Meet the Team
Founding Partners
Atty. Neal Vincent M. Bainto is a Founding and Managing Partner of the firm whose distinguished legal career bridges executive branch policymaking, litigation, and top-tier private practice. In steering the firm’s strategic direction and practice operations, he draws on extensive government leadership, having served as Assistant Executive Secretary in the Office of the President, where he reviewed presidential issuances, national policies, major government programs, and GOCC matters requiring executive approval.
His public sector service also includes key tenures as State Solicitor II and Deputy Chief-of-Staff to the Solicitor General, and as Assistant Secretary and Chief-of-Staff at the Department of Justice, where he served as Vice-Chairman of the Task Force Against Corruption and oversaw vital administration and witness protection programs.
Prior to public service, Atty. Bainto honed formidable trial and appellate advocacy as a litigator at Villaraza & Angangco, representing clients in complex commercial disputes, intra-corporate controversies, corporate insolvency, and government procurement across all court levels and administrative tribunals. An honors graduate and Evelio Javier Gold Medal for Leadership awardee from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law, where he served as Student Council President, Atty. Bainto pairs institutional mastery with decisive management and courtroom rigor to guide enterprises through critical legal disputes and regulatory challenges.
Atty. Jeffrey G. Gallardo is a founding partner whose practice is shaped by senior leadership in the executive branch and over a decade of service within the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Prior to private practice, he served as Undersecretary and Assistant Secretary in the Office of the President (Office of the Executive Secretary), where he represented key bodies including the Anti-Terrorism Council, the PAOCC, and GOCC governing boards such as the National Irrigation Administration.
His judicial background includes serving as Court Attorney VI and Judicial Staff Head under Chief Justices Lucas P. Bersamin and Diosdado M. Peralta, as well as Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, directly contributing to landmark jurisprudence and procedural rule-making in criminal procedure, intellectual property, and asset forfeiture.
A law professor and consultant to the Supreme Court and the Philippine Sports Commission, Atty. Gallardo holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Public Management, and Public Leadership Credentials from Harvard Kennedy School, pairing specialized corporate tax experience from KPMG with profound regulatory and dispute-resolution mastery to protect enterprise interests at the highest level.
Solomon Michael P. Vardeleon
Founding Partner
Jeffrey G. Gallardo
Neal M. Bainto
Founding and Managing Partner
Founding Partner
Atty. Solomon Michael P. Vardeleon is a founding partner whose legal career centers on administrative law, corporate governance, fiscal oversight, and public policy formulation. Having served as Director IV of the Governance Concerns Service in the Office of the President (Malacañang), he directed the regulatory compliance, strategic alignment, and policy evaluation for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) and Local Government Units (LGUs). In this capacity, he oversaw fiscal reviews of compensation frameworks, agency mergers, dissolutions, and tax and dividend matters, while drafting presidential issuances and conducting reviews of multi-agency legal disputes.
Atty. Vardeleon’s private practice spans corporate due diligence, contract negotiation, labor and privacy law advisory, and tribunal advocacy honed at Tiongco Siao Bello and Associates and through specialized corporate consultancies. A Juris Doctor graduate of the Ateneo de Manila School of Law and a consistent Dean’s Lister in Legal Management from San Beda University, Atty. Vardeleon leverages deep institutional knowledge and regulatory mastery to guide businesses through complex compliance landscapes, contractual negotiations, and commercial transactions.