José Rafael is a Partner at Consortium Legal – Honduras with more than 32 years of experience in the banking, financial, and corporate sectors. He also specializes in the economic analysis of law with a focus on corporate finance.

His practice areas include commercial law, insurance, agency and distribution, franchising, competition law and administrative law.

He serves as a commercial arbitrator appointed by the Conciliation and Arbitration Center of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Tegucigalpa, where he has presided over arbitral tribunals. Throughout his career, he has acted as the lead counsel for local and multinational companies, banks, and financial institutions, primarily on foreign investment, financing, corporate, and commercial matters.

Practice Areas

• Banking & Finance
• Corporate and Commercial Law
• Corporate Finance
• Franchising Law
• Competition Law

• Advised multiple multinational financial institutions as Administrative Agents, Collateral Agents, and Lead Arrangers in loans and syndicated loans financing operations in Honduras and Central America.
• Counsel to foreign and multinational companies on competition, corporate, and commercial law matters.
• Advised Daimler/Mercedes Benz in 2022 on complex competition and distribution issues.

• Master’s Degree in Law (Fulbright scholar), University of Chicago, United States (2000)
• Bachelor of Science in Law and Social Sciences, (summa cum laude), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), Honduras (1994)

• Member, Honduran Bar Association
• Member, International Bar Association (IBA)
• Member, Board of Directors of several leading Honduran companies, Honduras
• Lawyer and Notary Public, Corte Suprema de Justicia, Honduras (1999)