Vanessa Alejandra Suarez

Vanessa Alejandra Suarez is a commercial litigation and international disputes attorney in Holland & Knight's Austin office. Ms. Suarez focuses her practice on and has significant experience with construction, energy, trade secret, equine industry matters, business torts and other commercial disputes.

Ms. Suarez's background includes litigation management and trial experience in state, federal and international matters. She is responsible for managing a full docket of cases through all phases of litigation while serving as the primary client contact. She has also tried more than a half-dozen disputes.

Ms. Suarez's recent trial and general court experience includes:

• represented and obtained an arbitration award for an exploration and production (E&P) company in an International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) arbitration relating to multimillion-dollar dispute involving operations in Colombia; included cross-examining fact and expert witnesses, as well as conducting direct examination and defending cross-examination of the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court of Colombia
• served as second chair in a bench trial involving trade secrets, obtaining a no-liability ruling for a former employee tried during the COVID-19 pandemic; resulted in dissolution of the injunction and obtained a ruling in the client's favor on all claims; also conducted direct examination and defended cross-examination of witnesses regarding attorneys' fees
• served as first chair in an $8 million contract dispute, including successfully defending against a plea to the jurisdiction and winning on appeal with a full reverse and render opinion; also conducted direct examination and cross-examinations of witnesses
• served as first chair and successfully obtained an arbitration award in a dispute involving residential construction defects; also conducted direct examinations and cross-examinations of all fact and expert witnesses
• successfully tried and obtained a take nothing judgment in favor of an international airline in a dispute involving alleged denial of boarding and related damages
• served as first chair in a temporary restraining order (TRO) proceeding involving the Public Information Act, including all proceedings before the Texas attorney general and Travis County District Court
• served as first chair in a small claims bench trial in justice of the peace court
• served on the trial team in a jury trial of a $60 million Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (TUFTA) and estate partition dispute, resulting in a full defense verdict for the client
• served on the trial team in a multimillion-dollar contract dispute involving emergency care within the hospital system
• assisted with defeating invasive Rule 202 requests for pre-suit depositions and other discovery of several clients, including a major national bank
• argued multiple hearings, including default judgments, summary judgments, discovery disputes, venue disputes and special exceptions
• took and defended numerous depositions for cases pending in federal and state court

Ms. Suarez has lived in various parts of the U.S. and South America and has traveled extensively around the world, gaining comprehensive multicultural experience. She is fully bicultural and bilingual, speaking English and Spanish. Ms. Suarez combines her international background with her legal training to help clients navigate and resolve a diverse array of cross-border legal matters.

In the community, Ms. Suarez is actively involved in organizations that empower the Hispanic community, including the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), where she serves as the Region XII Governor leading and executing the strategic plan for Region XII (Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas), coordinating programs throughout the region that focus on, among other matters, providing opportunities for professional growth for law students, young lawyers and experienced lawyers with a desire to join the judiciary. She is also active with the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin, serving as secretary on the board of directors.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Suarez was as an associate at a litigation boutique and Am Law 100 firms.