Successful Miami Internet Attorney Opens Law Firm Targeting Wealthy Latins

Former General Counself of Patagon.com, an internet company sold for over $500 million three days before the NASDAQ high, launches The Private Advising Group Law Firm, P.A. a unique law firm in Miami Florida focused on high net worth Latin Americans and corporate transactions.

Juan Pablo Cappello has had pretty good timing the past few years. He joined Patagon.com in December 1999 just as the on-line financial services company was finishing its second round of financing. Three months later Banco Santander Spain paid US$525 million cash for a controlling interest in Patagon.com. The Santander deal was signed on March 7, 2000, three days before the all time NASDAQ high of 5,047-the NASDAQ index has since fallen over 70%. Cappello said with a smile about the experience I am happy to have played a part of a very memorable transaction".

In late 2002 a month before Banco Santander wrote off a significant portion of its investment in Patagon, Cappello set off to open a boutique corporate law firm, The Private Advising Group Law Firm, P.A. The Miami based firm represents Latin American families and investors in their cross border transactions and solves their most delicate problems. The firms practice also involves assisting private equity funds, institutional investors and venture capitalists in structuring deals both in the United States and in Latin America.

Cappello who spent over US$18 million on outside legal counsel and advisors as the EVP, CG and Secretary of Patagon has tried to set up a law firm that tries to be the corporate firm that I always hoped to find and never could find. Specialized but practical. No billable hours, no surprises-just fixed fees agreed to in-advance with the client for corporate transactions and financings. And no junior associates being trained at the clients expense."

Cappello, 35, should know something about what law firms do right and wrong. He has been both a producer and consumer of legal services. Earlier in his career he was an associate at Cleary, Gottlieb in New York for six years, and before joining Patagon he was the SVP, GC and Secretary of Sky Latin America-one of the largest media projects focused on Latin America.

I thought about going back to a large law firm, but I realized that in a large firm I was not going to be able to offer my clients something different. From the name of the law firm, to the website www.privateadvising.com, to the way we bill, I have tried to do things differently." Today the former NYU Law Review Editor has a team of three full time attorneys and one part-time attorney focused on servicing individual clients and executing complex financings and corporate transactions.

Several clients have paid us the highest compliment by saying 'I havent ever met lawyers like you all"

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Juan Pablo Cappello can be reached at juanpablo@private-advising.com or 305 445 2646. The Private Advising Group's website is www.privateadvising.com

Attached are several recent articles about Mr. Cappello and his firm.