Canovas Law PLLC

A former partner at Jones Day and Hogan Lovells, María Luisa Canovas has been ranked for more than a decade as a leading New York lawyer for M&A by, among others, Chambers Latin America (2024), Chambers Global (2024), The Legal 500 Latin America and Latinvex “Top 50 Female Lawyers in Latin America.”Spain’s Expansion Jurídica recently listed her as one of the top Spanish lawyers practicing in the U.S. The acquisition by Grupo Hame of Agrokasa, in which María Luisa was lead NY M&A Counsel, has been shortlisted for the 2024 Deal of the Year Awards by each of Latin Lawyer and IFLR.

Over the course of her career, María Luisa has worked extensively with public companies such as Sanofi, PepsiCo and News Corporation; private equity funds such as Macquarie, Hicks Muse and Playa Hotels & Resorts; and Latin-America based companies such as Betesh International and Cabcorp. Since launching a boutique practice in 2022, María Luisa has continued to work for long-standing clients on cross-border M&A transaction governed under New York law and taught several M&A courses at Columbia Law School. Highlights of last year were her representations of Grupo Hame in the acquisition of Agrokasa (Peru), one of the world's leading producers of avocados, blueberries and asparagus, and Waterlogic/Culligan in the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Mas Pura Group (Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Peru, Hong Kong and BVI). María Luisa partners with local counsel when doing deals and brings-in her own attorneys when appropriate.

In addition to advising corporate clients and world-wide teaching assignments, María Luisa has throughout her career been dedicated to pro-bono service and diversity-related matters. At Jones Day she was the partner-in-charge of the NY office Women´s Diversity Group for more than a decade and also a member of the Firm´s Global Women´s Diversity Group. She heads the corporate governance and nominating committee of the Board of the Queen Sophia Spanish Institute and is a member of the Board of the US-Mexico Bar Association and of the Finance Committee of the Brooklyn Public Library.