José Vicente Zapata Lugo

Practice Areas

Energy | Environment | Natural Resources | International and Cross-Border Transactions | Corporate Services | Mergers and Acquisitions | Real Estate | Latin America Practice | Colombia Practice | Mining | Class Action Litigation and Arbitration | Anti-Corruption and FCPA | Compliance Services | International Arbitration and Litigation | Wind Energy | Renewable Energy | Solar Energy | Oil and Gas | International Energy | Carbon Capture and Storage

Career

José Vicente Zapata is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Bogotá office and has more than 30 years of experience in the natural resources sector. He focuses his practice on corporate, contractual and commercial matters, with a strong focus in spin-offs, mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Zapata co-chairs the firm's Venezuela Focus Team, a group of partners who assists clients with interests in the country.

Mr. Zapata has led regulatory matters for many years on the environment, energy and natural resources. He has experience with corporate compliance matters, including the definition of ethics programs, Sistema de Autocontrol y Gestión del Riesgo Integral de Lavado de Activos y Financiación del Terrorismo (SAGRILAFT) and knowledge management for effective regulatory compliance, as well as liability cases for contractual and non-contractual damages.

Mr. Zapata's clients include electric, oil, gas, mining, agrochemical and industrial companies, and he advises them on the structuring of foreign investment transactions, corporate reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as well as matters of environmental liability and judicial proceedings such as class actions and international claims.

Throughout his career, Mr. Zapata has represented clients in many of the largest transactions made in Colombia to date in the energy, mining, oil and gas sectors, and assisted a range of companies in entering the energy market, obtaining mining and oil and gas concessions and structuring the contractual arrangements for such purposes. He negotiates share purchase and sale agreements, foreign direct investment management, asset purchase and sale agreements (including commercial establishments), joint operating agreements, farm-in and farm-outs, distribution, franchising and agency agreements, collaboration agreements, real estate regulatory mechanisms, structuring of real estate projects, authorizations and operating permits. More recently, Mr. Zapata is active in renewable energy projects and has led wind farm, solar ventures and energy storage solutions as well as hydrogen and geothermal regulatory assessments, including zoning analysis, management of protected and exclusion zones and areas, and analysis of legal options for land use definition. Mr. Zapata also participates in key financing and structuring of transactions in these sectors, with particular attention on environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements.

In addition, Mr. Zapata has significant experience in critical environmental liability cases and class action litigation in Colombia. Among them are complex cases where communities and companies discuss their corresponding rights, including prior consultation events, controlled substances and environmental authorizations, permits and licenses.

Mr. Zapata has acted as co-counsel in major international commercial and investor-state arbitrations, involving sensitive international judicial matters of Colombian interest under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) rules. These matters focus in energy and natural resources concerning disputes across the oil and gas, electricity, infrastructure and mining sectors.

Beyond his law practice, Mr. Zapata is a regular speaker at conferences in Latin America and has published multiple books and articles on matters of sustainable development, oil and gas, renewable energy, hydrocarbons, climate change and renewable energies. In addition, he has served on various boards of directors, headed numerous successful companies and served as professor of corporate responsibility, environmental liability and sustainable development at Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Universidad de Los Andes and Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Professional Memberships

• Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN), Board of Directors, 2022-2023

• American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)

• Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation

• European Society of International Law

• International Bar Association, Committee Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law

• Institute for Energy Law, Center for American and International Law, Member

• Colegio de Abogados de Minas y Petroleos

• American Society of International Law

• Institute of Environmental Law, Secretary General

• Gerson Lehrman Group

• Asociación Iberoamericana de Derecho de la Energía, Member

Publications

• Corte Constitucional determina nuevas reglas sobre bienes baldíos en Colombia, Holland & Knight Alert, 22 de agosto de 2022

• Proyectos de hidrogeno en Colombia: Reglamentación incentivos, Holland & Knight Alert, 22 de agosto de 2022

• ANH en Colombia aprueba minuta producción compartida y TDR de nominación de áreas, Holland & Knight Alert, 19 de agosto de 2022

• Minambiente Colombia establece Guía de Planes Integrales de Gestión del Cambio Climático, Holland & Knight Alert, 19 de agosto de 2022

• Non Reformatio in pejus y procedimientos urbanísticos en Colombia, Holland & Knight Alert, 18 de agosto de 2022

• Colombia expide lineamientos para coexistencia de proyectos del minero energéticos, Holland & Knight Alert, 11 de agosto de 2022

• Colombia lista cambios menores para proyectos de energía eléctrica, presas y represas, Holland & Knight Alert, 10 de agosto de 2022

• Nueva resolución de Minambiente en Colombia sobre cambios menores en hidrocarburos, Holland & Knight Alert, 10 de agosto de 2022

• Puntos claves del nuevo programa de sustitución minera en páramos en Colombia, Holland & Knight Alert, 9 de agosto de 2022

• Colombia reglamenta requisitos para exploración y explotación de recursos geotérmicos, Holland & Knight Alert, 8 de agosto de 2022

• Gobierno de Colombia reglamenta proyectos eólicos offshore, Holland & Knight Alert, 8 de agosto de 2022

• ANH adopta criterios para la administración de contratos y convenios en Colombia, Holland & Knight Alert, 5 de agosto de 2022

• ANH establece condiciones para la nominación de áreas devueltas en Colombia, Holland & Knight Alert, 4 de agosto de 2022

• Gobierno colombiano asigna competencias para incentivar el uso del hidrógeno, Holland & Knight Alert, 4 de agosto de 2022

• Colombia ANH adopta reglamento para selección de contratistas y asignación de áreas, Holland & Knight Alert, 3 de agosto de 2022

• Conozca los aspectos principales del nuevo decreto de geotermia para generación de energía, Holland & Knight Alert, 2 de agosto de 2022