Arias

Managing Partners Team:

• Chairman: Armando Arias
• Regional Managing Partner: Vicente Lines
• Arias Guatemala: Liz Gordillo
• Arias El Salvador: Lilian Arias and Roberta Gallardo
• Arias Honduras: Evangelina Lardizábal
• Arias Nicaragua: Ana Teresa Rizo
• Arias Costa Rica: Carolina Flores
• Arias Panamá: Siaska SSS Lorenzo

About the firm: Arias is the leading business law firm in Central America and the trusted partner for companies operating in the region. Established in 1942, the firm combines decades of experience with visionary legal solutions that help clients achieve their business objectives confidently and efficiently.

With seven strategically located offices across six countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, Arias offers a unique regional presence. Its team of over 120 highly skilled attorneys provides seamless, top-tier legal services backed by deep local expertise and regional insight.

Arias advises on both local and cross-border transactions, assisting major international corporations doing business in the region, while also supporting local clients expanding abroad. The firm serves as a single point of contact for clients’ regional needs, embodying the One Step, One Stop approach. This model delivers agile and efficient coordination across jurisdictions, ensuring consistent quality, standardized processes, and an effective final legal product.

Purpose: To provide valuable and truthful advice with passion.

Areas of practice: Arias provides full-service legal support across a wide range of key industries and specialised areas. Some of the firm’s key areas include:

• Antitrust and Competition: Advises on merger control filings, cartel investigations and litigation, compliance programs, antitrust disputes, and competition-related regulatory matters, including judicial reviews and commercial litigation.
• Banking and Finance: Structures finance projects involving development and international commercial banks, and counsels financial institutions and multinational companies in corporate and financial transactions.
• Corporate and Commercial: Supports clients with start-up operations, corporate governance, due diligence, corporate immigration, commercial contracts, and the full scope of day-to-day corporate legal needs.
• Mergers and Acquisitions: Manages the negotiation and closing of acquisitions, including the purchase of minority or controlling interests, and leads the due diligence process to identify legal contingencies.
• Intellectual Property: Handles trademark and patent registration, oppositions, enforcement strategies, and all matters related to the protection and management of intangible assets.
• Labor and Employment: Provides strategic guidance on drafting and executing employment contracts, regulatory registrations, labour disputes, mediations, litigation, and corporate immigration services.
• Tax Planning and Litigation: Offers local and international tax structuring, planning, and compliance services. Represents clients in tax litigation and advises on transfer pricing, free trade zones, municipal taxes, and customs matters.
• Environmental Law: Advises on environmental due diligence, permit filings, environmental impact studies, zoning, forest and water law, and maritime zone regulations.
• Regulatory Affairs: Provides guidance on regulatory compliance in consumer protection, data privacy, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and emerging technologies.
• FinTech: Provides the full scope of local and global business legal services to clients involved in Financial Technology related projects, from day-today legal needs to most complex projects.
• Dispute Resolution: Experienced team in litigation, mediation, and arbitration, specializing in conflict resolution through creative and efficient solutions, including out-of-court settlements, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and, when necessary, professional litigation. The practice covers all areas of law offered by the firm.
• Energy: Supports the development of energy generation and distribution projects, including public tenders, regulatory compliance, power purchase agreements, and other contractual arrangements in the electricity market.
• Other Practice Areas: The firm also advises in international trade, foreign investment, free trade zones, administrative law, aviation, compliance, anti-money laundering and anti-corruption, franchising, government procurement, insurance and reinsurance, oil and gas, project and infrastructure finance, public-private partnerships, and real estate transactions.

Team: At Arias, seasoned attorneys with decades of experience work alongside a new generation of legal talent, fostering a dynamic and forward-thinking environment. This blend of experience and innovation allows the firm to continually adapt to the evolving demands of the legal and business landscape, ensuring clients benefit from some of the most skilled and versatile legal professionals in the region.

Culture: Arias fosters a work environment where talent, dedication, and performance pave the way for success. The firm emphasises merit-based growth and leadership opportunities. Women play a vital role in shaping the firm’s success, holding key leadership positions across the region.

• 55% of partners are women
• 57% of associates are women
• 65% of the paralegal team are women
• 100% of managing partners are women

This culture of excellence, leadership, and opportunity shapes both the firm and the future of the legal industry.

Pro-Bono: Corporate social responsibility and pro-bono work are integral to Arias’ mission. The firm commits to inspiring and generating positive change in the community to secure a better future for generations to come.

Languages spoken: Spanish, English, French, German, and Portuguese.

Memberships

• INTA - International Trademark Association
• ASIPI
• AIPPI (Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property)
• LMA
• Pacific Rim Advisory Council (PRAC)
• International Fiscal Association
• International Employment Lawyer
• Insulaw International
• World Law Group
• IBA (International Bar Association)

Point of contact:

Eugenia Sermeño

Business Development and Marketing Director

e[email protected]