HARDY B. AQUENDE is one of the Firm’s Founding Partners and the incumbent Managing Partner. A CPA-lawyer, a tax expert, New York University Law educated and a New York Esquire, Hardy has a proven track record in both private and public sectors throughout his legal career. He has extensive experience in Philippine legislative work having previously served as the Chief Legislation Officer for the Office of Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and concurrently served as the Acting Executive Director of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. From 2010 to 2013, Hardy acted as Legal Assistant to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and as Special Prosecutor for the Intensified Run-After Tax Evaders Program of the Department of Finance-BIR, where he solidified his taxation law background after his stint in the private sector. Hardy started his career as an associate in the Corporate & Special Projects and Tax Departments of the country’s top-tier law firm, the Angara Abello Concepcion & Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW) from 2008 to 2010, where he gained extensive experience in various corporate and taxation law projects. He is also a professor of law for taxation and business laws.
Hardy completed his Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 2008 and thereafter passed the Philippine Bar. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, with honors, from the De La Salle University in 2003 and proceeded to pass the CPA Board exam. He holds a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) from the New York University School of Law, where he graduated in 2012 as one of the top students under the flagship program of NYU – the International Tax Program. He was an Opportunity Grantee awarded by Fulbright. On the same year, Hardy passed the New York Bar and became an active member of the New York Bar Association. In 2014, Hardy completed a Senior Executive Fellows program from the Harvard Kennedy School wherein he focused his study on Public Administration.
Hardy was a finalist in the 2020 Young Lawyer of the Year of the Asian Legal Business. He is a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Albay Chapter and is the Founding Dean of the School of Law of Bicol University – a regional state university.
