CMS Rodríguez-Azuero

Managing Partner: Juan Camilo Rodríguez
Founding Partner: Sergio Rodríguez-Azuero
Partners: Daniel Rodríguez, Jacques Simhon, Carolina Arenas, Natalia Guerrero, Karl Mutter, Lorenzo Villegas- Carrasquilla, Adriana Escobar, Santiago Arbouin

Contacts
Firm Contact: María Carolina Echeverry (Marketing & BD Manager) [email protected]

Firm Overview:
CMS is an integrated, multi-jurisdictional organisation of law firms that offers full-service legal and tax advice, with more than 70 offices in over 40 countries across the world and more than 4,800 lawyers. CMS has a strong presence in Latin America, with offices in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. It is one of the few law firms present in all Pacific Alliance countries.

CMS Rodríguez-Azuero in Colombia is built on deep local roots with 40 years of experience providing specialised legal advice with high management skills and a strategic approach to local and multinational clients.

The firm offers a unique combination of expertise including Banking & Finance, Commercial, Competition, Corporate / M&A, Employment & Pensions, Dispute Resolution, Public Procurement, Real Estate & Construction, Tax, Compliance, Corporate Criminal Law, Intellectual Property, Technology, Media & Communications, Lifesciences & Healthcare, Insolvency, Restructuring & Liquidation, Customs Law & Trade, Consumer Products, Funds, Hotels & Leisure, Infrastructure & Projects, Insurance, Private Equity, Energy & Climate Change.

Main Areas of Practice:

Banking & Finance:
Advises financial institutions (i.e. banks, credit institutions) and other key players in relation to banking regulation. Advises on securities and capital markets, fiduciary law and trusts products, and insurance. Advises lenders and borrowers in structured project and corporate finance and structuring of security packages.

Commercial:
Advises on the formation and execution of contracts according to the businesses and needs of the clients, looking for solid structures that respond to the national or international level where they are developed.

Competition:
Advises on anticompetitive practices, dominant position abuse, and unfair competition. Also advises on international matters regarding anti-dumping, subsidies, dawn raids and safeguard measures.

Corporate/M&A:
Advises on all corporate matters, and represent clients in transactions involving mergers, acquisitions, spinoffs, joint ventures and sales of substantial company assets. The firm’s experience includes advice on venture capital and the most important management buy-out that has taken place in the Colombian financial sector.

Employment & Pensions:
Advises on matters labour relationships; due diligence and best practice reports regarding the compliance of labour and social security regulations; representation in processes before administrative authorities and labour courts; and employment of foreigners in Colombia.

Dispute Resolution:
The firm represents the interests of its clients in litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, related to commercial, civil, banking, and telecommunications disputes, among others. Some of its partners also act as arbitrators.

Public Procurement:
Advises on all matters regarding public procurement and public contracts; preparing documentation for bid submission, negotiation and performance of the public contract. Assists clients in filing appeals and claims before administrative courts and governmental entities.

Real Estate & Construction:
Advises on the design of innovative business structures and development of major real estate projects, as well as on the financial and legal structure of real estate deals. Provides legal advice to owners of leasable properties regarding ownership structures, infrastructure projects, horizontal property structures, among others.

Tax:
Advises on tax and exchange matters, diagnosis and representation before the relevant authorities, due diligence on tax matters, wealth planning, tax planning and advise in international transactions, and advice to non-profit organisations.

Compliance:
Advises on compliance and risk management issues that can impact domestic and international activities and transactions. The firm is currently representing large domestic companies and multinationals in some of the country’s most complex and high-profile local and cross-border white-collar related controversies and investigations.

Corporate Criminal Law:
Advises on matters of criminal liability and procedure. Also creates risk prevention programs that allow the avoidance of criminally relevant situations and the correct reaction when these arise. The firm aids in the prevention of economic and reputational damage that may be irreparable in any productive activity.

Lifesciences & Healthcare:
Advises on market approval and product registration procedures for various sectors as medical devices, pharma products, foodstuffs, cosmetics, alcoholic beverages. Labeling and advertising issues, facilities certifications, and administrative probes. Strong experience on handling of regional portfolios.

Intellectual Property:
Full IP shop, advising on the proper protection of trademarks, patents, designs and IPRs like. Prosecution and enforcement with infringement actions and border measures. Advice on licensing and exploitation; strong experience on due diligences and handling of regional portfolios.

Technology, Media & Communications:
Advises on telecommunications’ regulatory matters, media and advertising, privacy and data protection, Internet law, e-commerce, and technologies developments.

Insolvency, Restructuring & Liquidation:
Advises debtors and creditors on issues related to the re-profiling and refinancing of their debts, judicial and extra-judicial, voluntary, local, international and crossborder insolvency proceedings.

Customs Law & Trade:
Advises on comprehensive services in customs and trade matter to national and foreign companies that, due to the ordinary course of their business they export or import goods and services, or execute operations in foreign currency.

Languages: Spanish, English, French, German

Key Clients:
Grupo Santander, RedBull, Bavaria, Decathlon, Frontera Energy, Gallagher, Google, Sanofi, South32, Bayer, Inter-American Development Bank, Haskell, Citibank, Banchile, Northrop Grumman, Grupo Sura, Kuehne+Nagel, Scotia Bank, Fiduprevisora, Khiron, Davivienda.