Biography

Hal Denton  is a partner in the law firm of Denton Tavares Paes, LLC, a law firm specializing in risk management and international business transactions and with offices in the US and Brazil.  He has served as General Counsel for AFS Intercultural Programs from 1989 to the present (AFS is a large multi-national not-for-profit organization with approximately 50,000 volunteers in 55 countries).  At Denton Tavares Paes, he advises other non-profit and for-profit entities providing a wide range of general legal and corporate advice with a focus on risk and crisis management, general corporate advice, governance, licensing agreements, technology, and intellectual property.

Prior to 1989, he worked at Fox & Horan in New York as an associate (1987-1989) as a corporate lawyer specializing in international business transactions, securities, foreign debt restructuring and debt equity swaps.   He started his legal career in New Orleans in 1984 with Jones Walker et al., the largest law firm in Louisiana, where he chaired the entertainment law section of the firm (1986).  He also chaired the Young Lawyers for the Arts Committee of the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Hal has lectured around the world on risk management at numerous conferences and workshops for AFS and at various international conferences over the years including the Association of Private Voluntary Organizations (Wash. D.C. 2005) the Personnel Coop (Wash. D.C. 2005), the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (annual meeting, San Diego 1998, Wash. D.C. 1990), Volunteurope (Madrid 1999), AFS World Congresses  (Istanbul 1996, Panama 2003, Japan 2004, Italy 2005) and has written a number of articles on risk management with Fiona Lally published by the NonProfit Risk Management Center (NoRMaC).  

Hal has a law degree from Hastings College of the Law (J.D.  1984) and a B.A. from Syracuse University (1977).