Ignacio De Leon founded Econlex Corp; he is presently Managing Director of the firm. Mr. De Leon is a Private Sector Development expert. His expertise covers International Antitrust Litigation and Business Arbitration, Infrastructure Regulation, and Access to Credit. Mr. De Leon has more than 20 years experience. Before creating Econlex Corp., he served as Chairman of Venezuela's Competition Authority Pro-competencia, identifying cases for prosecution, heading investigations of anticompetitive conduct and providing technical assistance and advice to the Cabinet on antitrust matters. Mr. De Leon also has a broad professional experience as an independent consultant for organizations such as the World Bank, IADB, UNCTAD and USAID working in different regions and across cultures such as Latin America, Middle East, South East Asia and Central Asia. He is member of the Editorial Board of World Competition Law and Economics Review.

Mr. De Leon is an attorney (LL.B.) from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, holds a Master's of Laws from Queen Mary College, University of London and a PhD in Laws from University College London, University of London.

• Books:

* An Institutional Analysis of Antitrust Policy, (Kluwer Law International, London, 2009).
* Latin American Competition Law and Policy: A Policy in Search of Identity, (Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2001).

• Selected journal articles

* Latin American competition policy: From Nirvana antitrust policy to real-based competition institutional building, 83 Chicago Kent Law Review, (2008)
* "El rol institucional de la ideología en la conformación de las reglas de mercado: el caso del intervencionismo estatal en Venezuela", en Propuestas para Rehacer a Venezuela H. Faría (Ed.), Caracas, 2004.
* Institutional Analysis of Competition Policy in Developing Countries: The lessons from Latin America, 3 Washington University Global Studies Law Review (2004)
* El Fundamento epistemológico de la ideología del Derecho Público, en El Derecho Público a Comienzos del Siglo XXI, Estudios en Homenaje al Profesor Allan Brewer Carias, Thomson Civitas, España, 2004.
* La Prueba indiciaria en los casos de restricciones a la competencia, 24 Revista Foro del Jurista: Derecho de los Mercados, Cámara de Comercio de Medellín, Colombia, 2003.
* The Role of Government in the Promotion of Competition: The Legacy of Professor Kirzner in Policy Making, 12 Journal des Economistes et des Estudes Humaines, (2002) 153-169.
* "Análisis Institucional del Costo Judicial en Venezuela" in El Costo Venezuela (Conapri Ed.), Conapri, Caracas, 2002.
* "The enforcement of competition policy on intelectual property and its implications on economic development: the Latin American experience," 5 The Journal of World Intellectual Property [2001]: 729-740.
* "The role of competition policy in the regulation of infrastructure industries," Inter-American Development Bank Working Papers, paper presented at the Conference on Competition in Infrastructure services, IADB, Washington, 2001.
* "A market process perspective of Latin American Competition Policy," SSRN Electronic Papers, 2001.
* "The role of competition policy in the promotion of competitiveness and development in Latin America", 23 World Competition Law and Economics Review, [2000]: 115-136.
* "A neo-institutional analysis of Vertical Integration and its implications for Antitrust Enforcement in Developing Countries", in 26 Brooklyn Journal of International Law [2000]: 251-305.
* "Interrelación entre políticas de competencia en el comercio internacional", 203 Gaceta Jurídica de la Comunidad Europea y de la Competencia; Boletín; Madrid [Septiembre 1999]
* "A Proposal for a New Competition Policy in Latin America", in Brooklyn Journal of International Law [1999].
* "An Alternative Approach to Policies for the Promotion of Competition in Developing Countries", 6 South-Western Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas [1999]: 85-117.
* "The role of ideas in the design of regulatory policies: the case of competition policy in Latin America", in 22 World Competition Law and Economics Review, [1999]: 77-102.
* "International Competition Policy from the Perspective of Developing Countries", paper presented at International Competition Policy Advisory Committee Hearings, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., Nov 2-4, 1998.
* "Criterios Orientadores para una reforma de la Constitución Económica venezolana", en Constituyente: Aportes al Debate, Ricardo Combellas (Ed.), Caracas, 1998.
* "Análisis positivo del sistema económico constitucional venezolano", en SUMMA, Libro Homenaje a la Procuraduría general de la República, Caracas, 1998.
* "Should we Implement Antitrust Rules in International Trade?" 21 World Competition Law and Economics Review, [1997]: 35-63.
Co-author with M. Morales, "From Aid to Trade: A New appraisal of the Economic relations between the European Union and Latin America", 2 European Foreign Affairs Review [1997]: 63-96.
* "The Dilemma of Regulating International Competition under the W.T.O. System", 18 European Competition Law Review [1997]: 162-177.
* "La Regulación Internacional de la Competencia Empresarial en el sistema GATT/OMC y sus implicaciones para Venezuela", in 'Venezuela y la Organización Mundial del Comercio', L. Tineo (Ed.), Editorial Jurídica Venezolana, Caracas, 1999.
* "Legal Regime of the Oil and Hydrocarbon in Venezuela", 14 Oil and Gas Law And Tax Review, [1996]: 77-86.
Co-author Mergers and Acquisitions in Venezuela in "International Mergers and Acquisitions: The Antitrust Process" W. Rowley (Ed.), Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1996.
* "Overview of Venezuela's New Competition Law"; Les Nouvelles (Journal of the Licensing Executives Society), [March 1994]: 55-59.
* "Las normas venezolanas de defensa de la libre competencia"; 133 Gaceta Jurídica de la Comunidad Europea y de la Competencia; Boletín 91; Madrid [Enero-Febrero 1994]: 5-12.
* "Inflación, prácticas monopólicas y Especulación: Las amenazas a los Derechos del Consumidor en una Economía Abierta", en "Inflación y Derecho: XIX Jornadas J. M. Domínguez Escobar"; Colegio de Abogados del Estado Lara; Barquisimeto, 1994.
* "Las normas venezolanas de promoción a la competencia" 9 Revista de la Fundación Procuraduría General de la República de Venezuela; [1994]: 327-343.
* "Venezuelan Competition Law", 21 International Business Lawyer; International Bar Association [1993]: 473-476.

• Twitter: ignacio_deleon
• Blog: http://blogs.noticierodigital.com/cazafantasmas/

Rene De Sola An attorney with practice in Venezuela and Ecuador, Rene has experience in Corporate Law, Commercial and Legal Management and Development, and Franchise Systems. Mr. De Sola has received extensive training in International Legal Studies, having specialized in Criminal Science and Criminology. Apart from being a partner at Econlex, he also serves a Directing Partner of Globalnegocios & Estrategias, a consulting firm specialized in franchising, as General Manager of De Sola Castro & Zary Legal Counsel and Consultants (Ecuador) and as Corporate Legal Manager of Latina Seguros y Reaseguros C.A. (Ecuador). René’s experience spans many disciplines including conversion of businesses to franchise systems and franchise development, foreign investments, project finance, customs and freight consolidations, development of contracts, financial criminal law, intellectual property, general litigation in administrative and judicial matters, etc.

Rene is an attorney from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Venezuela) and the Universidad de las Americas (Ecuador). He also holds a Master’s degree of Law in international legal studies from American University (D.C., USA).

A corporate lawyer and business manager with ample experience in international transactions specializing in Latin America, Danilo has worked with law firms in Venezuela, Mexico and the United States, and recently served as the Executive Director and General Counsel for a group of Health Care companies in Florida.  He is currently based in New York City and advices clients in Asset Protection, Estate Planning and Wealth Management strategies. Danilo speaks Spanish, English and Serbian.

Danilo is an attorney from Universidad Central de Venezuela, has a Masters of Laws in Comparative Jurisprudence (LL.M) from New York University and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Florida Metropolitan University (Tampa Campus).

Enrique González Porras is an economist with a Master’s degree in Competition, Market Regulation and Industrial Economics. He has extensive experience in the industries of banking, water, energy, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and transport. Mr. González is also a professor of Policy and Competition Regulation at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello. Enrique also has vast experience as a consultant, having worked for organizations such as the United Nations, COMPAL, UNCTAD, SIECA, IAD, European Union, Movistar, Digitel, Banco Mercantil, Banking Association of Venezuala, Venezuelan Chamber of Medicine, CAVEME, among others. Before joining Econlex Corp, Enrique served as President of the Venezuelan Automobile Chamber (CAVENEZ), Manager of Economic Studies of CONAPRI, and Manager of Economic Studies of the Banco Federal.

Enrique is an Economist from the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) and holds a Master’s degree in Competition and Market Regulation from Universidad Pompeu Fabra (Spain). He also has a Master’s in Industrial Economics from the Universidad Carlos III (Spain).

Octavio Vinces is an attorney practicing in Both Venezuela and Peru. He is an international consultant having executed projects in Costa Rica, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Venezuela. Octavio is experienced in the fields of competition, litigation support, policy and regulation, intellectual property rights, and specializes in the telecommunications and banking industries. Apart from being a partner at Econlex, Octavio is also the Legal Manager for Grupo Latina Holding, a Venezuelan investment organization, General Manager of Cusco Ltd., and served as consultant for Compania Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV). In these organizations Octavio has taken part in complex contract negotiations, corporate restructuring, procurement, corporate acquisitions and mergers, litigation support in cases of abuse of dominance, among others. Mr. Vinces also has a passion for literature having published novels and poem compilations.

Rafael De Leon is head of our Venezuelan office. Mr. De León is expert in Administrative Law, International Dispute Resolution Settlement Procedures and Competition legislation.

In the Private Sector, Mr. De León has experience as an attorney responsible for representing private businesses who are either requesting special licenses or permits from government bodies or are being penalized because of alleged infractions to the laws; as well as advising companies that have requested to attend International Dispute Resolution Bodies and, international experience drawing foreign competition regulation. On the other hand, Mr. De León has Public sector experience as Government Official in trade and competition policy and others government bodies.

Mr. De Leon holds an LL.M. in International Business Law at Universidad Complutense of Madrid (2007), and a LL.B. from the Universidad Central de Venezuela (2004). Currently, he is obtaining a specialization degree in Administrative Law from the Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Luis Felipe Dominguez Sosa is our Director of Strategic Networking and specialist in the areas International Economic Negotiations, Trade Integration, Antitrust Litigation, Commercial Safeguards, Competition, Unfair Practices and international trade. Before joining the Econlex team Mr. Dominguez was responsible for evaluating issues and procedures of dumping, subsidies and to ensure compliance with international competition standards for Venezuela’s largest steel corporation, SIDOR, as its institutional planning manager.

Luis Felipe is an attorney (LL.B.) for the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello holds a M.A. Degree in International Economic Affairs and Regional Integration for the Universitat de Barcelona and a Diploma in International Economic Negotiations and Trade Policy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Gustavo A. Martínez Gerstl Senior manager and partner at Econlex since 2002, Gustavo is specialized in Strategic Corporate Management and Planning, and IT management. Mr. Martinez an accomplished senior professional with more than 40 years of experience in project implementation, modeling, forecasting, process analysis, IT investment budgeting, and restructuring. Gustavo has a proven track record for being an innovator in the creation of effective solutions for many companies for which he has served as Chief Information Officer, Executive Director and consultant for organizations such as the Venezuelan Investment Fund, the Venezuelan Industrial Bank, Ferromineria S.A., Ingenieros Asociados S.A., G.M. Asesores, among others.

Gustavo is trained in conflict resolution, mediation and arbitration by the Instituto de Estudios Superirores de Administracion (IESA, Caracas), holds a Master’s degree in Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from Utah State University.