Vanessa Alejandra Suarez

Vanessa Alejandra Suarez is a commercial litigation and international disputes attorney in Holland & Knight's Austin office. Ms. Suarez focuses her practice on disputes in the energy sector and has significant experience with construction, energy, trade secret, business torts and various other commercial disputes.

Ms. Suarez's background includes litigation management and trial experience in state and federal matters. She is responsible for managing a full docket of cases through all phases of litigation, while serving as the primary client contact. She has also tried more than a half-dozen disputes.

Ms. Suarez's recent representative experience includes:

• representing a downstream affiliate of a major oil and gas company in various proceedings related to Mexico's energy policy changes, including an amparo proceeding filed against the 2021 amendments to Mexico's Hydrocarbon Law and several administrative proceedings
• served on trial team and successfully attained arbitration award representing an exploration and production (E&P) company in an International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) arbitration relating to multimillion-dollar dispute involving operations in Colombia
• representing clients in a multimillion-dollar dispute involving emergency care within the hospital system
• representing a client in a multimillion-dollar fraud dispute involving an international investment fund
• served as first chair and successfully attained arbitration award in a dispute involving residential construction defects
• served as second chair at a bench trial involving trade secrets
• served as first chair in a temporary restraining order (TRO) proceeding involving the Public Information Act
• served as first chair in an $8 million contract dispute, including successfully defending against a plea to the jurisdiction
• served on trial team in jury trial of a $60 million Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act (TUFTA) and estate partition dispute resulting in full defense verdict
• served as first chair in a small claims bench trial in Justice of the Peace Court
• represented international construction and engineering firms in a $40 million dispute involving allegations of, among other matters, fraud, political corruption and bribery
• successfully argued multiple hearings, including summary judgment, discovery disputes, venue disputes and special exceptions
• taken and defended numerous depositions for cases pending in federal and state court
• defended witness examinations in a federal jury trial

Ms. Suarez has lived in various parts of the United States and South America and has traveled extensively around the world, gaining comprehensive multicultural experience. She is fully bicultural and bilingual, speaking English and Spanish. Ms. Suarez combines her international background with her legal training to help clients navigate and resolve a diverse array of cross-border legal matters.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Suarez was as an associate for a litigation boutique and Am Law 100 firms.

In the community, Ms. Suarez is actively involved in organizations that empower the Hispanic community, including the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin. In the former, she serves as deputy regional vice president, which includes responsibilities such as setting and executing the strategic plan for Region XII (Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas), coordinating programs throughout the region that focus on, among other matters, providing opportunities for professional growth for law students, young lawyers and experienced lawyers with a desire to join the judiciary. In the latter, she serves as secretary on the board of directors.