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Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. is a founding partner of SMGQ Law in Miami and the 76th President of The Florida Bar (2024 to 2025).

Short bio

Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. is a founding partner of SMGQ Law in Miami and the 76th President of The Florida Bar (2024 to 2025). Born in Havana and raised in Miami after his family's journey to freedom, he has spent more than 30 years advising companies and families on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, real estate and tax. He is a past president of the Cuban American Bar Association and past chairman of the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He holds degrees from the University of Miami, Boston College Law School and NYU School of Law, and is recognized by Best Lawyers and Legal 500.

Biografía en español

Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. es socio fundador de SMGQ Law en Miami y fue el presidente número 76 de The Florida Bar (2024 a 2025). Nacido en La Habana y criado en Miami tras el largo camino de su familia hacia la libertad, lleva más de 30 años asesorando a empresas y familias en fusiones y adquisiciones, gobierno corporativo, bienes raíces e impuestos. Fue presidente del Cuban American Bar Association y presidente de la junta de la South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Full bio

Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. is a founding partner of SMGQ Law in Miami and served as the 76th President of The Florida Bar from 2024 to 2025. Over more than three decades in practice, he has advised companies, boards and families on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities, real estate and tax matters, both domestic and international.

Born in Havana in 1966, he left Cuba as a small child with his parents, Dr. Rolando Sanchez-Medina, an orthopedic surgeon, and Gisela Sanchez-Medina. The family's search for freedom took them through the Republic of the Congo, political asylum in South Africa and a stay in Spain before they settled in Miami when he was a young boy. He was the third Florida Bar president born outside the United States.

He graduated from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, where a civics class first drew him to the justice system, and earned a B.B.A. cum laude in finance from the University of Miami. After working as a credit analyst at a bank, he chose a career in law, earning a J.D. with honors from Boston College Law School and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. He practiced at Holland & Knight and Greenberg Traurig and was a partner in the corporate department of McDermott Will & Emery before co founding SMGQ Law with Peter Gonzalez and Pablo Quesada. The firm has grown to about 25 attorneys. He began his career as a tax lawyer and built his practice into corporate and real estate transactions. He has called his father his only true mentor.

Before leading the Bar, he served for about a decade on its Board of Governors, where he chaired the Program Evaluation Committee. As president, he focused on professionalism, lawyer well being and opening doors for new and immigrant lawyers. He is a past president of the Cuban American Bar Association, past chairman and general counsel of the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and past chair of the budget and audit committees of Miami Dade County Public Schools and the City of Coral Gables. He serves on the Orange Bowl Committee and the University of Miami Citizens Board and is a member of the National Conference of Bar Presidents.

He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, the Legal 500 Miami Elite, Super Lawyers and Florida Trend's Legal Elite, and was named a 2025 Power Leader in Law by the South Florida Business Journal. A lifelong mentor to young lawyers and students, he lives in Coral Gables.