firm welcomed Pablo Bentes, a native of Brazil who most recently served six years as a legal officer in the Appellate Body Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. Mr. Bentes, who joined the firm’s International Trade and International Regulatory Compliance practice groups as a director, also resides in the firm’s Washington office, but will travel regularly to Brazil and other parts of Latin America in connection with Steptoe’s expanding practice in Brazil and South America more generally.
