Paula Vejarano

Experience

Some of the most relevant cases in which Paula acts as a principal chair are:

Confidential Client: Representation of an international company in an administrative investigation process before the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce.

Confidential Client: Advising on a domestic arbitration of private construction before the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce.

Confidential Client: Representing this multinational infrastructure company in state-private company litigation, in which a governmental entity claimed breach of contract for supervising a significant Colombian resettlement project.

Confidential Client: Represented the Clients in an international arbitration before the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá concerning a commercial dispute arising from a sales purchase agreement. In this case, the buyer claims nearly USD 5 million in damages due to an alleged breach of the seller's duty of information and good faith during the contract's execution. In turn, the seller asserts that the buyer breached the agreement by failing to pay for the shares as per the agreed terms.

Confidential client: Arbitration between a national construction company and a territorial development bank regarding a fixed-price construction contract on the island of Providence. Amount: COP$476 million.

Confidential client: Process before an Administrative Court initiated by a state entity against a multinational Engineering and Infrastructure Company for an alleged breach of a construction supervision contract in the framework of an urban resettlement project. Amount: COP$4.13 billion.

Confidential client: Arbitration between two Construction Companies to solve a dispute related with the compliance of a work contract was discussed (foundation, piling and anchoring). Amount: COP$1.6 billion.

Confidential client: Arbitration between a national Construction Company and other Company in connection with a trust agreement and the area benefits of it. Amount: COP$600 million.

Confidential client: Arbitration between an Airport Concessionaire and an Aeronautical Services Company related to the Lease Contract initially entered into between the Civil Aeronautical and the Aeronautical Services Company, which was subsequently assigned to the Concessionaire.

Confidential client: Processes of Property Restitution and Restitution of Possession, initiated by an Airport Concessionaire against the different holders of space under lease or loan in the concession area in order to obtain its restitution to carry out the adaptation and modernization works under the Concession Contract.

Confidential client: Arbitration between a Colombian Company and some of its shareholders and administrators to discuss the liability of the administrators and the effectiveness of the acts of the Assembly and Board of Directors. Paula represented one of the administrators, with respect to whom the arbitration agreement was not opposable.

Confidential client: Jurisdictional Process of Liability of Administrators of a Colombian company against some of its shareholders and administrators. Paula successfully represented one of the administrators, demonstrating that he did not have any type of liability on the facts discussed.

Confidential client: Arbitration between a national company that provides dental services against a company that also provides dental services under a franchise agreement where the compliance of the contract for the provision of the service through dental clinics was discussed.

Confidential client: Recognition and enforcement of an international award - Foreign aviation company in Colombia from arbitration award issued in London under LCIA rules. Amount: COP$24 billion.

Confidential client: Jurisdictional Process before Civil Court initiated by an automobile dealer against a foreign company to solve a dispute regarding the non-existence of a commercial agency agreement and the justified termination of the commercial relationship. Amount: US$60 million.

Confidential client: Judicial representation of a Road Concessionaire before Administrative Courts to demonstrate the non-existence of failure or fault in the service of the concessionaires that made it liable to pay damages for the road accidents occurred on the road.

Confidential client: National arbitration initiated by a multinational oil, energy and gas company against another multinational oil, energy and gas company for alleged breach of a contract for the joint operation of plants in Colombia. Amount: COP$143 billion.

Awards

Languages Spoken

English

Spanish

Practice Areas

Arbitration

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Public Law

Career

Paula Vejarano is a Partner on the the Litigation and Arbitration team. She has broad professional experience advising different clients in dispute resolution, corporate law, commercial contracts and, in general, legal advice related to the business practice at national and international level.

Paula's experience focuses on the representation of national and international companies in different sectors such as infrastructure, automotive, pharmaceutical, aeronautics, hydrocarbons, mining, health, technology, telecommunications, real estate, agriculture, electric energy, public services, and commercial distribution of goods and services before civil and administrative courts, as well as in national and international arbitration. Her practice covers civil and commercial law, public law, contractual liability and damages, class actions and restrictive practices of competition. She was also a university lecturer in Obligations, Assets, and Insurance Law.

She has a J.D. from Universidad Externado de Colombia, and a postgraduate degree in International Contracts from the same university. She is currently the President of the Commercial Lawyers Association and a founding member of Latin American International Arbitration (LIA). She is part of the A List of arbitrators of the Chambers of Commerce of Cali and Medellín.

Paula has also served as an undergraduate lecturer in private law subjects at the University of Sinú and is currently a lecturer in the International Contracting and Business Law specializations at Externado University of Colombia, while also being a national and international speaker.

Professional Memberships

President, Colegio de Abogados Comercialistas

Founding member of Latin American International Arbitration – LIA

Education