Michael Diaz, Jr.

Managing Partner

  Michael Diaz, Jr., is the founding and managing partner of Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP, where he concentrates his practice on domestic and international trade and investment transactions, litigation and arbitration of complex commercial disputes, white collar crime and regulatory investigations.

    Born in Havana, Cuba, Mr. Diaz graduated from the Business School at the University of Miami in 1983, earning an undergraduate degree in International Finance.  

    In 1986, Mr. Diaz graduated with honors from the University of Miami School of Law. While at the University of Miami, he served as Associate Editor of the Inter-American Law Review, and was recognized for his trial advocacy skills receiving the “Order of the Barrister” National Excellence Award from the Wig and Robe Society.

    Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Diaz served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office from 1986 to 1990 for the Honorable Janet Reno, former U.S. Attorney General and Miami-Dade State Attorney. During his tenure as a prosecutor, Mr. Diaz became a Division Chief, where he primarily investigated and prosecuted major crimes cases including highly publicized homicide cases including, the Julia Tuttle Causeway Lovers Lane Double Murders; Murder of Rookie Police Officer Nathaniel Broom.

    In 1990, Mr. Diaz joined and later became a Partner in an AV-rated international litigation firm where he litigated complex commercial and international money laundering cases. In 1998, he opened his own AV-rated litigation and arbitration firm and has been engaged in the successful representation of Fortune 500 multinational corporations and foreign government entities involving regulatory investigations and complex commercial and financial fraud cases, and intellectual property disputes. Mr. Diaz has defended and investigated well known money laundering cases and public corruption cases from Montesinos to Aleman/Jerez and   Casablanca to Rosemont.

   In addition to being considered a preeminent attorney and “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell, Mr. Diaz was most recently featured in Business Week Magazine for his work on behalf of victims of fraud. Mr. Diaz has been repeatedly recognized as a “ Florida SuperLawyer” for his work in international law, as a “High Impact Leader” by Florida Trend Magazine for Global Affairs, and has been nominated for the Key Partner Award by the South Florida Business Journal. Most recently he was selected as 2009 Business Leader of the Year for legal services, and also, selected as Power Players in The Power Issue in the Legal Category by South Florida Business Leader Magazine for his work on representing victims of financial fraud, pyramid and “ponzi” schemes; investigating and securing assets, wherever located, on behalf of the victims.

   In 2009 he and his firm received the honor of being selected “Business Leader Top 100 companies” by Business Leader Media.

    Mr. Diaz maintains an active complex litigation and international arbitration practice, representing U.S. and foreign based clients in U.S. and Latin American seated arbitrations of commercial disputes. In Asia, Mr. Diaz has successfully handled business transactions and litigation matters on behalf of corporations and individuals doing business with China, Latin America, and the Middle East.

    Known for representing high-profile individuals, foreign governments, and their officials, and for defending Fortune 500 multinational corporations and financial institutions in sophisticated and sensitive regulatory, civil, and criminal matters, Mr. Diaz counsels and plans preventative litigation strategies, conducts parallel investigations, and represents his clients before all administrative and governmental agencies, arbitral bodies, the courts, and investigative and charging grand juries. He has appeared before state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the United States and as advisory co-counsel in international matters.

    Mr. Diaz and his firm are frequent sponsors, guest lecturers, and contributors to international business, trade, litigation/arbitration and regulatory compliance seminars. Among others, he has been recognized by Florida Trend, South Florida Business Leaders Magazine, South Florida Business Journal, and Florida SuperLawyers for his leadership and excellence in international matters. He was selected among the top international experts in the anti-money laundering field to join the faculty of the first graduate course on “Money Laundering Prevention” at the University of Salamanca, sponsored by the Latin-American Banking Federation (FELABAN).

    Mr. Diaz’s most recent published case opinions on international matters include:

·            Elsevier Publishing vs. PPT Subscriptions (Copyright Law)

·            Honduran National Soccer Federation (FENAFUTH) vs. Traffic Sports (International Arbitration)

·            Canon Latin America, Inc. vs. Lantech (C.R.), S.A. (International Anti-suit Injunction)

·            Guevara vs. Republic of Peru (Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act)

·            Redfield Investments, A.V.V. vs. Village of PineCrest (International Service of Process)

    Mr. Diaz has published various articles in legal periodicals and trade journals regarding international arbitration and doing business in Latin America, China, and the Middle East. He is currently on the Board of Advisors of the “Inter-American Dialogue Financial Services Advisor”, where he regularly publishes articles of interest on Latin America, relating to finance, business, trade, law, and politics.

Lectures & Speaking Engagements

Panel Speaker, “Unfair commercial practices: is there effective consumer protection?” 2009 Madrid Conference, International Bar Association, Madrid, Spain – October 5, 2009. 

Speaker, V Conferencia Internacional, "Antilavado de Dinero y Contra el Financiamiento al Terrorismo", Caracas, Venezuela, July 16, 2009.

Speaker, "Forfeiture of a Bank's Assets and How Financial Institutions Can Protect Themselves", 9th Annual FIBA AML Compliance Conference, Miami, FL - February 20, 2009. 

Speaker, Latin Finance Conference, The Latin-American Mid East Investors Forum, Dubai, UAE - February 4, 2009.

Speaker, Lexis Nexis Third Annual Conference on Dispute Avoidance and Resolution,  Beijing, China - October 2008.  

Speaker, “Doing Business in the Middle-East”, Middle-East Conference, Business Information Asia, Singapore, 2008.

Speaker, “Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists" (ACAMS) Middle East – North Africa International Money Laundering Conference”, Dubai, 2007.

Keynote Speaker, CCPIT First “China-Latin America Business Summit”, Santiago, Chile, 2007.

Speaker, “When to Litigate, When to Mediate, and When to Arbitrate?”, 2^nd Annual Conference on Dispute Avoidance and Resolution, “Smartly Using Alternative Resolutions to Boost the Bottom Line of your International Business”, LexisNexis, Shanghai, China.

Faculty Member, “Corruption and Terrorism: Risks and Challenges of the XXI Century,” 2^nd International Conference, Florida International University, Latin American Caribbean Center, Miami, Florida.

Instructor, “Money Laundering Prevention,” Universidad de Salamanca, Bogotá, Colombia.

Speaker, Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), Florida International University, Miami, Florida.

Speaker, Fifth Annual Latin-American Money Laundering Conference, San José, Costa Rica.

Presenter, XXIII Latin-American Congress on Banking Law, Latin American Banking Federation (FELABAN) and the Banking Association of El Salvador (ABANSA), San Salvador, El Salvador.

Presenter, Ninth Annual Money Laundering Conference, Miami Beach, Florida.

Presenter, Annual Educational Conference, American Judges Association, Montreal, Canada.

News & Seminars

• Dubai: A High Rise, Then a Steep Fall
• "Fraud victims may benefit from UBS' disclosure"
• Global crisis has spanked the Caribbean and the bad news just keeps coming.
• "Lawyer Michael Diaz, Jr., Says Financial Fraud Victims May Benefit From Swiss Bank's Disclosures"
• "Cazadores de presas mayores en activos"
• Federal lawsuit claims fraud in Dominican deals