Our Story

In 2011, two Panamanian attorneys who had built parallel careers sat down to talk about something they had both felt for some time. Eduardo Segura, a specialist in international maritime law, and Fanny De La Rosa, dedicated to corporate law and foreign trade, realized they shared more than a profession: they shared an approach to the practice of law. That coincidence, which could have ended in a single conversation, became the foundation of De La Rosa & Segura.

To understand the firm, one must understand where its partners come from. Eduardo grew up in a family with deep roots in Panama's insurance industry. His father, Alberto Segura, devoted more than forty years to that sector and built relationships of trust with generations of Panamanian businesspeople. Fanny grew up surrounded by international trade. Her father, Edgardo De La Rosa, dedicated more than forty years to customs law and built one of the most respected customs consulting firms in Panama. These two parallel family histories eventually converged in a single law firm.

Before founding the firm, Eduardo had walked a path that prepared him for something larger. After graduating from the University of Panama with a degree in Law and Political Science, he began his career in 1998 dedicating himself to international maritime litigation. His work led him to represent shipping companies, P&I Clubs, and insurers before Panama's Maritime Courts during a period when the country was consolidating itself as one of the most active maritime jurisdictions in the hemisphere. In 2004 he founded Segura & Asociados, a firm that for seven years specialized exclusively in maritime law and built a solid international client base.

Fanny, meanwhile, had followed an equally demanding path. After earning her Bachelor's in Law and Political Science from the University of Panama in 1996, she chose to expand her training with a Master's in Corporate and Financial Law from Widener University in Wilmington, Delaware. That step gave her an international perspective uncommon among Panamanian corporate lawyers of her generation. She began practicing in 1997, focusing on corporate structuring, labor matters, and customs advisory. In 2006 she founded De La Rosa & De La Rosa, a customs consulting and brokerage firm that still operates today in strategic alliance with the law firm.

When Eduardo and Fanny began discussing the possibility of joining forces, what struck them most was not the technical complementarity of their practice areas, but the alignment in how each of them believed a client should be served. Both believed in closeness. Both believed in transparency. Both believed that the law, before it is a business, is a commitment to people who trust you with real problems. From that shared conviction, De La Rosa & Segura was born in 2011.

The years that followed consolidated the firm. In 2014, Eduardo was called to serve as Director of Legal Advisory at the Panama Maritime Authority, a position he held until 2017. During those three years he contributed to strengthening the regulatory framework of the Panama ship registry, which is the largest in the world. That experience from the regulatory side gave him a unique perspective he now brings to every case at the firm: knowing how rules are built lets him anticipate how they will be applied.

In parallel, Eduardo developed a vocation for academia that he still cultivates today. He teaches Maritime Law at Universidad Santa María La Antigua, Legal Foundations of Maritime Business at Universidad Latinoamericana de Comercio Exterior, and Maritime Transport and Insurance at Aden Business School. His Master's in Maritime Law (2010) and his Master's in Bunker Business and Operations (2015) allow him to teach both the legal and operational sides of the sector — a combination that is rare in the field.

More than a decade after its founding, De La Rosa & Segura keeps the same philosophy with which it was born: close client service, rigorous technical judgment, and absolute loyalty to the client. The firm has grown in scope and in team, incorporating professionals such as Dino Kirten, Authorized Public Translator and Interpreter and certified mediator, whose experience complements the firm's international work. But the spirit of that 2011 conversation, in which two attorneys decided to join paths, remains at the center of how we work.

Today, when a client trusts us with a case, they know that behind every decision lies decades of family tradition in customs and insurance, years of international litigation, international academic training, and above all an approach to the law that puts the person at the center. That is the story of De La Rosa & Segura. And in some way, it is also the story that each client continues with us.