Squire Patton Boggs is pleased to announce that Jose Martin Davila has joined as of counsel in the firm’s Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, based in Miami. Mr. Martin most recently served as Director of Compliance – Americas and French Polynesia at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
“As companies open their doors to the global community, opportunities for government enforcement agencies to initiate corruption, fraud and money laundering investigations and enforcement actions will arise,” said a partner in Squire Patton Boggs Government Investigations & White Collar Practice and co-chair of the firm’s Venezuela Desk. “Jose’s extensive in-house experience in implementing anticorruption compliance programs and handling internal investigations adds significant depth to our team and reach in the Americas and the Caribbean. He has built an impeccable reputation for achieving results with the highest level of corporate business ethics, and clients will greatly benefit from his strategic corporate counsel perspective.”
At Starwood, Mr. Martin was responsible for the Americas Division, which included Canada, the US and more than 100 properties in Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and French Polynesia. He managed new and ongoing global and Americas legal compliance projects with an immediate impact in project execution and implementation. Prior to Starwood, Mr. Martin served as Associate General Counsel, Latin America and Caribbean, Pentair Inc., where he created the company’s first Latin American Legal Department and managed all commercial and compliance-related matters, including Third-party Program, trainings and investigations, public affairs, M&A and trade compliance. Mr. Martin also served as Senior Compliance Counsel – Latin American and Caribbean at Tyco International and also functioned as Deputy General Counsel for Tyco Flow Control, a Tyco business unit, in Latin America, managing all commercial, labor and M&A matters. He was also Senior Corporate Counsel and Senior Corporate Compliance Manager at Oracle Corporation in matters including international anticorruption, antiboycott laws and SOX compliance during a period of explosive growth. Mr. Martin started his legal career as an associate with an Am Law100 law firm.
“I’m excited to join such a talented team, many of whom have significant government experience,” said Mr. Martin. “I look forward to incorporating my on-the-ground experience and knowledge of Latin America and the Caribbean to assist clients in their defense against governmental actions.”
Licensed to practice law in New York and Mexico, Mr. Martin is fluent in English and Spanish, conversational French and business Portuguese. Mr. Martin received his Gestion des Affairs et Economie diploma at the Université de la Sorbonne in Paris, France. In Mexico City, Mexico, he earned his Bachelor in Laws, with honors, at the Universidad Panamericana and received a postgraduate degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution at Escuela Libre de Derecho. Mr. Martin received his J.D., with honors, from George Washington University, where he was a Thurgood Marshall Scholar. While at law school, he was a member of The George Washington International Law Review and a member of GWU’s Moot Court Board. Mr. Martin recently published the article “Upjohn Warnings; a Siren’s Call? The Upjohn Warning in Internal Investigations,” in the International In-house Counsel Journal.
Over the past year, Squire Patton Boggs has made a number of strategic additions to bolster its compliance and enforcement team, including Coates Lear, former senior counsel with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and Pat Hatler, former executive vice president, chief legal and governance officer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.