Gerardo Prado Hernandez

Gerardo Prado Hernández is corporate attorney in Holland & Knight's Monterrey office. Mr. Prado advises local and international clients on corporate, commercial, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), general regulatory compliance and energy projects, with an emphasis on renewable energy. He has more than 30 years of experience guiding local and foreign investors in establishing, resizing, restructuring and selling their operations in Mexico.

Mr. Prado is responsible for ensuring that all legal matters that impact the projects and operations of his clients – including without limitation, corporate, real estate, tax and regulatory aspects – are properly considered, He also supervises litigation and administrative procedures relevant to clients.

As a result of his years of work in multiple direct investment projects, joint ventures, acquisitions, reorganizations, asset segregation or sales, and company dissolution and liquidation processes, Mr. Prado has gained in-depth knowledge and experience in the automotive, steel, electrical, electronic and retail sales sectors. In addition, he regularly carries out general supervision of projects related to contractual matters, company incorporation and divestment operations.

Mr. Prado has extensive knowledge in the energy, electricity and renewable energy sectors. He has obtained certification as a consultant in the matter of the Wholesale Electricity Market from the National Center for Energy Control (CENACE).

Industry sources praise Mr. Prado skills, saying he is:

Strongly committed to working within client deadlines

– The Legal 500 Latin America 2023 guide

Deep knowledge of the energy sector

– The Legal 500 Latin America 2023 guide

In addition, Mr. Prado has been a professor of commercial companies, commercial arbitration and introduction to the study of law at the Cervantina University, the Institute of Legal Sciences in Monterrey and Green Hills College.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Prado worked for a leading Mexican law firm, where he served as co-administrator and managing partner from 2005 to 2014. He also served as president of Fundación Appleseed México, a nonprofit social justice network with centers in the U.S. and Mexico, from 2018 to 2022.

Mr. Prado has been involved for many years in legal pro bono projects, including drafting and lobbying laws reforms directed to children protection (foster family in Nuevo León), animal wellbeing (at the state and local levels in Nuevo León) and to promote the work of nonprofit organizations and groups in the state.

Additionally, Mr. Prado is a frequent contributor on various energy-related notes and articles in Nuevo León's Energy Cluster publications as well as often quoted in newspapers on renewable energy-related matters in Nuevo León. He also has been a speaker at multiple presentations regarding doing business in Mexico and other topics of interest with ProMéxico as well as with local alliance teams in Nuevo León. These speaking engagements were addressed to multiple foreign jurisdictions such as Japan, Germany, United State, Netherlands and Korea, among others, in order to attract foreign investment to Mexico.

Mr. Prado also has completed studies on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at McGill University in Montreal.