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Vance Center for International Justice Adds Six New Committee Members from Top Law Firms
October 16, 2024 – The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice this week announced it has added six new members to its Committee, representing six law firms. They are:
- Geoffrey Chepiga, Partner at Paul, Weiss
- Thomas W. Greenberg, Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Juan Francisco Méndez, Partner at Simpson Thacher
- Juan Pablo Moreno, Partner at Mayer Brown
- Mark Perry, Partner at Weil
- Geiza Vargas-Vargas, Corporate Practice Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig
The Vance Center Committee is composed of leading members of the legal profession in New York City and elsewhere in the United States and the world, including law firm partners representing 28 law firms, members of the judiciary, and corporate counsels. The Committee provides core funding and active member engagement in the Vance Center’s projects, institutional programming and long-term planning.
See more information about each new Committee member below.
Geoffrey Chepiga (Partner, Paul, Weiss) is deputy chair of the Paul, Weiss M&A Litigation Practice Group. He represents clients in a variety of litigation and regulatory matters, including securities fraud cases, mergers and acquisitions litigation and DOJ and SEC investigations, as well as complex shareholder litigations and deal-related disputes before the Delaware Court of Chancery. Geoff is co-chair of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest Pro Bono Advisory Council (PBAC) and serves on the boards of the Mt. Sinai Medical Legal Partnership, the French American Foundation and the Quogue Library.
Thomas W. Greenberg (Partner, Skadden) is a corporate attorney whose practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions (negotiated and hostile), private equity investments, securities transactions and other corporate matters. Mr. Greenberg represents public and private buyers, sellers and target companies, private equity firms and investment banks in a variety of U.S. and cross-border acquisitions and dispositions, spin-offs, investments, joint ventures, restructurings and financings. He also counsels companies on shareholder activism, securities law compliance and corporate governance matters.
Juan Francisco Méndez (Partner, Simpson Thacher) is a Corporate Partner in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s New York office and a core member of the Firm’s Latin America Practice. Juan Francisco has developed close, trusted relationships with many of Latin America’s most renowned corporations, as well as global companies, investment banks and private equity firms acting in the region. He has extensive experience working on cross border transactions, including financings, acquisitions, restructurings, investigations and other complex corporate matters, and seamlessly navigates his clients through diverse legal regimes, cultures and business practices. He regularly engages in pro bono work, where he has represented asylum seekers, non-profits and micro-entrepreneurs, among others. Juan Francisco is a member of the International Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association. He received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law; and his B.A. from the University of Virginia. Juan Francisco is on the board of the Safe Passage Project and the Vance Center, and regularly assists with pro bono work for Pro Mujer.
Juan Pablo Moreno (Partner, Mayer Brown) has unparalleled experience spanning more than 15 years helping clients to negotiate and complete transactions in virtually every Latin American country, as well as in, France and the United States. Such experience, complemented by being admitted to practice law in both civil law (Colombia) and common law (New York and Illinois) jurisdictions, gives Juan Pablo an extensive knowledge of the Latin American region and its particular characteristics. Juan Pablo regularly represents large corporates, sponsors, and financial institutions in cross-border corporate finance, structured finance, and project finance transactions, including lending and securities offerings in the form of 4(a)(2) private placements or Rule 144A/Regulation S offerings. Juan Pablo is recognized as an Expert in Banking & Finance based in the US for Colombian law by Chambers & Partners Global and is fluent in Spanish, English and French.
Mark A. Perry (Partner, Weil) is Co-Head of Weil’s Appeals and Strategic Counseling practice and a member of the Firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation practice. He is a veteran U.S. Supreme Court advocate and legal strategist who focuses on complex business cases in trial and appellate courts around the United States. Mark regularly serves as lead outside appellate counsel to major global companies in their most significant matters. His significant appeals have included most areas of business litigation, including securities, intellectual property, employment, and competition law. He has exceptional experience briefing and arguing cases in the Supreme Court of the United States. Mark also regularly represents clients in federal district courts, frequently serving as litigation strategist in class actions and other complex commercial cases. Before joining Weil, Mark was a partner at another international law firm, where he served as Co-Chair of its nationwide Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group. Earlier, he served as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the Supreme Court of the United States, and to Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Geiza Vargas-Vargas (Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig) is a Shareholder in the firm’s Corporate Practice and Latin America Practice, who is based in Miami. She has worked on complex and highly structured domestic and cross-border transactions in a wide variety of sectors, including renewable energy (solar, battery/BESS, EV, microgrids, bioenergy and alternative fuels), digital infrastructure, technology and consumer markets. She has advised strategic investors and funds in pursuit of low carbon energy or electrification strategies in various joint ventures, joint development agreements, power purchase agreements, recapitalizations and buyouts. She also advises her clients on general corporate matters. She is admitted in Florida, New York, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
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The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, a non-profit program of the New York City Bar Association, promotes global justice by engaging legal professionals around the world to support the work of civil society and an ethically active legal profession. It brings together leading law firms and other partners around the world to promote international justice initiatives and provide pro bono legal representation to civil society organizations that fight for social justice.