Venezuela
In 2009, Dean’s firm represented a very successful banker in Venezuela when his financial enterprises were illegally acquired and he was arbitrarily detained. The matter encompassed an appeal to UN bodies and a public campaign in country. The campaign exposed the fact that the client was a perceived opponent of President Chavez and that the legal proceedings directed at the client were driven by political and financial motives.
At the same time, Dean worked with US legal counsel to mount a US lawsuit against the Venezuelan state agency and the US based competitors who were behind the fabricated allegations made against the client.
In the end, the client won his freedom in a Venezuelan courtroom and was released from custody. Shortly thereafter, President Chavez publicly admonished the presiding judge; summarily ordered that the judge be jailed for treason; and then called for a nationwide search for the client. With the assistance of Dean’s firm, the client ultimately managed to escape from the country and claim political asylum in the United States.
Dean’s firm acted on behalf of the Four Seasons hotel chain when its a operations in Caracas, Venezuela came under siege. The corporate raid was the work of a local competitor who was working in collusion with the municipal authorities. The assignment involved major international arbitration and cross border litigation in the United States and Venezuela.
Dean’s firm served in the role of outside general counsel by coordinating a team of specialists, and directly conferring with Four Seasons’ in-house general counsel, on all critical steps taken in the course of the engagement.
Guatemala
Dean’s firm represented one side of a divided family in respect to a long-standing dispute over a highly successful family venture located in Guatemala. The engagement entailed wide-ranging, multi-jurisdictional litigation conducted in the United States, Guatemala and the Caribbean Islands. Dean’s firm also conducted a parallel public campaign in Guatemala. This political and media outreach demonstrated that the opposing side had formidable political clout and exploited this power to defraud the client.
In all of these matters, Dean’s firm constantly worked as outside general counsel and, in that role, oversaw a group of local and international experts in various professional disciplines.