Ignacio J. Labarca Morales

IGNACIO is a member at Marini Pietrantoni Muñiz, LLC in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and has a decade of experience litigating complex bankruptcy and insolvency matters. His practice covers creditor, debtor and chapter 7 trustee rights, as well as litigation involving collateral foreclosure, breach of contract, lender liability and other commercial disputes. One of his key clients is Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, the Island’s largest bank, and he serves as counsel to the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency & Financial Advisory Authority (AAFAF) in the landmark Title III PROMESA cases, which involve more than $70 billion in public debt across major government entities, including the Commonwealth, PREPA and COFINA. He additionally plays an important role in the ongoing efforts to ultimately confirm a plan of adjustment for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority — an essential step in rebuilding the Island’s power system following Hurricane María.

Ignacio also advises the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions on receiverships for uninsured international banks that are ineligible for federal bankruptcy relief. He has helped apply bankruptcy principles to state administrative liquidations, maximizing creditor recoveries. Due to his leadership in this area, he was selected to represent the regulator in a stakeholder group tasked with finalizing a revised regulation for international banks — modernizing a framework that had not been updated in more than 28 years. His career began at a boutique firm during Puerto Rico’s financial crisis, where his first client was a chapter 7 trustee. Most recently, the Federal Bar Association’s Puerto Rico Chapter published his article, “Navigating the AI Revolution: Embracing Generative AI Tools in Legal Practice,” in its 2025 Summer From the Bar, which addressed ethical and practical implications of AI in law. In addition, he is active in the Puerto Rico chapter of the Iberoamerican Insolvency Law Institute and the Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Bar. He was recognized as one of Puerto Rico’s top insolvency and reorganization lawyers in The Best Lawyers in America from 2022-26, and in 2025, he was selected for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ NextGen Class.

As Ignacio’s parents hail from Chile and Puerto Rico, he is committed to bridging the language gap of terminologies of the Bankruptcy Code for non-native English-speaking individuals, seeking to translate complex legal concepts into clear, accessible language. He also is deeply motivated by the direct impact his work has on families and businesses in Puerto Rico, especially amid the ongoing energy crisis. Given his passion for bankruptcy law, which grew after he was hired by a practitioner starting his own firm, he plays a leading role in mentoring junior associates and interns, investing in their development and promoting their interest in restructuring work. Outside of the office, he is a passionate music aficionado and spends his free time producing and recording music, often with his young son.