[Marxism] The Salivation of Lawyers

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

âFirst, property rights have to be respected.â
 _________________________________

U.S. LAW FIRMS SET THEIR SIGHTS ON CUBA AFTER CASTRO

Lindsay Fortado
The National Law Journal
February 28, 2006

Lawyers in the United States are turning their thoughts to a new type  
of Cuba: one without Fidel Castro.

The Cuban dictator turns 80 this year, and he's been in power for 47  
of those years. While it's impossible to predict what system of  
government or economy will form in a post-Castro Cuba, U.S. firms are  
getting ready.

"[Castro's death] is an inevitability," said Pedro Freyre, a partner  
at Akerman Senterfitt and the co-chairman of the Florida firm's  
international practice group. "It will happen, and it will happen  
much sooner than much later. But that having been said, the what-ifs  
and the scenarios are complex."

Among U.S. lawyers, there are at least two sources of interest in  
Cuba. Some -- mostly Cuban-American attorneys with sentimental ties  
-- want a hand in shaping the country's legal system when the  
Communist regime falls.

Others view the island as a lucrative source of business, from  
tourism and infrastructure to oil and other industries. Canada,  
India, Norway and China are making investments in oil deposits  
recently found off the coast of Cuba.

IN LIMBO SINCE 1959

Legal work in Cuba will include "everything under the sun," said Jose  
Sirven, a partner in Holland & Knight's Miami office and a member of  
the firm's Cuba action team. "That country's been in limbo since  
1959, so you have roadwork, water and sewer, refurbishing of  
buildings, basic needs of consumers -- from toilet paper to soap,  
everything's in short supply ... U.S. companies are going to want to  
enter the market immediately."

When U.S. companies will be able to enter the market is up for debate.

The general sentiment among Cuban-American attorneys is a hope that a  
Democratic government will follow Castro's Communist reign, but many  
admit to the possibility of a succession.

Castro has named his younger brother, Raul, next in line to take  
power, but other party leaders could also take over.

"The older members of the party will work very hard to keep their  
stranglehold on power," Freyre predicted. "But the loss of Fidel is a  
huge loss; they lose their ace."

But it is not Castro preventing U.S. businesses from investing in  
Cuba; it is the current administration enforcing a trade embargo.

"The market [in Cuba] is open to everybody," said Kirby Jones, the  
founder of Alamar Associates, a consulting firm for U.S. companies  
looking to do business with Cuba, and the head of the U.S.-Cuba Trade  
Association.

"It's really post-embargo, not post-Castro," Jones said. "Cuba does  
business with everyone in the world; there's foreign investment in  
every sector. Cuba is already open; we're the ones who are closed.  
"In terms of any fundamental change, it's going to take a U.S.  
administration with a different approach," added Jones.

If a democratic government is installed, new law will have to be  
created to guarantee investors that property rights will be  
respected, and the United States will have to lift the trade embargo  
with the island nation. Should there be a democracy, an end to the  
embargo appears likely, as it would benefit U.S. business.

"The laws have to be changed to do business in Cuba," said Frank  
Angones, the president-elect of the Florida Bar beginning in 2007 and  
a partner at Angones, McClure & Garcia in Miami. "There will have to  
be some kind of opening in the market."

Many attorneys are optimistic that the market will open, perhaps not  
immediately after Castro's death but within the decade after. At that  
point, legal work should be plentiful.

"In places like Miami, probably Washington, certainly New York,  
practitioners ... are looking with close attention to Cuba and  
thinking, 'What do we do to take advantage of the opportunities  
there?' " said Freyre. "We keep our eyes peeled on Cuba. Akerman has  
a very, very keen interest."

So do other large U.S. firms.

"We've been preparing since over a decade ago," said Holland &  
Knight's Sirven. "It's something we talk about. We want to be one of  
the first U.S. law firms there."

In the mid-1990s, when Castro was in poor health, the firm created  
its Cuba action team to assess business opportunities on the island.  
"We put a plan in place to go into the Cuban market and assist  
clients entering that market," Sirven said. "We obviously haven't  
used it."

With other countries able to invest in the island, it appears that  
some U.S. companies are growing antsy.

In January, a meeting in Mexico City between Cuban government  
officials and U.S. oil executives from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Valero  
Energy Corp. was cut short when the delegation was forced to leave  
its American-owned hotel under pressure from Washington. "That has  
caused an uproar and a pique of interest in Cuban relations," said  
Sirven, who counsels clients on the current legal framework in Cuba.

There are currently several exceptions to the embargo laws, which  
include certain business transactions in the fields of  
telecommunications and agriculture, Sirven said.

"We have advised companies that had an interest in knowing more about  
those opportunities," he said.

Jones has worked with law firms looking to do business with Cuba or  
dealing with embargo problems. "There are always issues of what you  
can and can't do," he said. "Law firms get very active on this side  
helping clients with embargo-related issues."

Economists at the National Summit on Cuba predicted that trade  
between the United States and the island nation could generate more  
than $50 billion and 900,000 jobs during a two-year period if the  
embargo were lifted.

Cesar Alvarez, president and CEO of Greenberg Traurig in Miami and a  
Cuban-American, said that he fields calls from companies inquiring  
about doing business with Cuba.

"About once a month I get a call from somebody saying we'd like to do  
something in Cuba, and they assume that because you're sitting here  
in Miami that you can help," Alvarez said. "But we don't represent  
anyone trying to make investments in Cuba directly or indirectly."

Law firms are actively monitoring the situation in Cuba, especially  
because so many U.S. businesses are eager to enter the market,  
Angones said. "Most of the large corporations in the U.S. have a  
contingent plan, not just in Castro's death but a change in the way  
that Cuba does business and whether private property is respected or  
not, whether you can buy land and buildings," said Angones.

EYE ON THE WAL-MART PRIZE

Freyre, a Cuban-American, monitors the situation in Cuba daily and  
knows the business sectors that could produce the most lucrative work.

"Tourism is a solid prospect for the future. Cuba is very beautiful.  
It's the largest island in the Caribbean," Freyre said. "Add an  
element of exoticism, this has been the forbidden land for Americans,  
go explore it, and it's very tempting."

But tourism is not the biggest target.

"The golden ring is who represents Wal-Mart," Freyre said. "But you  
can represent Halliburton when they build the airports, or you can  
represent Exxon when they try to get their oil fields back in the  
harbor."

Freyre said that his knowledge of both Cuban and U.S. societies will  
give his firm an advantage in procuring lucrative work should the  
governments allow it. The firm beefed up its Washington office for  
lobbying work, which could also help Akerman's prospects.

"I think once Castro moves on, the chances of things happening there  
will open up, but predicting what will ultimately happen is mostly  
speculation right now," Alvarez said. "We certainly hope that  
democracy and capitalism would return to Cuba."

Alvarez expressed more interest in helping to shape a new legal  
system in Cuba rather than to view the country solely as a business  
opportunity. "My friends would be much more interested in  
[restructuring] the nonexistent legal system," Alvarez said of the  
Cuban-American legal community. "Our focus will be much different  
than just what to do for financial gain when Castro's gone.

"It's going to be some time before significant private investments  
return after Castro," he said. "There's no legal system; the legal  
system is ultimately the Communist regime.

Freyre noted, "Here, I have to be loyal to my client, and my  
obligation is to defend my client." In Cuba, the mindset is "I work  
for the revolution, and everything I do for my client has to be for  
the revolution," he said.

SYMPOSIUM IS PLANNED

Alvarez's ideal is for a new Cuban legal system to be based on the  
American model.

"The ultimate key to get investments in a post-Castro Cuba is to  
duplicate what you have in the American [judicial] system," Alvarez  
said.

"First, property rights have to be respected; two, rule of law and  
the respect of human rights, and not the whims of a dictator, must be  
the guiding principles; third, a truly independent judiciary must be  
in place," he said.

Alvarez is not alone in his ambition to help Cuba rebuild its legal  
system. The Cuban American Bar Association is currently planning a  
symposium at the University of Miami School of Law, slated for June,  
to discuss the past, present and future of the legal system in Cuba.

"There's just so much interest in this topic," said Corali Castro- 
Lopez, the president of CABA and a partner at Kozyak Tropin &  
Throckmorton in Coral Gables, Fla. "This is the first seminar focused  
just on the [Cuban] legal system and what needs to be done."

Some firms are eyeing the possibility of opening a Havana office  
should the opportunity arise.

"The proximity [of Cuba], the need for every conceivable product and  
equipment makes it a natural place to want to be," Sirven said of  
opening a Havana office, noting that he couldn't speak for his firm.

Freyre agreed, but was hesitant to say he'd return to his native land  
to live. "Most of us look at it. Would we like to be the ones  
designated to open the Cuban office in Havana? Heck yes, but I have  
no particular wish to relocate," he said. "I'd only do it on a  
project basis."

Alvarez also said that Greenberg Traurig would be interested in  
Havana, but he didn't foresee any immediate action. "If there's  
democracy in Cuba, we certainly would view Cuba to be a logical place  
for [Greenberg Traurig] to be, but I think that's a few days away,"  
he said.

For many attorneys, the resounding sentiment is an eagerness to enter  
the Cuban marketplace, but an exasperation at the resilience of  
Castro. "I remember in the mid-'90s people thinking this fellow can't  
last too long, and here we are 12 years later," Angones said. "We can  
make educated guesses, but we can't predict what the future will hold."






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