Summary
Work History
Education
Skills
Websites
Certification
Generic
Heidi Maharaj

Heidi Maharaj

Miramar,FL

Summary

Success-driven legal executive and solutions-oriented legal advisor with 18+ years of broad-based corporate expertise who provides proactive, strategic and practical advice to resolve complex issues. Pragmatic, business minded attorney and advisor to C-suite and board of directors. Collaborative partner who values being a commercial and practical partner to the board and drives transformational projects and operational improvements to optimize opportunities, mitigate risk and grow organizations. Intellectually curious problem-solver.

Work History

Legal Consultant/Fractional GC

HMA Lawyers, P.A.
Miami, FL
02.2023 - Current
  • Acted as a legal advisor to startups in the health care, real estate and technology space
  • Drafted/reviewed early-stage transaction documents (including, term sheets, exclusivity letters, and non-binding letters of intent), structured and assisted in the negotiation of transactions, reviewed definitive transaction documents with the assistance of outside counsel (including, purchase and sale agreements, investment agreements, shareholder/operating agreements, and project documents), and coordinated among internal and external stakeholders for those transactions (including outside counsel)

Director of Legal Affairs (Caribbean & Latin America)

Diamonds International
Miami, FL
01.2021 - 01.2023
  • Managed transactional work across all business lines in connection with major entity acquisitions, divestitures; retail leasing; company-wide corporate governance; intellectual property licensing; cybersecurity; incident response; data privacy compliance; company-wide commercial contracting (including oversight of legal budget); employment law; litigation strategy and management; Supervised Legal, Compliance & Regulatory team across multiple office locations including nine direct/indirect reports; Managed a multi-jurisdictional portfolio of over 75 companies including attending to various filings (e.g
  • Entity formations, dissolutions, foreign qualifications, DBAs and annual reports); Prepared resolutions, consents, charters, bylaws, LLC operating agreements, articles of incorporation, annual reports and stock certificates and worked closely with third party vendors responsible for providing subsidiary management services; Drafted, reviewed and negotiated LOIs, MOUs, Leases, SNDAs, PSAs, SPAs, Construction Contracts (including AIA), estoppel certificates, amendments, loan documents and concession agreements with large commercial landlords including Simon Property Group and The Walt Disney Company; Advised boards of directors, audit committees and senior management with respect to corporate governance, business judgment, fiduciary duty, regulatory, disclosure and other issues; Optimized the company's profits and minimized the risks to which the company was exposed by strategically drafting, negotiating and reviewing joint venture, advertising and marketing, intellectual property, licensing/trademark, indemnification, release, SaaS and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs); Implemented entity management software to monitor compliance management, corporate structure management, due date tracking and ownership; Developed internal governance policies regarding anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CTF) and regularly monitored compliance across all jurisdictions; Researched and analyzed federal, state and local laws and legislative and regulatory proposals as they applied to entities across the group and advised designated department heads of their impact and of the recommended compliance; Acted as corporate secretary of several entities, oversaw board-related matters including drafting minutes and other materials for Board and Committee meetings, liaised with local counsel and shareholders/directors to arrange annual general meetings, prepared and distributed minutes of meetings and maintained board resolutions, minute books and consents relating to company transactions; Collaborated cross-functionally with sales, finance, tax, business operations, marketing, HR, and other internal stakeholders to ensure contract compliance with relevant laws; Streamlined the contracting process by improving existing contract templates, playbooks and processes and implementing contract lifecycle management (CLM) software
  • Facilitated collaboration among various departments within the organization in order to develop effective strategies for engaging with the local community.
  • Established relationships with key stakeholders in the community, including businesses, non-profits, and other organizations.

Senior Associate-Corporate/Commercial

Appleby
British Virgin Islands
01.2009 - 01.2015
  • Instructed by leading financial institutions, law firms and trust companies on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, securitisation, IPOs, project finance, bilateral and syndicated loans, joint ventures, property financing, and general banking and commercial matters; Drafted, reviewed and negotiated a wide range of commercial agreements including vendor agreements, service agreements, software agreements and real estate leases and provided ongoing legal counselling and advice in respect of these; Advised banks, insurers, trust companies, brokers and dealers, corporate services providers, insurance managers and other financial services institutions regulated in the BVI or working with BVI investment vehicles on a wide variety of complex and developing legal, regulatory and compliance issues and the management of legal, commercial and reputational risks; Assisted TSX, NYSE and LSE-listed companies with public debt and equity offerings, SEC filings as required under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (including Forms 10-Q/K, 8-K and 4), corporate governance matters and complex commercial contracts; Ranked as a rising star in M&A, banking and capital markets in the IFLR 1000 Corporate/Commercial legal market overview of the BVI

Associate-Corporate/Commercial

O’Neal Webster
British Virgin Islands
01.2007 - 01.2009
  • Provided legal opinions to global banking institutions regarding the ability of BVI companies to enter into various security agreements such as legal charges; Prepared security documents for loans with local banks including bills of sale, charges and personal guarantees

Education

Master of Business Administration (MBA) -

Florida International University
12.2024

Juris Doctorate (JD) -

York University, Osgoode Hall Law School
06.2004

Bachelor of Arts, Social Science -

McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
06.1996

Skills

  • Commercial Contracts (including software and SaaS licensing)
  • Corporate Governance/Board Advisor
  • Commercial Real Estate
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • US and Foreign Regulatory Compliance (including data privacy)
  • International Expansion & Joint Ventures
  • Venture Capital & Private Equity Investment

Certification

  • New York-In-House Counsel (2023)
  • Florida-Authorized House Counsel (2019)
  • British Virgin Islands-Solicitor (2007)
  • Ontario, Canada-Barrister & Solicitor (2005

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