Flavio Cumpiano

Flavio Cumpiano became Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA) on February 16, 2008, succeeding Eduardo Bhatia. He previously served as Senior Counsel and Policy Advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Honorable Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, in the PRFAA, which serves as the Governor's Washington, D.C. office. He was Senior Counsel for Mr. Vilá when Mr. Vilá previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.

Biography

Mr. Cumpiano worked as an attorney in the Washington, DC office of the international law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP starting in 1995, in the areas of litigation, government affairs and international law. From 1999 to 2004 he represented "pro bono" the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques in the U.S. In that capacity, he participated in meetings on Vieques with Congressional, White House and Department of Defense officials, organized various rallies, press conferences and lobbying initiatives, published articles, and gave speeches and testimony before the U.S. Congress, the New York City Council, the Puerto Rico Bar Association, as well as at several universities and civic organizations.

In 2000, Mr. Cumpiano was selected as Lawyer of the Year by the Puerto Rico Bar Association.

Mr. Cumpiano obtained a degree in International Relations from Georgetown University in 1989. He also obtained a Certificate in Latin American Studies and studied for a semester in Georgetown University’s program in Florence, Italy. He obtained his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law in 1993. He is admitted to the practice of law in Puerto Rico, Washington, DC and Maryland.

During his years at Georgetown, he worked for three years with the lobbying firm of Mark Siegel and Associates which represented the Government of Puerto Rico in Washington, DC.

From 1989 to 1990, he worked in La Fortaleza, the Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico in San Juan, as Special Assistant to then Governor Rafael Hernández Colón.

After obtaining his Juris Doctor in 1993, Mr. Cumpiano worked as judicial law clerk to then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, the Honorable José Andreu García.

Mr. Cumpiano has been a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the editorial board of the Puerto Rico Bar Journal, and a member of the Inter-American Bar Association, among other professional organizations. He has published various articles, in English and Spanish, on legal, legislative, political and cultural matters in various magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.