Diaz Reus International Law Firm has been included in the prestigious 2024 Global Investigations Review annual guide, the GIR 100.
The GIR comments:
According to sources, Diaz Reus demonstrates outstanding professionalism and has an exceptionally strong investigations team that is diverse and multicultural.
The firm
International law firm Diaz Reus has worked on some high-profile money laundering and public corruption cases in Latin America including the representation of a bank in an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration operation. The firm has also been representing clients in Russia, China and Latin America who have been targeted by the US government for money laundering, human rights abuses and sanctions violations.
As well as a thriving white-collar defence practice, the firm has strong asset recovery, due diligence and compliance offerings. In 2009, it set up DRT Investigations, Governance & Compliance, an investigatory ancillary firm made up of experienced law enforcement professionals. They work with the firm’s attorneys to ensure comprehensive responses to US and foreign government probes.
The investigations practice is predominantly housed in the firm’s Miami office and is led by founding partners Michael Diaz and Robert Targ.
Diaz is the firm’s global managing partner and has over 30 years of experience advising clients on compliance, fraud, money laundering and asset recovery matters. Prior to becoming a prominent private practice lawyer, Diaz worked as an assistant state attorney in Miami-Dade County between 1986 and 1990, serving under Janet Reno, who later became the first female US attorney general.
Like Diaz, Targ is a skilled hand at advising clients on anti-money laundering, fraud and white-collar matters, and also has prior government experience to boot. He is a former assistant US attorney in the Southern District of Florida, where he was in charge of handling civil fraud and civil forfeiture cases.
In Miami, administrative managing partner Marta Colomar Garcia focuses on government and internal investigations related to money laundering. She also handles international commercial litigation. Another name to know is Javier Coronado Diaz, who was named to GIR’s 40 Under 40 2024 special, in which Alibaba’s head of dispute resolution and investigations praised his “unwavering dedication to his craft”. The firm is included included among Alibaba’s special pool of preferred outside legal advisers and panel coordinators.
Washington, DC partner Richard Wiedis spent over a decade as a trial attorney for the Fraud Section, including in the FCPA Unit. Prior to joining the firm, he was an executive vice president for software company MicroStrategy where he oversaw its risk management and compliance teams.
Other names to know include Marcela Blanco, a certified anti-money laundering specialist who serves as head of the Bogota office.
With local partners in many other jurisdictions, including the Dominican Republic, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, give the firm a strong international presence.
Recent events
The firm’s recent work is mostly confidential. However, Diaz Reus has advised on many high-profile cases of corruption, money laundering, fraud and asset recovery across multiple regions including the US, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. The firm tackles cases involving government officials, business executives and financial institutions, navigating intricate legal and regulatory frameworks to recover misappropriated or criminally obtained assets. Its work also encompasses addressing cross-border legal challenges, financial and cryptocurrency fraud, and advising on compliance with various US and international regulations and sanctions regimes.
In 2024, the Diaz Reus’ asset recovery practice was sought out as a result of bank failures in Puerto Rico. The firm has been working with Puerto Rico’s bank regulator OCIF and US enforcement agencies in pursuing bankers who laundered funds from and through Puerto Rican banks. The firm was also recently engaged by Curacao-based International Global Bank as counsel on its OFAC matters.
