With more than 88 years of successful experience,the origins of Morgan & Morgan date back to 1923, when Eduardo Morgan Alvarez (1902-1988) founded Morgan & Morgan–Attorneys at Law, in the Republic of Panama. In 1964, Eduardo Morgan Jr. joined the firm, followed by his brother Juan David Morgan. New partners were incorporated, diversifying the practices and expanding internationally in search of new business opportunities.
In order to provide better service to its customers, Morgan & Morgan-Attorneys at Law created the Morgan & Morgan Group (MMG). This integrated and multidisciplinary group of service companies includes MMG Bank, an international license bank in The Bahamas and a general license bank in Panama; as well as MMG Trust, with fiduciary license in Panama, Belize, BVI and Ecuador.
MMG has an efficient operations network in more than 20 cities in America, Asia and Europe, with a team of over 800 professional and staff employees. The Group´s attorneys and executives come from the best national and international universities and have vast global experience, enabling them to provide the highest quality of legal, fiduciary and financial services under the highest and safest international industry standards.
Our Founder-Eduardo Morgan Alvarez
Dr. Eduardo Morgan Alvarez was born in Wales, Great Britain in 1902. During his childhood, his family moved to the Republic of Panama and settled in the city of David, where he spent his youth.
In those years, professional careers were hampered by the lack of colleges in the country. This, however, did not hold back Don Eduardo, who as a self-taught person earnestly devoted himself to the study of law; about this, he was fond of saying, “my school was work, my university, life.” In 1925 he obtained his license to practice law from the Supreme Court of Panama, with which he excelled in defending the rights of those in need of legal protection because of the abuses and arbitrariness of some officials and powerful companies.
In 1945, Dr. Morgan Alvarez moved his practice to the Panamanian capital after being appointed Education Minister. He opened the offices of “Hincapie & Morgan”, alongside the distinguished Dr. Lorenzo Hincapie, in front of the current Ministry of Governance and Justice. During this time, his sons, Eduardo, Jr. and Juan David, were graduating at the top of their respective classes, in high school and at the University of Panama. Both later obtained their masters degrees in law, with the highest honors, from Yale University in 1969 and 1965, respectively.
With their return to Panama and subsequent incorporation into the firm, Dr. Eduardo Morgan, Jr. and, later, Dr. Juan David Morgan, provided a new impetus to what had hitherto been a litigation-only practice. They included new partners and expanded into other practices and international markets in search of new business opportunities.
In 1945, Dr. Morgan Alvarez was responsible for setting an important milestone in Panama’s legal history, with the creation of labor law favoring workers of the Puerto Armuelles fruit company, by defending them pro bono and winning their case. He also promoted the Educators’ Autonomy Act, signaling great strides for teachers, like the doubling of their salaries.
Dr. Morgan Alvarez not only dedicated his life to the practice of law. His legacy of service to the community started at a young age, as a journalist and founder of two national dailies; he fought for Panama’s dignity and sovereignty as a speaker at political meetings opposing the Treaty of 1926, as member of the Lions Club and the Bolivarian Society of Panama, and, above all, as an uncompromising defender of justice and the law.
Dr. Eduardo Morgan Alvarez also had a brilliant public career. In 1925 he joined the Panamanian Bar Association, where he was President from 1953-1954 and 1955-1956. In 1945 he was named Minister of Education; in 1946, Legal Adviser to the Presidency; and in 1949, Deputy Justice of the Supreme Court of Panama.
He also figured at the international level, playing a decisive role as the representative of Panama to the Commission composed of five members designated by the General Assembly of the United Nations to organize the State of Israel and the Arab territories, in what was then the British protectorate of Palestine. In 1972, he was appointed by Panama to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, where he served until 1986, receiving international praise and awards for his fairness and wise administration of justice.
For his valuable contribution to the creation of the State of Israel, he was elected President of the Panamanian-Israeli Institute of Cultural Relations in 1962, a position he held for 20 years. In 1982 he was elected the Institute’s Honorary President for life, serving until his death in Panama City in 1988.