Richard Montes de Oca is the founder and Managing Partner of MDO Partners.  He is a Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in American, and AV Preeminent-Rated attorney in Corporate, Contracts and International Law with 20 years of experience.  He is an expert in the areas of corporate governance, corporate finance, mergers and acquisition transactions, and securities, as well as global compliance and business ethics.  
 
He has extensive experience representing clients in various corporate law matters, including transactions valued at over $5 Billion.  Throughout his career, Mr. Montes de Oca has represented significant clients in a number of international corporate transactions and global compliance matters in over 30 countries, including the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and Russia.  
 
Mr. Montes de Oca has (i) served as a trusted advisor to Executive Management, Boards of Directors and Board Committees of public companies; (ii) designed and implemented corporate governance and global compliance programs for companies in various industries and (iii) managed various high-performance in-house practice groups and outside legal teams.  He is an ultimate team player with sound judgment, proven leadership, and tireless work ethic. Mr. Montes de Oca is a highly skilled networker, relationship builder and community leader.  
 
Prior to establishing MDO Partners, Mr. Montes de Oca was Associate Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of Royal Caribbean Cruises where he has managed a Legal Department’s Corporate, Finance and Operations team.  He was responsible for advising senior management on all aspects of corporate governance, securities and finance matters as well as mergers and acquisitions worth several billion dollars. He also supervised a team of lawyers who provided services to over 20 departments.  Mr. Montes de Oca was also responsible for developing and overseeing the company’s Global Compliance and Ethics Program and managed a compliance team responsible for various compliance areas, including fraud, anti-corruption (FCPA), anti-trust, confidentiality, insider trading, conflicts of interest, labor and employment and various other areas.  
 
Prior to joining Royal Caribbean, Mr. Montes de Oca was Senior Counsel at World Fuel Services and an attorney at Holland & Knight in the Securities and International Transactions practice groups. Mr. Montes de Oca is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law where he teaches Compliance, Contract Drafting, and Mergers and Acquisitions. He serves on the Executive Council and as Vice Treasurer of the International Law Section of the Florida Bar and is a Co-Founder and Past-Chair of the Compliance & Ethics Section of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA). He is also a Board Member and General Counsel for the Miami Finance Forum and served on the Board of Governors for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. He formerly served as Co-Chair of the Financial Stability Impact Council for the United Way of Miami-Dade.  
 
Awards:  
2021 - Best Lawyers in America, US News and World Report

2021 – Top Attorney, Corporate/M&A and Private Equity, Chambers USA
2020 - Best Lawyers in America, Corporate Compliance and M&A, Best Lawyers
2019 - Legal Elite, Business Law, Florida Trend 
2017 - Top Latino Lawyers, Latino Leaders 
2017 - Legal Luminaries (Top M&A Attorney) Finalist, Dade County Bar Association 
2016 - International Lawyer of the Year Finalist, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce 
2015 - Top Lawyers Under 40 Award, Hispanic National Bar Association 
2014 - Doing Good While Doing Well Humanitarian Award, SFMSDC 
2013 - 40 Under 40 Award, South Florida Business Journal 
2010 - 40 Under 40 Outstanding Lawyers of Miami-Dade County 
2006 - Legal Elite Up and Comer, Florida Trend 

 

Education: 
JD, University of Miami School of Law, magna cum laude 
MBA, Florida International University  
BA, University of Florida, high honors