Mariana Muñiz-Lara

Mariana Muñiz-Lara focuses her practice in the areas of Litigation, Employment Law, Intellectual Property, and Data Privacy.

Mariana has participated in a wide range of complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters, representing public and private entities before state and federal first instance and appellate courts, as well as administrative agencies and arbitral forums. Among the areas in which she has developed her litigation practice are intellectual property, employment, breach of contracts, fraud, unfair competition, distribution and sales representative contracts, consumer rights, and torts. Mariana has also served as local counsel for pro hac vice attorneys in court cases and arbitration proceedings held in Puerto Rico.

Mariana is a certified arbitrator and mediator in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Mariana provides counseling in relation to trademarks, copyrights, and data privacy.

Prior to joining DLA Piper in November 2018, Mariana worked in the Litigation and Employment divisions of one of Puerto Rico's leading local law firms. Mariana also served as a Law Clerk to former Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, Liana Fiol Matta, for three years, and has taught Legal Writing and Investigation courses and spoken at conferences at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

As a law student, Mariana was an Associate Director of the University of Puerto Rico Law Review, a Teaching Assistant, and a leader in diverse student organizations and pro bono programs regarding civil rights, women's rights, workers' rights, and community and environmental issues. She also participated in Communications Law programs with the American Bar Association and the Center for Freedom of the Press of Puerto Rico, and received several academic excellence scholarships.

Before becoming a lawyer, Mariana was a journalist and worked as a reporter at two of Puerto Rico's major newspapers, El Nuevo Día and El Vocero.