Alternate Office(s)
Areas of Practice
- Business & Finance
- Corporate & Securities
- Corporate Compliance & White Collar Defense
- Disaster Recovery Client Team
- Health Care
- Insurance & Litigation
- International
- Project Development & Finance
- Venture Capital & Emerging Companies
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. International and Comparative Law, 1980
- American University Washington College of Law, J.D., 1977
- University of Houston Law School, (legal studies in Mexico)
- Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, D.C., (graduate studies in international business)
- Union College, New York, B.A., 1973, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia, 1979
- Florida, 1981
- Virginia, 1977
Tom Morante is the office head of the firm's Washington, D.C., and Miami offices. He serves as co-chair of the firm’s Insurance, Banking & Financial Services Industry Group as well as its International Practice. He focuses his practice on international trade and finance, insurance, corporate, securities, and health care law. In more than 25 years of practice, he has handled a broad range of financial and regulatory compliance matters domestically as well as in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. He is fluent in Spanish.
He has advised insurance clients on insurance company formation and compliance both in the U.S. and abroad, and foreign regulatory issues with respect to variable life and annuity products (including in connection with sale of offshore insurance products), health insurance policies, foreign laws governing authorization, licensing, marketing practices, agents and brokers, and bancassurance, and the drafting and interpretation of insurance policies.
Mr. Morante has counseled clients on securities offerings, structuring offshore funds, alternative investment products and sovereign wealth funds, mergers and acquisitions, international project finance, international real estate development, venture capital, licensing/distribution, international dispute resolution, corporate governance/compliance, and money laundering.
He has represented numerous health care companies in both domestic and foreign transactional and regulatory matters. He has also advised foreign governments in connection with insurance and pension reform legislation.
Mr. Morante has advised international clients on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the WTO Agreement, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Foreign Assets Control Regulations administered by OFAC, the USA Patriot Act, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Homeland Security Act, the Export Administration Regulations administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. bilateral investment treaties with foreign governments, NAFTA, and CAFTA. He was a participant in the “Summit of the Americas” in Miami (1995), which established the framework for the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and was a delegate at the Miami 2003 FTAA–VIII Americas Business Forum “Service Workshop,” at the FTAA Miami Ministerial, November 2003.
He is on the Roster of U.S. Panelists selected by the NAFTA Secretariat, with respect to the NAFTA Chapter 19 Dispute Settlement Panels (anti-dumping, countervailing duty, and injury final determinations). He serves as Co-Chair of the Latin American Law Subcommittee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, and is active in both the International Bar Association (IBA) Financial Services Section (Insurance Committee) and the Inter-American Bar Association (IABA) Committee I, Public and Private International Law.
Mr. Morante is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the American University Washington College of Law. He is the South Florida regional coordinator for The Export Legal Assistance Network (ELAN), a cooperative program among the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Federal Bar Association, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Mr. Morante is also on the Board of Advisors of Inter-American Dialogue's Latin American - Financial Services Advisor biweekly publication.
Noteworthy
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2005 (Copyright 2004 Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC) in the area of International Trade and Finance Law
- Listed in the 2008 edition of Florida Super Lawyers in the areas of International, Securities & Corporate Finance and Health Care (listed annually since 2006)
- AV® Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell. CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell Ratings fall into two categories—legal ability and general ethical standards.
- Named one of the top attorneys in South Florida by South Florida Legal Guide (listed annually since 2004)
News
- Morante to Present at Fifth Annual Life Settlement Conference in Washington, D.C.
- Morante to Speak at the 2008 Tulane Latin American Law Institute Conference in New Orleans
- Two Jones Walker Miami Attorneys Selected to Appear in Florida Super Lawyers
- Morante to Present at Fourth Annual Life Settlement Conference
- Two Jones Walker Miami Attorneys Selected to Appear in Florida Super Lawyers
- Morante to Speak at Institute for International Research Event
Presentations
- Tulane Latin American Law Institute Conference
- "Use of Life Settlements in Collateralized Asset Transactions", November 5, 2008
- Latin America and Caribbean Compliance Seminar, October 30, 2008
- "Use of Life Settlements in Collateralized Asset Transactions", November 5, 2007
- “Private Placement Life Insurance, Annuity, and Alternative Investment Products”, February 26, 2007
- "Partnerships: How to Play as a Team", December 12, 2005
Publications
- "Are Caribbean Offshore Tax Havens Losing Their Appeal?"
Inter-American Dialogue Financial Services Advisor, June 2008 - "Are Latin Banks Benefiting From the US Financial Crisis?"
Inter-American Dialogue Financial Services Advisor, April 2008 - "Will Grupo Elektra's Banco Azteca Make Inroads in Brazil?"
Inter-American Dialogue Financial Services Advisor, August 2007 - "What Accounts for Slower Growth of US Remittances to Mexico?"
Inter-American Dialogue Financial Services Advisor, June 2007 - "CAFTA and Costa Rica: Now or Never?"
Jones Walker Insurance, Banking & Financial Services E*Lert, May 9, 2007 - "Insurance Modernization in Costa Rica: The Fruits of CAFTA"
September 28, 2006 - "Global Liberalization of Financial Services Through the Evolution of Trade Agreements"
The Banking Law Journal, August 15, 2006 - "CAFTA—Delayed Implementation"
March 1, 2006
Memberships
- American Bar Association (Member, Co-Chairman of the Latin American Law Subcommittee of the Business Law Section)
- American Society of International Law
- Liaison to the ABA Section of Business Law's Committee on Diversity on behalf of the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee
- District of Columbia Bar (Member, International Section)
- The Florida Bar (Member, Sections on International Law, Business Law, and Health Law)
- The Inter-American Bar Association
- International Bar Association (Member, Section on Financial Services)
Languages
- Fluent Spanish






