We are delighted to announce our Americas IFLR1000 Women Leaders for 2021. This year's guide - the fourth edition - is by far the most comprehensive yet, featuring more than 750 lawyers globally, almost double the number of lawyers we ranked last year. It is a privilege to be able recognise the work of all the outstanding lawyers who appear in our guide.
IFLR1000 Women Leaders are the most prominent female lawyers working in the areas of law we research (financial and corporate transactions and contract, licensing and regulatory project work) within their jurisdictions. This is an elite group of lawyers with outstanding reputations within their markets who either have expertise and experience of working on complex deals, or who have risen to hold leadership roles with their firms or their practices. For some individuals both these things are true.
Research methodology
The IFLR1000 undertakes annual research into the lawyers and firms working in our areas of research. IFLR1000's research teams in Hong Kong, London, New York and Sofia analyse thousands of research submissions, conduct thousands of interviews with law firm partners, and survey tens of thousands of clients to determine IFLR1000's Women Leaders. We consider all female lawyers working in our areas of research as Women Leaders but firms that participate in our research (see guidelines) can nominate individuals and individual lawyers can nominate themselves by taking our Lawyer Survey.
Women Leaders 2021 content
Below you will find links to:
- Online profiles of our featured Women Leaders
- Women Leaders by region and jurisdiction
- Analysis pieces covering diversity and inclusion in the legal profession
- Interviews with high-profile, inspirational female lawyers from across the world focussed around diversity in the legal profession
If you would like to discuss how we can help you promote you or your firm's achievements, please contact Liam Sharkey: lsharkey@iflr.com
Featured Women Leaders
Vivienne Gouthro - Higgs & Johnson, Bahamas
Vivienne Gouthro is an experienced and prominent figure in the Bahamas legal industry. Managing partner of Higgs & Johnson’s Freeport office, she has been practising for more than 25 years in the jurisdiction. A maritime law expert, Gouthro specialises in shipping finance transactions for international lenders.
Christel Sands-Feaste - Higgs & Johnson, Bahamas
Christel Sands-Feaste chairs Higgs & Johnson’s financial services law and regulation and securities and investment funds practice groups. As her titles suggest she had a broad range of expertise and experience. She recently led on an innovative utility securitization which required the legislative framework to be amended and restated.
Ingrid Pierce - Walkers, Cayman Islands
As Global Managing Partner of one of the world’s largest offshore law firms, Ingrid Pierce’s prominence in the legal sector extends well beyond her jurisdiction. Also head of Walkers' Cayman Islands investment funds group, she is considered one the leading lawyers in the industry. She boasts 20 years' experience in funds work, excelling in advising funds on distressed matters.
Jazna Vanessa Oquelí de Riera - García & Bodán, Honduras
García & Bodán’s Honduras managing partner Jazna Vanessa Oquelí de Riera is among the leading female lawyers in the jurisdiction. Her focusses are broad, encompassing banking and finance, corporate transactions and projects, and she has a history of working on innovative deals such as the state’s debut bond sale.
Articles and interviews
Global
- IFLR Market Poll: women lawyers disproportionately affected by Covid-19
- Women Empowering Change: getting more women into leadership roles with American Bar Association, ISDA, Bank for International Settlements – BIS, The Women's Foundation Association of Corporate Counsel, Baker McKenzie, and Hogan Lovells
Americas
United States
- ‘Every organisation must start somewhere’: Veta T Richardson, the Association of Corporate Counsel
- Gender and race in the legal industry: Mary Akhimiem, Bank of America
- New York based Kirkland & Ellis partner Erica Berthou: gender in the legal profession in the United States and her firm's accomplishments in promoting diversity and inclusion
- New York Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton partner Margaret Peponis: gender disparity in the US legal proffession and how she and the firm participate in forums and groups focussed on advancing women lawyers
- Women in Dealmaking Podcast: in conversation with Germaine Gurr, White & Case
Women Leaders by jurisdiction
Argentina
Maria Shakespear - Beccar Varela
María Victoria Funes - Bomchil
Bahamas
Vivienne Gouthro - Higgs & Johnson
Christel Sands-Feaste - Higgs & Johnson
Kimberley Rolle - McKinney Bancroft & Hughes
Barbados
Bermuda
Bolivia
Mariana Pereira N - Indacochea & Asociados Abogados
Brazil
Camila Goldberg BMA - Barbosa Müssnich Aragão
Maria Cristina Cescon - Cescon Barrieu Flesch & Barreto Advogados
Claudette Christian - Hogan Lovells
Isabel Costa Carvalho - Hogan Lovells
Eliana Chimenti - Machado Meyer Sendacz Opice Advogados
Adriana Pallis - Machado Meyer Sendacz Opice Advogados
British Virgin Islands
Rachael McDonald - Mourant Ozannes
Canada
Catherine Doyle - Blake Cassels & Graydon
Pamela Huff - Blake Cassels & Graydon
Jane Dietrich - Cassels Brock & Blackwell
Carol Pennycook - Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
Patricia Olasker - Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
Natasha MacParland - Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
Ana Badour - McCarthy Tétrault
Linda Brown - McCarthy Tétrault
Nancy Carroll - McCarthy Tétrault
Sandra Abitan - Osler Hoskin & Harcourt
Tracy Sandler - Osler Hoskin & Harcourt
Elizabeth Pillon - Stikeman Elliott
Amanda Balasubramanian - Torys
Cayman Islands
Catherine Pham - Mourant Ozannes
Chile
Patricia Silberman - Carey
Myriam Barahona - Morales & Besa
Colombia
Ximena Zuleta - Dentons Cárdenas & Cárdenas
Mariana Posse - Posse Herrera Ruiz
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Mariángela Pellerano - Pellerano & Herrera
Ecuador
María Rose Fabara - Fabara & Compañía Abogados
El Salvador
Ana Patricia Portillo Reyes - Latamlex
Guatemala
Claudia Pereira - Mayora & Mayora
Honduras
Jazna Vanessa Oquelí de Riera - García & Bodán
Jamaica
Gina Phillipps Black - Myers Fletcher & Gordon
Mexico
Pilar Mata Fernández - Mijares Angoitia Cortés & Fuentes
Vanessa Franyutti Jr - Nader Hayaux & Goebel
Nicaruga
Gloria María de Alvarado - Alvarado & Asociados
Panama
Cristina Lewis de la Guardia - Galindo Arias & López
Kharla Aizpurua Olmos - Morgan & Morgan
Paraguay
Perla Alderete - Vouga Abogados
Cynthia Fatecha - Vouga Abogados
Peru
Susan Castillo - Payet Rey Cauvi Pérez Abogados
Veronica Sattler - Rodrigo Elías & Medrano Abogados
United States
Jennifer Ezring - Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Kimberly Petillo-Décossard - Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Elizabeth Lenas - Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Francesca Odell - Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Margaret Peponis - Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Faiza Saeed - Cravath Swaine & Moore
Tatiana Lapushchik - Cravath Swaine & Moore
Margaret Tahyar - Davis Polk & Wardwell
Nora Jordan - Davis Polk & Wardwell
Madlyn Gleich Primoff - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Melissa Raciti-Knapp - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Barbara Becker - Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Linda Curtis - Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Erica Berthou - Kirkland & Ellis
Melissa Hutson - Kirkland & Ellis
Linda Myers - Kirkland & Ellis
Jennifer Perkins - Kirkland & Ellis
Carol Hitselberger - Mayer Brown
Elizabeth Raymond - Mayer Brown
Carolina Walther-Meade - Milbank
Joanne Soslow - Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Nancy Mitchell - O'Melveny & Myers
Cathleen McLaughlin - Paul Hastings
Laurel FitzPatrick - Ropes & Gray
Julie Jones - Ropes & Gray
Stephanie Breslow - Schulte Roth & Zabel
Lisa Jacobs - Shearman & Sterling
Donna Parisi - Shearman & Sterling
Antonia Stolper - Shearman & Sterling
Cynthia Urda Kassis - Shearman & Sterling
Elizabeth Cooper - Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Jennifer Hobbs - Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Roxane Reardon - Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Marni Lerner - Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Kathryn Sudol - Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Stephanie Teicher - Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Eileen Nugent - Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Allison Schneirov - Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Alison Ressler - Sullivan & Cromwell
Marilyn French Shaw - Weil Gotshal & Manges
Arlene Arin Hahn - White & Case
Dolly Mirchandani - White & Case
Franca Harris Gutierrez - WilmerHale
Uruguay
Mariana Estradé - Hughes & Hughes