Dr. Alfredo L. Rovira

During his extensive practice he was involved in major projects such as the structuring and negotiation of the largest gas pipeline in Argentina ("The Center West Gas Pipeline" Gasoducto Centro Oeste) for which project, teaming up with international prestigious law firms, put together the "Project Financing" for such project, having been the largest project financing ever put together in Argentina. Gasoducto Centro Oeste is one of the 3 largest gas pipelines in the world.

He also was the Project Leader for the legal structuring of several multinational companies establishing in Argentina, such as General Motors Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, Standard & Poors, SHV Holdings NV (Supermercados Mayoristas Makro S.A.), Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, etc. and negotiated and worked in relevant acquisitions in Argentina for major multinationals such as The Clorox Company, Owens Illinois, Inc., WPP Group Plc., Publicis Groupe S.A., etc.

Dr. Rovira was a member of the Steering Committee created by Decree 958/1991 for the drafting of a General Arbitration Law and was called to act as a consultant to the Ministry of Finance in the drafting of the Corporate Governance and Transparency Bill passed by Decree 677/2001.

Dr. Rovira acted as arbitrator and counsel to parties in arbitrations, both as claimant or defendants and was retained to act as expert witness by the Government of Argentina in an ICSID arbitration and by several foreign law firms and companies in contract disputes involving Argentine laws issues in litigations conducted in Austria, Brazil, Spain and the USA and in international arbitrations. Also acted (and continues acting) as lead counsel in major and complex domestic litigations, which included litigations with the Argentine Security Exchange Commission (Comisión Nacional de Valores) and the Antitrust Agency (Comisión Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia).

Dr. Rovira coordinated the group of Argentine lawyers providing support to foreign counsels concerning Argentine legal aspects of the defense of a major insurance company in litigation proceedings in New York and London involving political risk insurance claims after the Argentine 2001 crisis.

After leaving Brons & Salas he founded this boutique firm focusing on the high-quality legal service with a flexible organization, focusing on the needs of clients, minimizing fixed costs and offering high-quality legal service at reasonable costs to its clients, other law firms and/or internal legal departments of companies and family businesses.

Since 1976, Dr. Rovira has been serving as Professor of Commercial Law at the School of Law of the University of Buenos Aires. In recognition of his varied and extensive academic activity, Dr. Rovira has been appointed as a Chair Consulting Professor (Profesor Titular Consulto) by appointment of the High Council of the University of Buenos Aires and Member of the Juris Doctor Council of the School of Law of the University of Buenos Aires (2019-2020).

Dr. Rovira has served as a Professor of Corporate Law at the School of Economic Sciences of the same university.

He has been teaching Post Graduate Courses and courses at the Master’s in Business Law Programs at different universities (Universidad Austral 1992/2006, Buenos Aires y Rosario; Universidad Notarial Argentina, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa y Universidad Siglo XXI) and at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina and University of Buenos Aires since 2007.

In addition, he has been a visiting professor of Post Graduate Courses in Business Law at several Bar Associations in Argentina and Faculty and panelist at CLE Programs organized by the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association.

His books on corporate law and on foreign companies are of extensive use and permanent reference as bibliography to consult with, both by scholars, judges, lawyers and students in Argentina.

Dr. Rovira is the author of “Pactos de Socios” (Shareholders’ Agreements), Astrea Publishing House, Buenos Aires, 2006; “Sociedades Extranjeras” (Foreign Companies), Abeledo Perrot, Buenos Aires, 1985 and co-authored “Cuadernos de Derecho Societario” (Argentine Corporate Law, 4 Vols.), Buenos Aires, 1973-1988.

Additionally, he is the author of the Chapter “Abusiva utilización de las formas y mecanismos societarios como fundamento para declarar su ilegitimidad” (Excessive use of corporate structures and mechanisms as grounds for declaring their illegitimacy) in Temas de Derecho Comercial Moderno (Subjects of Modern Commercial Law), Depalma Publishing House, Buenos Aires, 1998; “Attachment of Assets”, Argentina Chapter, Juris Publishing House, New York, U.S.A., 1999; and Chapter “La remuneración de los directores” (Directors’ Remuneration) in “Estudios sobre el Directorio de la Sociedad Anónima” (Discussion about the Board of Directors of a Corporation), Ad-Hoc Publishing House, Buenos Aires, 1999. “Enforcement of Money Judgments Abroad”, Chapter I “Argentina”, Matthew Bender, U.S.A., 1988; “Bank Security and Other Credit Enhancement Methods”, Chapter I: Argentina, Kluwer Law International, The Hague-London-Boston, 1995. He was the editor of “Doing Business in Argentina”, published by the American Bar Association, Section of International Law & Practice, U.S.A., 2000, and the author of chapters “Foreign Investment and Transfer of Technology” and “Intellectual Property Protection” of such book. He is the co-author of Chapter 13 “Argentina” in Collier International Business Insolvency Guide, Lexis Nexis Publishing House, U.S.A., 2002; and of Security Interests under Argentine Law, Chapter I “Argentina”, Kluwer Law International, London, U.K., 2002.

He was the editor of “Empresa en crisis” (Companies in Crisis) where he was also the author of chapter “Responsabilidad por Insolvencia y Capital Social” (Liability for Insolvency and Corporate Capital), Astrea Publishing House, Buenos Aires, 2005. He is the author of the Chapter “La Empresa en la Concepción Moderna de los Contratos” (Companies in Modern Contracts) in “Tratado de la Empresa” (Treatise on Companies), Vol. II, Ana Piaggi, editor, Ed. Abeledo Perrot, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2010. He is the author of the Chapters on “Derecho de Información” (Shareholders’ Information Rights), in “Tratado de los Conflictos Societarios” (Treatise on Corporate Conflicts), Vol. II, Diego Duprat, editor, Ed. Abeledo Perrot, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2013.

Dr. Rovira has authored numerous papers in the areas of his expertise (business laws in general, corporate law, antitrust, contract laws, insolvency and reorganizations) in various specialized publications and legal magazines in Argentina and abroad.

Dr. Rovira is a Certified Mediator and Arbitrator in domestic and international arbitrations and served as a member of the Special Legislative Committee created by Decree No. 958/91 for the drafting of a General Arbitration Law and served by invitation of the Secretary of Finance of the Ministry of Economy, Argentina as a consultant in the drafting process of the Corporate Governance Statute enacted by Decree 677/2001.

Dr. Rovira is a member of the roster of international arbitrators at the International Center of Dispute Resolution of the American Arbitration Association, Standing Arbitration Panel of the Commercial Dispute Resolution Center of the Americas, Miami, Florida, USA. and other arbitration panels. At the American Bar Association, Section of International Law and Practice he served as a coordinating member for Argentina (1995-1999) and as representative of Foreign Lawyers on the American Bar Association Council of such Section. From 2000 to 2002 he served as co-chair of the Inter-American Law Committee of the American Bar Association, Section of International Law and Practice. From 2002 to 2003 he served as Chair of the Inter-American Law Committee. From 2003 to 2006 acted as a member of the Latin America Law Initiative Council Advisory Council of the American Bar Association. From 2005 to 2007 he was the Vice-Chair of the International Securities and Capital Markets Committee, and at the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association he currently serves as Vice-Chair of the International Litigation Sub-Committee of the Business and Corporate Litigation Committee, and served as co-Vice Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee (2012-2014) and Chair of the International Developments Subcommittee of the Corporate Governance Committee (2010-2012).

From 2000 to 2004, he served as Board Member of the Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires and from 2004 to 2006, he served as Chairman of the Commercial Law Committee at the same organization. Dr. Rovira has been a member of the Honorary Advisory Council on Antitrust Matters of the Cámara de Sociedades Anónimas (2000-2015) as well as member of the Legal Consulting Committee to the Board of such Association (2000-2017). Since 1992 up to 2015, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina (AMCHAM); and since 1988 up to now, he has served as President of the Tax and Legal Affairs Committee of AMCHAM.

Dr. Rovira speaks, reads and writes Spanish and English and has full reading capacity in French, Italian and Portuguese.