Hernando Díaz-Candia

Hernando Díaz-Candia focuses on international and domestic arbitration, investor-State disputes, cross-border litigation and complex commercial disputes. He acts both as counsel and arbitrator, with experience in proceedings under ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC and other institutional and ad hoc rules involving international contracts, foreign investment, corporate disputes and regulated industries.

He has represented both investors and sovereign States in investment arbitration and has been repeatedly appointed as sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator in domestic and international proceedings. His arbitration practice covers commercial, contractual and corporate disputes, with particular experience in energy and hydrocarbons, mining, infrastructure, telecommunications, financial services and technology.

Hernando also represents clients in judicial and cross-border proceedings involving Venezuela and the United States, including matters before courts in Florida and New York. He has served as an expert on Venezuelan law in litigation before U.S. and other courts in the Americas, and advises on the recognition and enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards, parallel proceedings and dispute strategy across jurisdictions.

His disputes practice is complemented by corporate and regulatory experience, particularly in foreign investment, M&A, investment structuring, corporate finance and regulated transactions. This transactional background informs his approach to disputes and enables him to assess matters from both litigation and business perspectives, including the structuring of investments and contractual protections designed to anticipate and mitigate potential disputes.

Hernando Díaz-Candia has built his career across Venezuela and the United States. Before co-founding WDA Legal, he practised with Squire Sanders & Dempsey in Caracas and, earlier, with Shearman & Sterling in New York. He also served as an external rapporteur to the Political-Administrative Chamber of Venezuela’s former Supreme Court and to the First Court of Administrative Litigation. He has taught at postgraduate level in Venezuela and currently conducts his international practice from WDA Legal’s Miami office, advising on matters connecting Latin America and the United States.

Admitted to practice in Florida, New York and Venezuela; member of the Caracas Bar Association. Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb); member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and the International Arbitration Institute (IAI); member of the VenAmCham Arbitration Committee; member of the Official List of Conciliators and Arbitrators of the Business Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CEDCA); listed arbitrator with the Arbitration Center of the Caracas Chamber of Commerce (CACC) and the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission (IACAC).

Author. Diaz-Candia, Hernando. “Who Controls Venezuelan Assets Abroad? The Impact of U.S. Recognition” (Caracas Chronicles/WDA Legal, 2026). Author, Diaz-Candia, Hernando. “Realization of the Right to Environment Protection as a Fundamental Right in the United States: Some Reflections” (Environmental Policy and Law, Sage Journals, 2025). Author, Diaz-Candia, Hernando. “Otra mirada al principio de buena fe en el arbitraje internacional,” in Relaciones transfronterizas, globalización y derecho (Thomson Reuters-Civitas, 2020).

Representative experience includes acting as counsel in investor-State disputes involving Venezuela under ICSID, UNCITRAL and bilateral investment treaty frameworks, representing both investors and sovereign States. He currently represents a Spanish investor in PCA proceedings under the Spain–Venezuela BIT.

Hernando is regularly appointed as sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator in domestic and international commercial disputes, including proceedings administered by the ICC, the Business Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CEDCA) and the Arbitration Center of the Caracas Chamber of Commerce (CACC).

His cross-border disputes experience also includes advising on recognition and enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards, parallel proceedings involving Venezuela and the United States, and serving as an expert on Venezuelan law before U.S. and other foreign courts. His matters have involved energy and hydrocarbons, mining, infrastructure, corporate and investment disputes, financial services and other regulated industries.

Hernando has extensive experience as counsel, arbitrator and Venezuelan-law expert in complex domestic and international disputes. He has advised investors, sovereign States and multinational companies in commercial and investment arbitrations, including matters arising from bilateral investment treaties, foreign investments, corporate transactions and regulated industries. His experience also includes cross-border litigation before courts in Venezuela and the United States, recognition and enforcement proceedings, and coordination of parallel disputes across jurisdictions. He has served as sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator in numerous commercial proceedings and has acted as an expert on Venezuelan law before foreign courts. His broader corporate and regulatory background includes foreign investment, M&A, finance and investment structuring, providing a commercial perspective to dispute strategy and risk assessment.

Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB)

Law Degree (Abogado), cum laude

1988 - 1993

Harvard Law School

LL.M., Fulbright Scholar

1994 - 1995

Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)

Doctorate in Law (Ph.D.)

2009 - 2011

Energy, Oil & Gas and Petrochemicals; Mining and Natural Resources; Infrastructure and Construction; Banking and Financial Services; Telecommunications and Technology; Real Estate; Sports; Manufacturing and Industrial; Government and Public Sector.

Venezuela; United States (Florida and New York); cross-border matters involving Latin America and the Caribbean.