Martínez Quintero Mendoza González Laguado & De La Rosa

Managing Partner: Camilo Martínez Beltrán

Number of partners: 21

Number of lawyers: 90

Firm Overview:

Martínez Quintero Mendoza González Laguado & De La Rosa is a leading law firm based in Colombia, with offices in Bogotá and Madrid, Spain. As a full-service firm, we offer high-value legal counsel to our clients, supported by a first-class team that has been recognised both nationally and internationally for its professional excellence. We have extensive experience representing public and private entities, addressing their legal needs across various industries and regardless of location.

The professional careers and extensive experience of the lawyers within our firm enable us to assemble a highly qualified team of renowned professionals, capable of offering exceptional representation to our clients. We manage matters across nearly every country in the region, covering all industry sectors in which our clients operate.

Main Practice Areas:

Banking & Finance:The Firm advises over 30% of the banking institution that have presence in Colombia, on an ongoing basis in regulatory matters and transactions. The Firm is also permanently involved in advising foreign financial institutions on how to do business in Colombia, as well as representing international clients before governmental authorities.

Capital Markets:The Firm possesses a deep understanding of the laws, regulations and practices governing the securities market, allowing us to advice both local and foreign clients on the structuring, placement, negotiation, and acquisition of various financial instruments in domestic and international markets. These instruments include bond and equity issuances through public offerings and/or private placements, securitizations, investment funds, and various derivative products.We are highly recognised worldwide due to our success in complex transactions involving financial instruments and regulations from different jurisdictions.

Corporate Law and Corporate Governance:The Firm offers customized corporate governance and litigation strategies configured to address the specific needs of each client and the complexities of each dispute. We have been key actors in the context of the resolution of major corporate disputes in Colombia in recent years. Our rate of success has consolidated our national and international recognition in the field of corporate conflicts. We handle cases effectively and provide continuous support in the assessment and mitigation of the risks associated with each dispute. We are also specialized in structuring and implementing statutory schemes, shareholder agreements and strategies for participation in meetings of corporate bodies to anticipate, prevent and resolve conflicts. We advice local and international clients in all segments of their corporate activities to ensure the efficient operation of their business.

Competition Law & Consumer Protection:The Firm provides legal advice on competition law, including merger and acquisition clearance, restrictive business practices, unfair competition, and consumer protection. The team has extensive experience in advising companies, organizations, and consumers on competition and consumer protection issues. We have led the defence of important industries such as sugar and banking, obtaining governmental guarantees in the context of unfair competition practices investigations, and governmental integration approvals in key sectors. We have also represented companies in litigation for unfair market practices.

Additionally, we offer preventive advice to help our clients establish policies and practices that protect consumer rights and avoid risks or controversies, thereby ensuring the optimal operation of their businesses.

Compliance:The Firm has extensive experience in implementing corporate governance and legal risk prevention systems as well as in regulatory compliance monitoring and crisis management. Recognizing the interconnection of Compliance issues across various regulatory areas, from money laundering to data protection, competition, environment, labour, and human rights, we provide comprehensive support to design and implement mechanisms that prevent legal risks and ensure regulatory compliance.

Crisis Management:The Firm provides services in addressing highly sensitive emergent or contingent situations due to their economic, reputational, operational, or business impact. We are readily available to assess the scope of the contingencies and to formulate strategies that enable our clients to mitigate expected impacts and to come up with solutions in the short, medium, and long term. We also have external advisors on media, image management and public relations (PR).

Data Protection:The Firm offers extensive experience in advising clients from various industries on the creation and implementation of data protection policies and best practices. In addition to designing compliance policies for personal data regimes, we provide guidance on their implementation and offer corporate training on data protection and relevant regulatory updates.

We represent national and foreign companies in administrative investigations by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce related to any alleged violation of the data protection legal regime in Colombia.

Energy & Natural Resources:The team has extensive experience advising all stakeholders within Colombia’s energy markets, including companies, developers, financiers, investors, state entities, and other relevant parties. Our Firm guides clients through various aspects, including supply agreement development, access to distribution networks and transportation systems, tax strategies, mergers and acquisitions, and day-to-day operational support. Additionally, we represent industry clients in regulatory proceedings, offer guidance on regulatory compliance, facilitate environmental licensing, conduct prior consultations, structure projects, and negotiate power purchase agreements (PPAs) and public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Environmental & Sustainable Development:The Firm specializes in providing legal advice to the clients on environmental regulatory matters, sustainable use and exploitation of natural resources and structuring projects of various types, with special emphasis on the energy, chemical, pharmaceutical, agro-industrial, manufacturing, transportation and infrastructure sectors.

Infrastructure & Transportation, Projects and Public Law:The Firm advices clients on three fundamental pillars that guide our practice: the legal structuring of projects, government contracting in conjunction with public and administrative law, and transactions related to infrastructure projects, all within the framework of strategic and comprehensive thinking.

International Arbitration:Our specialized team in International Arbitration has collaborated with some of the most prestigious law firms worldwide, enabling us to provide our clients with top-tier advice, complemented by a profound understanding of the local environment. This aspect is essential for achieving a successful resolution of international disputes. We have extensive experience in large-scale disputes spanning various economic sectors and represent both multinational corporations and sovereign states.

Intellectual Property:The Firm offers comprehensive guidance across all facets of intellectual property and technology. We assist our clients in the protection, defense, and monetization of their industrial and intellectual assets as well as in the formation and leveraging of their technological assets, particularly trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, technical know-how, and databases special rights. Our expertise lies in designing strategies that are aligned with the business objectives of our clients in various technological and industrial sectors.

Insurance & Torts:Our team offers extensive experience in judicial, arbitration and corporate counselling for entities in the insurance and reinsurance sector at a local and international level. We have a legal team specialized in examining the elements of liability, that allows us to structure and come up with comprehensive actions and defences for the benefit of our clients in connection with indemnity claims before the jurisdiction or proposals against them.

Labour & Immigration Law:The Labour team offers comprehensive advice to both national and international clients covering a wide variety of profiles ranging from entrepreneurs to large multinational companies with presence in Colombia. We strive to establish effective collaborations in all areas and sectors where they carry out their regular business activities.

We offer proactive advice aimed at identifying solutions and strategies to mitigate risks and improve efficiency in personnel management.

Litigation & Arbitration:Our Firm has an outstanding track record representing local and international clients in complex disputes covering diverse areas of business law, such as corporate, public, commercial, tax, insurance, competition law and administrative matters, among others. We are recognised at the international level from having been key actors in some of the most complex arbitration disputes in Colombia in recent years.

With extensive experience in domestic and international commercial arbitration, we focus on reducing the uncertainty associated with commercial disputes by designing and implementing innovative strategies for the resolution and effective management of cases.

M&A:The Firm is one of the top-tier law firms in Colombia in mergers and acquisitions, both local and international, transfer of assets, joint ventures and strategic alliances, due diligence, corporate reorganizations, leverage buyouts, privatizations, shareholders’ agreements, and business integration processes. Client portfolio includes the main and most sophisticated private equity funds undertaking deals in Latin America, as well as some of the most representative economic groups of the country and multinational companies.

Oil & Gas:Our specialised team designs and carries out operations at the national and international level, providing full support in all areas of the industry, from exploration and production to distribution and commercialization. We stand out for our deep understanding of the business, its legal framework, stakeholders and regulatory authorities.

With an efficient and practical approach, we provide comprehensive assistance in decision-making processes offering constant support and becoming an essential strategic ally for the successful, effective and sustainable performance of operations.

Real Estate:The Firm has a wealth of experience in the legal structuring and negotiation of complex transactions in the real estate sector. From the initial structuring phase to the implementation phase, we provide comprehensive support throughout the entire project lifecycle. We have adviced our clients on major real estate transactions nationwide, including the acquisition and purchase of shopping malls, multifamily projects, construction of shopping malls as well as the acquisition of road and port concessions. We also offer urban planning advisory services by conducting due diligence and studies of urban regulations to ensure the viability of projects and providing legal advice on the process of obtaining and defending substantial urban planning instruments.

Restructuring & Insolvency:The Firm provides advice on corporate transactions, liability restructuring instruments, and recovery or liquidation proceedings. Grounded in an economic, business, and financial perspective, our practice serves as a potent tool for clients, be they debtors or creditors, in navigating pre-insolvency and insolvency scenarios. We seek to identify opportunities and reduce costs associated with these events by putting forward efficient and creative solutions that add value to companies in financial difficulties or to their creditors. We also structure guarantee schemes to facilitate credit and promote cross-border insolvency proceedings, representing companies in insolvency, their managers, owners, creditors, and investors.

Tax:The Firm provides advice to Colombian and foreign parties on both domestic and international tax issues, for purposes such as transaction structuring, foreign investment (both inbound and outbound), corporate taxation and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals. Further, the Firm has considerable experience regarding tax litigation, both at administrative and judicial stages.

Languages:Spanish, English, French.

Clients:The Firm’s clients are the largest companies in Colombia as well as international enterprises doing business in Colombia. A list of representative local and international clients is provided upon request.