Conversations at the Top ◙ Miguel Zaldivar ◙

From Venezuela to Miami to Washington, DC, Miguel Zaldivar carved his own legal legacy as a global lawyer. The Hogan Lovells CEO shares his journey of determination and commitment in Conversations at the Top.

Words by
FRANNIE SPROULS

Photo + Video by
CASS DAVIS

Design by
ARTURO MAGALLANES

OCTOBER 24, 2024

In the early 2000s, Miguel Zaldivar and a team of Latino colleagues in Miami were looking for a global platform for their clients. They had tried to persuade the firm they were with at the time to merge to gain access to the strategically important commercial and legal markets of New York, Washington, and London. But the answer they received was, not now.

Zaldivar was in Honduras when he got a call from then partner José Valdivia (now a Hogan Lovells partner as well as the firm’s chief legal officer) saying that they had received an offer from Hogan Lovells’ predecessor firm. Zaldivar told Valdivia to accept.

Valdivia protested, saying, “You don’t know how much you’re going to make,” Zaldivar recalls. “I said, ‘I don’t care. I only need a desk and a global platform. We’ll make it work.’”

In the following twenty-two years, Zaldivar has created a legacy at Hogan Lovells, now one of the largest law firms in the world by both revenue and size. He built a project finance practice focused on investment from Asia into Latin America and served as cohead of the firm’s Latin American practice. He was the firm’s regional managing partner for the Asia, Pacific, Middle East region, a member of the global board, and served as coleader of the firm’s infrastructure, energy, resources, and projects practice.

In 2020, Zaldivar was elected the firm’s CEO, and in 2023 he was unanimously reelected to serve a second four-year term.

One of only a few Latino leaders at any major law firm, Zaldivar brings a unique set of skills and experiences to his role. Having lived and worked on four continents, his leadership reflects the global nature of Hogan Lovells, which has more than 2,600 lawyers across the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

His first year, 2020, wasn’t an easy year to step into the role of CEO, but Zaldivar confidently led the firm through the first year of the pandemic and its economic consequences.

“I don’t often feel intimidated,” he explains. “For me to be truly fearful is rare; I have a calm personality that helps me deal with crises, analyze the options, and gather feedback without causing panic.”

His leadership is defined by a focus to build on the firm’s historic strengths while driving innovation, and under his guidance the firm has risen to become one of only a few fully financially integrated global elite law firms.

Zaldivar’s journey illustrates both the challenges faced by many immigrants seeking a better life in the United States—and the rewards that can come through a willingness to work hard and take risks.

The Zaldivar Legacy

Zaldivar is a fourth-generation lawyer. His great-grandfather was an appellate judge in Havana. His grandfather served on the Supreme Court prior to the Castro revolution. His parents fled Cuba and settled in Venezuela as political refugees, where his father went from selling magazines on the street to eventually becoming a partner at Baker McKenzie’s first office overseas.

Zaldivar learned from his grandfather by reading his books while a law student at Universidad Catolica in Caracas and from his father by working alongside him. He spent four years at Baker McKenzie, one of the first lawyers allowed to work in the same firm as another family member. It was a competitive environment, and he had to overcome the presumption that he had gotten the position because of his father. In fact, Baker McKenzie had acquired Zaldivar’s legal team from another Venezuelan firm.

“My dad is one of my best friends,” he says. “He’s a tough litigator with a strong personality, and I went into that job not knowing what to expect. We hit it off quite well from day one—we are very different, but we complemented each other.”

Both Zaldivar’s mother and wife have had strong influences in his journey as well. He remembers his mother as an unfailing advocate during low moments. At her insistence he learned English, allowing him to eventually build his career in America.

He met his wife, Anna, in law school (“a very smart student who became a brilliant lawyer”) and she has been his partner every step of the way. “From very early on, I had a friend and a tutor with greater judgment when it came to the decisions that we were going to have to face during our studies and our career,” he says.

There came a point when Zaldivar realized that he wanted to build something of his own. So he left Baker McKenzie—and Venezuela—to start again in America.

“It was a shocking move to my father. It was shocking to my colleagues at Baker McKenzie. It was certainly shocking to my mom,” Zaldivar says. “But my wife and I made that joint decision, and we don’t regret it.”

MIGUEL ZALDIVAR
CEO
Hogan Lovells

CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP: MIGUEL ZALDIVAR ◙

“I experienced in America the challenges of our diverse community and I saw that as an opportunity to lead, and it marked me in a positive way. It showed me that with the right support, diverse talent in this country can achieve their dreams”

CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP: MIGUEL ZALDIVAR ◙

The American Dream

The seed for Zaldivar’s American Dream was planted at his first job during law school with the firm Lares Tejera in Venezuela. Enrique Tejera-Paris, former Venezuelan Secretary of State and ambassador to the US, told him about the Fulbright program, and the potential to pursue advanced law studies abroad.

Zaldivar took that advice and became a Fulbright scholar at the University of Illinois College of Law, and during this time, landed a job as a lawyer-from-abroad at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC.

“I walked in as a junior lawyer, and I walked out as a proper global lawyer,” Zaldivar says. He had two successful Latino lawyers as his mentors at Covington: partner Oscar Garibaldi and associate Carlos Vázquez. From them, he learned to analyze highly complex issues with the sophistication that comes from practicing at a top-of-the-market firm.

He saw firsthand the economic advantages that comes from operating in a legal system guided by the rule of law—where there are serious consequences for bribery, corruption, tax fraud, and other illegal behavior.

“The rule of law that is the lynchpin of our legal system was one of the chief motivating factors that led me to build my career in the United States,” Zaldivar says.

After Covington, Zaldivar became a summer associate at an elite Miami law firm, Steel Hector & Davis. It was there where that he met the Latino colleagues who would become some of his closest friends, and later partners at Hogan Lovells. He worked with managing partner Joseph P. Klock, whom Zaldivar describes as a visionary; Klock foresaw that Miami was the gateway to the Americas before many did. The pair developed a close connection, one that would be essential when Zaldivar and his wife decided to pursue their American Dream.

The couple made their decision to pursue their careers in the United States in 1992, before political upheaval in Venezuela. Zaldivar accepted an offer to rejoin Steel Hector (with a significantly reduced compensation package) and had to go back to school while working at the firm to secure a US Juris Doctor degree, required to qualify for the Florida Bar exam. The visa process was also challenging, but one they were able to navigate thanks to Roy Barquet (now a partner at Foley & Lardner), who provided valuable pro bono assistance to secure an O1 visa (which is granted to “Aliens of Extraordinary Abilities”), saving Zaldivar and his wife from deportation.

“What motivated me, at twenty-eight years of age, and Anna, my wife and lifetime partner, to leave our stable jobs, roots, friends, and family behind was our shared belief that in the United States hard work can lead to success, the rule of law is respected, and social mobility is possible,” Zaldivar says.

On May 26, 1993, the couple crossed through immigration full of energy. They celebrated with Wendy’s hamburgers. “That was huge, making that decision, working hard to get the visa and arrive,” he says. “We celebrated like you wouldn’t believe.”

No Place Like Hogan Lovells

Zaldivar doesn’t like to change jobs. A not-so-shocking reveal for someone who has been at Hogan Lovells for more than twenty years. “When I commit to something, I commit to it,” he says.

But a milestone moment in his career came from just that: changing jobs.

Having been at Steel Hector for just under ten years, his team had reached a level of success that required a bigger, global platform.

Four factors drew Zaldivar and his team to Hogan Lovells. The first was that the firm was truly global—with a major presence in London, Europe, and Asia. The second was that Hogan Lovells was also a long-time Washington regulatory powerhouse, the importance of which Zaldivar had learned from his time at Covington. The third was that the team was welcomed with open arms by the management committee and then CEO Warren Gorrell. Gorrell and his executive team hosted the group of Latinos joining from Miami for dinner after the interview in Washington, DC.

“They were so kind, so polite, so warm, so direct,” Zaldivar recalls. “We felt after that dinner that this was home. This was our final professional home because the culture of the firm manifested at that dinner. It was a healthy combination of being ambitious while being supportive.”

In a full-circle moment, Zaldivar and his management team would go on to identify the firm’s two cultural values as ambitious and supportive—and have worked to elevate these values into everything the firm does.

The fourth—and key—reason Zaldivar and his team chose Hogan Lovells was that it was a well-managed firm with a solid balance sheet. It was clear throughout the interview process that the pressure was not on the fees but on the quality of the work.

This focus on getting the business basics right and providing very high-quality service, have also informed Zaldivar’s approach to leadership.

On January 16, 2002, Zaldivar and his team made the move to Hogan Lovells and never looked back.

The Road to CEO

Zaldivar didn’t set out to become Hogan Lovells’ CEO. The journey began with building a practice, a name, and a reputation. He and his team were determined to propel the Miami office to success but were starting from scratch.

“The firm had never been known in Latin America,” he says. There were other firms—Shearman & Sterling, Cleary, Arnold & Porter, and Clifford Chance, for example—that were known in Latin America but didn’t have a presence in Miami. “We felt that working from Miami would give us an edge, an opportunity to start developing the brand and the name. And we’re now ranked at the highest level in the Latin American region.”

On day one, Zaldivar was the cohead of the Latin American practice group. After a few years, the firm opened an office in Caracas, Venezuela, and Zaldivar was named comanaging partner of that office. The group expanded to Houston, Washington, New York, and London.

It was the success of the Latin American practice that led Zaldivar to tackle his next challenge: building on the momentum of the merger between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells in 2010. Zaldivar teamed up with London partner Adrian Walker to build and manage an infrastructure development team that now operates on every continent. During that time, Zaldivar was also persuading Gorrell to consider another potential opportunity: expansion into Mexico.

In 2014, Hogan Lovells merged with Barrera, Siqueiros, y Torres Landa. “I was gratified to learn that management in Washington and London listened to people with diverse backgrounds who had ideas that were out of the box, and that they were very supportive,” Zaldivar says. “People here are brave. They are not afraid of innovating. And when we take a challenge on, we do it the right way.”

Zaldivar accomplished all of this while building a globally recognized practice. Throughout his career, Zaldivar has closed complex cross-border transactions totaling in excess of $75 billion. Notable work includes the representation of long-time client, the Republic of Ecuador, in numerous energy projects and in its return to international capital markets (raising billions of dollars in global bonds); representing Pemex in a $2 billion joint venture formed by Braskem from Brazil and Idesa from Mexico to develop an ethylene plant; and advising Walmart’s acquisition of a controlling interest in the leading supermarket chain in Central America, CARHCO, in what was the largest M&A transaction in Central America’s history at the time. He is particularly proud of a thirty-year relationship with Guatemala’s Pepsi bottling company CBC, as it has grown to become a leading Latin American multinational.

Zaldivar was elected (and reelected) to the firm’s global board to represent the US offices, and then moved to Hong Kong to serve as the firm’s regional managing partner for the Asia, Pacific, Middle East region. In Hong Kong, Zaldivar’s goal was to achieve maximum potential for Hogan Lovells and better connect the American side of the firm with Asia. He also wanted to empower local leadership: The head of Singapore should be Singaporean, the head of Indonesia should be Indonesian, etc. It sounds like common sense now, he notes, but it was revolutionary at the time.

When then CEO Steve Immelt announced he would be stepping down, the board decided there would be an open, competitive selection process. While happy with his role in Asia and initially hesitant to be considered for the position, Zaldivar agreed to be part of the selection process after speaking with supportive colleagues.

Zaldivar took another risk to uproot his family and return to America.

Conversations at the Top with Miguel Zaldivar

First-Term Successes

Known for his almost superhuman energy and drive, Zaldivar has made the most of his first term as CEO.

FY 2023 was a transformative year for Hogan Lovells, and the firm experienced record financial results across all key metrics, including revenue, profits per equity partner, and revenue per lawyer. The $2.68 billion in revenue reported was a nearly half-billion increase in revenue in the four years since Zaldivar assumed his role.

Under Zaldivar’s leadership, the firm has implemented an array of successful initiatives to cement the firm’s position as one of only a few global elite law firms. His accomplishments include turbocharging the firm’s entrepreneurial culture, investing in growth in key sectors and markets, putting tools in place to ensure Hogan Lovells continues to attract top talent and be seen as the employer of choice, and delivering on the firm’s commitments to society through pro bono, DEI, and ESG.d delivering on the firm’s commitments to society through pro bono, DEI, and ESG.

He led efforts to deepen the firm’s institutional client base, leading to growth in demand at a time when demand for legal services was largely flat across the industry. He introduced a new global program to build a more entrepreneurial mindset across the firm.

He is leading a firmwide effort to create deeper cross-sector collaboration, focusing business development around two transformative trends—digitalization and energy transition.

Under Zaldivar’s leadership, the firm has embraced artificial intelligence (AI) technology to deliver high-quality legal services more efficiently and to guide clients on the many opportunities AI presents across sectors. In 2023, the firm launched ELTEMATE, a standalone legal tech brand that has already created several innovative products including CRAIG, a generative AI solution.

Being viewed as a global employer of choice is vital for the continued success of the firm, and under Zaldivar, the firm has created a comprehensive program to ensure lawyers and business professionals view Hogan Lovells as a great place to develop their careers.

CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP: MIGUEL ZALDIVAR ◙

“I am proud to work in a profession where we as lawyers are stewards of the rule of law. In my position, I have seen firsthand the strength that comes from building a business with integrity and in helping our clients do the same.”

CONVERSATIONS AT THE TOP: MIGUEL ZALDIVAR ◙

Global Approach to Diversity

Zaldivar’s rise as the CEO of a global legal powerhouse is a rarity in the profession. According to the American Bar Association National Lawyer Population Survey, Hispanic lawyers make up 6 percent of US attorneys. In 2022, 11.4 percent of all law firm partners were lawyers of color, according to the National Association for Law Placement Report on Diversity in US Law Firms. Among those partners, 3 percent were Hispanic. Only 1 percent of US law firm partners are Latinas.

Zaldivar’s experiences as a diverse lawyer and leader have shaped his deep commitment to DEI and he has made this one of the firm’s top strategic priorities.

“There is a tremendous benefit to people feeling like they belong,” he says. “I think it makes us a better organization. People are engaged. People are motivated. It leads to the growth of our people and greater success for our firm and our clients.”

Hogan Lovells has made great strides in walking the walk when it comes to DEI. Twenty-nine percent of its partners are women, and 58 percent of its partner promotions in 2023 were women. In the US and UK, 13.5 percent of its partners are racially and ethnically diverse and 3.8 percent identify as LGBTQ+.

The firm has been ranked among the top ten on the American Lawyer’s Diversity Scorecard, received Mansfield Rule Certification from the Diversity Lab, and was named one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.

DEI is a core part of the Hogan Lovells culture. “It’s important to our people, and our clients want to see that,” he explains. “We put our clients at the center of everything we do. Our clients are global, and they expect a global approach.”

“I believe that having grown up as an outsider, being ethnically diverse, being so familiar with the challenges that people experience, gave me the ability to talk the talk but also to walk the walk,” Zaldivar says. “There are too many people in our industry saying the right things but not acting accordingly. I experienced in America the challenges of our diverse community and I saw that as an opportunity to lead, and it marked me in a positive way.

“It showed me that with the right support, diverse talent in this country can achieve their dreams.”

Leadership Commitment

As Zaldivar reflects upon his journey, he is very thankful to his family, friends, and colleagues who have helped him at the many inflection points of his career, from a young lawyer working in Venezuela to the leader of a top global law firm.

He and Anna are also deeply grateful to have been able to raise their children in a country that enables social mobility through hard work. Daughter Alessandra, a graduate of Wellesley College, WashU Law, and Sorbonne University, works as privacy counsel at the Walt Disney Corporation; son Miguel, a Wharton grad finishing his MBA at Yale will be rejoining Goldman Sachs following his graduation.

“My wife and I faced numerous challenges along the way to realizing our American Dream,” Zaldivar says. “We had to build our own support network, navigating a different culture while operating in a second language. But we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to build this life in America, a democratic nation where the rule of law is respected and where we are confident that our children will also achieve their dreams.”

His advice to others building their careers here is to do it around something you love, work hard, and be willing to take risks.

“One more thing,” he adds thoughtfully. “I am proud to work in a profession where we as lawyers are stewards of the rule of law. In my position, I have seen firsthand the strength that comes from building a business with integrity and in helping our clients do the same.” ◙

CREDITS

Editorial Direction
Frannie Sprouls

Words
frannie sprouls

Photo + Video
CASS DAVIS

Design + Art Direction
Arturo Magallanes

Web Development
Jose Reinaldo Montoya