ACZALAW - Nicaragua

Managing Partner: Alonso Porras D
Senior Partner: Minerva Bellorin R
Number of Partners: 3
Number of Lawyers: 7
Language: English, Spanish

Firm Overview:
Aczalaw’s legal advisers act as business partners of its clients, focusing on providing legal solutions. This is possible due to their understanding and appreciation of the core and essence of the business activity of their clients, as well as their knowledge of the legislation to provide timely and adequate legal advice. For the client, more than external advisors, ACZALAW lawyers act and make themselves feel part of the company’s team, permanently willing, accessible and timely.

The firm’s legal team is aware of the economic and reputational importance that is for its clients the compliance with regulations and obligations that affect their business activity, where preventive legal advice is relevant, which allows management and Directors to confidently focus on the operation of the company, safeguarding legal contingencies.

The main areas of practice of ACZALAW Nicaragua are: Corporate, Commercial, Tax, Labor Law and Immigration services, Government Procurement, Technology and Telecommunications, Intellectual Property, Real Estate, Free Zones Regimen, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Call Centers as well other regulated sectors such as Energy and Health Care.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate and Commercial:
The firm takes charge of the legal process of setting up companies until they start operations, this includes complying with regulatory procedures and obtaining registrations, permits and licenses. Also has assisted in acquisition and merger processes, advising on negotiation, due diligence and drafting of closing agreements, from both sides, as buyers or sellers.

It provides permanent legal advice in day to day activities to different clients that carry out business operations in Nicaragua as required by their activities as well as compliance with regulations in all legal aspects such as: labor, corporate, commercial, contracts, regulatory, tax, among others. The firm mostly advices clients in: retail, health care products and pharmaceuticals, call centers, business process outsourcing, outsourcing companies, technology support, government procurement, real estate and telecommunication operators.

Tax Corporate:
Counseling in the field of taxes is essentially preventive giving a great importance to its clients' timely compliance with their legal responsibilities and to manage support documents for accounting records as provided by the Tax Code, the law of Tax Conciliation, and its regulations issued by the Tax Administration. Counseling enables clients to act efficiently with the correct and complete documents to support the audits and comply with obligations before third parties in order to exercise their rights and interests in a solid and transparent way when operating. Aczalaw’ s services include mainly Corporate Tax Counseling and Planning; Compliance with tax payments for the company's day to day. Preventive advice to get permits, records, registration and payment of taxes according to the law as well as Counseling, planning and optimizing the access and use of tax benefits in specific economic sectors under special regimes such as: renewable energy, mines, Free Trade Zones, Tourism, Agro-industrial Export, among others. Additionally, ACZALAW provides advice to clients in administrative and judicial processes, against resolutions of the Tax Administration Authorities.

Government Procurement:
ACZALAW has in the last three years, closely advice several companies and joint ventures during the processes of public tendering and execution of Government Contracts. The firm's services have included: To set and register companies and Joint ventures in Nicaragua, elaboration of documents for public procurement processes; Analysis of Tax alternatives; Review and closing of contracts with governmental institutions.
Public Sectors covered: Health Infrastructure, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Technology Support to airport services.

Real Estate:
Aczalaw’s team extensive experience in working on Real Estate makes their counselors experts not only as law professionals but also from a business perspective. The scope of the legal advice includes: Real Estate Developments; Due diligence process of the legal documentation of property including verification of Titles; Purchasing and sales; Permits and legal processes before the corresponding government institutions required for the development of real estate projects (housing, coastal zones; establishing of horizontal property regimes).

Technology and Telecommunications:
ACZALAW's clients celebrate contracts with cross-border effects, that is why ACZALAW's knows the applicable legal framework in order to guarantee its compliance before the regulatory authority and users. The Services offered by ACZALAW Nicaragua in the technology and telecommunications sector focus on comprehensive advice to local and foreign investors wishing to establish operations in this area. The scope of services includes: Carry out of entire process before the Regulatory Entity which include preparing the required legal documentation for the obtention of licenses, permits or registry as applicable according to the services to be rendered; establishment of companies and their domicile in the country.

Industrial and Intellectual Property:
The legal framework in Nicaragua regarding the protection of intellectual and Industrial property has been updated during the last years by creating laws to protect patents, trademarks, copyrights, plant varieties, integrated circuits and encrypted satellite signals. ACZALAW advices and represents leading companies in different subjects, such as fashion, telecommunications, financial services, pharmaceutical and health care, food and drinks. Main advice in this area is focused on litigation and non-litigation matters.

Other areas of high expertise of ACZALAW include:
-Labor Law
-Corporate and Procedural Advisory
-Immigration Advisory
-Competence and Consumption Law