Mike Atanante is a partner at Atanante & Ilagan (AI Law), a growing law firm based in Quezon City with partner offices in most cities in the Philippines. He is a consultant at the House of Representatives who advises several congressmen on legal matters. He worked twice for Cebu Pacific Air, initially as an associate legal counsel in 2008, where he successfully handled the acquisition of several aircraft, then as the government affairs manager in 2018, where he helped handle regulatory and public affairs issues for the company. Mike also worked as a court attorney at the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2006, where he sharpened his legal research and legal writing skills. Recently, Mike returned to the SC as the private sector representative in the Supreme Court Committee on the Revision of the Rules on Summary Procedure and Small Claims Cases, which prepared the Rules on Expedited Procedure in First Level Courts.
Mike passed the 2005 Philippine Bar Exams, and his practice includes aviation law, handling legal and regulatory matters for several airlines, including Vietjet Airlines, SF Airlines, Jiangsu Jingdong Cargo Airlines, and Avion Express Philippines. He is also a tax practitioner, handling tax cases, and litigation before the Philippine Court of Tax Appeals. He is also a corporate lawyer, who has given advice on corporate structures, cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisition, and intra-corporate disputes.
He is a past president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), Quezon City Chapter, with more than 12,000 members, and a past governor of the IBP Greater Manila Region with more than 20,000 members. He led several pioneering and worthwhile projects and activities in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines that focused on coordination and cooperation among and between chapters and regions, improvement on court efficiency and administration, jail decongestion, and pro bono services for indigent members of the community.
A consummate investor, his business interests span a wide range of industries, including aviation services, government automation, financial services and financial technology, business outsourcing, online training and education, and security and investigation services.
As for his hobbies and personal life, Mike loves to travel and visit new places with his family and friends. These days, he enjoys playing golf with friends, brothers, and son.
