Mary Fernández

Partner

"A highly qualified professional with lots of experience"

Founding partner of Headrick Rizik Alvarez & Fernández, Dominican Republic. The Firm was founded in 1985 and has been recognized as Law Firm of the Year by IFLR and by Chambers & Partners Latin America.

Received the Medal to Merit for Dominican Woman in 2023, in the category for business, granted by the Presidency of the Dominican Republic and Ministry of Women Affairs. Mary is National Ambassador of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Intellectual Property representing the Dominican Republic. She is arbiter and past president of the Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration Committee of the Asociación Interamericana de Propiedad Intelectual (ASIPI). Judge of the Disciplinary Panel of the ASIPI. Member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo, Inc. (CCPSD). Past president of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAMDR), past Chair of its Legal Committee, and coordinator of the Transparency Commission of the Health Committee of AMCHAMDR. Editor for the Dominican Republic of the “International Opposition Guide” of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and, member of the editorial committee of Gaceta Judicial, the only legal periodical in the country. Past President of the Board of Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC). Mary is past president of the Asociación Dominicana de Propiedad Intelectual, Inc. (ADOPI), of Fundación Institucionalidad y Justicia, Inc. (FINJUS) and past Chair of the Latin American Council of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).

She specializes in corporate and business law, banking law, agency and distribution law, foreign investment, intellectual property, life sciences and healthcare, arbitration, and trusts and estates. Her professional practice has been recognized and ranked in Band 1 by Chambers Global 2023 and Chambers Latin America 2023 in Corporate/Commercial and in Intellectual Property. She is recommended by Latin Lawyer 250 2023. She is also recommended by the Latin American Corporate Counsel Association (LACCA) for Corporate/M&A in 2023. She teaches intellectual property for a Master´s Program on Intellectual Property at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PCUMM).

Mary is Dominican, studied law at the Universidad Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), where she graduated summa cum laude in 1979. Immediately after, 1979-80, she attended postgraduate courses in Political Science and International Relations at Georgia State University. She has an LLM in Intellectual Property from the University of Illinois, in Chicago, USA. She graduated in 2016, with honors. She speaks Spanish and English.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

  • Intellectual Property
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Corporate Law
  • Banking and Financial Law
  • Foreign investment
  • Litigation
  • Labor Law
  • International Trade
  • Environmental Law
  • Energy Law
  • Tax Law
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Foreign Investment
  • Tourism
  • Restructuring and Insolvency
  • Free Trade Zones

MEMBERSHIPS

  • Dominican Bar Association (CARD)
  • Legal Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic, Inc. (AMCHAM DR)
  • Dominican Association of Intellectual Property (ADOPI)
  • International Trademark Association (INTA)
  • Interamerican Association of Intellectual Property, Inc. (ASIPI)
  • Arbitrator and President of the Arbitration and Conciliation committee of the Interamerican Association of Intellectual Property, Inc. (ASIPI)
  • Latin American Council (LATAM) of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)
  • International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)
  • Arbitrator of the Center of Alternative Dispute Resolution (CRC) and member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo (CCSD)
  • Editorial Board of Gaceta Judicial
  • Editorial Board of the AMCHAMDR Magazine

MEMBERSHIPS

La práctica profesional de la Lic. Fernández ha sido notablemente reconocida en Chambers Global, 2022; Chambers Latin America 2022 en Corporativo/Comercial y Propiedad Intelectual; The Latin American Corporate Counsel Association (LACCA) en Corporativo/Fusiones y Adquisiciones, 2022; y, en LatinLawyer 250 – Latin America Leading’s Business Law Firms, edición 2022, siendo destacada en ésta última por su trabajo corporativo y en materia de propiedad intelectual.

Reconocida por Latin Lawyer, por su participación en la primera emisión multilateral de bonos de la República Dominicana, 2010.

Reconocida entre las 50 Mujeres de Poder y Éxito por la Revista Mercado, Edición Especial, años 2011-2014.

Reconocida por la Asociación de Derechos Intelectuales (ASDIN), por su trabajo sobre “La vigencia del Tratado OMC/ADPIC en América Latina y sus contribuciones a la investigación y la salud: caso de la República Dominicana”, 2012.

Seleccionada como una de las Mujeres de Éxito por la revista de la Cámara Americana de Comercio de la República Dominicana, 2012.

Única abogada de la República Dominicana seleccionada como una de las “Mujeres Inspiradoras del Derecho” por la revista Latin Lawyer, 2013.