WorldCity Business Magazine

WorldCity People

by Mary Dempsey

Neoris selects U.S. managing director

Global IT consulting company Neoris in Miami has selected Jeff Johnson to direct its strategy for the U.S market. “Neoris is growing in every market and country where we have a presence, including the U.S., Latin America and Europe, led by new engagements in healthcare and telecommunications, and involving new strategies in RFID and wireless,” says Neoris CEO Claudio Muruzabal. “Jeff brings a vision for building on this growth, based on a stellar career managing global engagements.” Most recently, Johnson served as senior vice president of business optimization services at i2 Technologies. He previously worked at Ernst & Young and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

New CEO at TVR Communications

TVR Communications, which provides television and entertainment systems to hospital patients, named Thomas Connolly as its CEO. Connolly is a former head of Sony Music Entertainment’s worldwide business development and a one-time partner within Ernst & Young’s broadcast and cable television practice group. TVR is headquartered in Woodside, N.Y., with offices in Fort Lauderdale and Ontario, Canada. Connolly will oversee TVR operations and capital-raising activities. Meanwhile, Michael Stebel was named executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the company, as well as CEO of newly formed TVRC Interactive Media Division. Before joining TVR, he worked as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Fort Lauderdale-based Ener1.

MasterCard appoints exec for Latin America

Mark Silverman has become the senior vice president and regional business leader for MasterCard Advisors. He will be responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean. MasterCard Advisors is a payments consulting, information and outsourcing affiliate of MasterCard International. Silverman, 49, previously was managing partner of the banking strategy consulting practice at IBM/PwC Consulting. He also is the past managing director and vice president of the Latin American and Southern European financial institutions consulting practice at AT Kearney. He replaces Michael Archer, who will manage MasterCard Advisors’ North American business.

Klayman joins Walter & Haverfield

Larry Klayman, who founded Judicial Watch and later made an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate seat, has joined Walter & Haverfield as a partner. Klayman will head the international trade and regulation group at the law firm, which is headquartered in Cleveland but has offices in Miami and Washington, D.C. For several years, Klayman was the chairman of non-profit Judicial Watch, a legal and judicial system watchdog group set up in 1994. Last year, he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat from Florida. During the Reagan administration, he was a prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department.

Terremark subsidiary names CEO

Jamie Dos Santos leaves her post as chief marketing officer at Miami-based Terremark Worldwide to take the helm of the company’s new wholly owned subsidiary. Terremark Federal Group has been set up to develop and manage Terremark’s contracts with the U.S. government. Dos Santos, who has 25 years of experience in the telecom and technology sector, becomes CEO of the subsidiary. Prior to joining Terremark, she worked at the Bell telephone system and with SAIC’s subsidiary Telcordia.

Promotions at Grant Thornton

Brazilian attorney Ana Campos has become the economic advisory services manager at Grant Thornton, a worldwide accounting and business advisory firm with offices in Weston and Miami. Campos, who is fluent in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish, will provide litigation support and forensic investigation services on domestic and international matters. Grant Thorton also announced that Penny Fraser and Krista Martin have been promoted. Fraser, now a tax manager, specializes in international taxes. She previously worked in Germany and Canada. Martin’s expertise is in state and local income and franchise tax. Also a tax manager, she specializes in distribution, manufacturing and service industries.

Valdes-Fauli leaves Steel Hector & Davis

Raul Valdes-Fauli, an equity partner at Steel Hector & Davis, has left the firm and three international lawyers have followed him. They have joined the Coral Gables office of New Orleans-based firm Fowler Rodriguez & Chalos, which specializes in maritime law and international commercial transactions. Valdes Fauli’s team, which includes Steel Hector partner Juan Serralles and associates Nathan Kutt and Jorge Salcedo, represents multinational companies. Valdes- Fauli, who worked at Steel Hector for six years, is a former mayor of Coral Gables and ex-chairman of Eastern National Bank. Steel Hector & Davis reportedly is engaged in merger talks with Squire Sanders & Dempsey.

New partner at Baker & McKenzie

Fredric Taubman has become a national partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie. Taubman is a member of the company’s corporate and securities practice group in Miami, as well as the firm’s health law subgroup. He is involved in cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisitions and other international business deals. Taubman joined the law firm in 2000, after leaving Greenberg Traurig, where he concentrated on corporate transactions and health law.

Lorenzo joins arbitration panel

Miami lawyer Richard Lorenzo will serve a three-year term as the U.S. representative on the International Chamber of Commerce’s Commission on Arbitration. As a partner with Hogan & Hartson, Lorenzo focuses on international, cross-border and commercial litigation and arbitration. He has handled disputes involving several Latin American countries. The ICC’s arbitration commission examines issues related to international arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution. Lorenzo’s term on the panel begins in November.

Rooney assumes Florida Bar post

Shutts & Bowen partner John Rooney Jr. has become chairman of the international section of the Florida Bar. Rooney, a business lawyer whose practice takes in international arbitration and commercial law, will hold the position for a year. He says he would like the bar’s international section, which has more than 1,000 members, “to become more involved in the economic development of the state and to work more closely with our sister bar associations in the United States and abroad to achieve that goal.” Rooney also serves on the Council of the Inter-American Bar Association and chairs its international arbitration committee.