Event Report
The Legal 500 and Robalino were delighted to host The Ecuador GC Roundtable at Quito’s JW Marriott on Tuesday 12th March, 2024. Given the jurisdiction’s troubled start to the year, the discussion focussed primarily on the issue of best practice for GCs in a country in crisis.
Unsurprisingly, given both its significance in the country, and the impact of the country’s current curfew on the sectors’ 24hr-operations, the hydrocarbons and energy sectors were heavily represented, with participants including Jenny Peñaherrera (Pluspetrol), Maria Soledad (Andes Petroleum), Alejandra Cevallos (WAYRA Energy), Pedro Madero and MarÃa Belen Moreno of PCR, Alexander Romero (Pañanturi), Luis Manuel GarcÃa (Schlumberger) and Carlos Cabezas (Duragas). We were also delighted to count on the presence of Patricio López (EcuadorGold–Junefield) and Juan Sebastian Naranjo (Dundee) from the mining sector; along with Leonardo Viteri (Reybanpac), Andrea GarcÃa (Procredit), Andrés Espinosa (Arca Continental), Patricio Viteri ( Corporación DK), and Patricia Vega of AMCHAM’s Centre for Arbitration and Mediation.
The discussion was chaired by Legal 500 Latin America editor, Tim Girven, with the additional presence of Robalino’s managing partner, Javier Robalino, and partner Martin Pallares, the lively discussion ranged across the full scenario of security issues – from that of individual staff and company installations to judicial security concerns, insurance and force majeure. One recurrent issue was that of the preparedness of public functionaries, especially in relation to corruption, and also approaches towards breaking down the unduly adversarial dynamic in public institution / private entity relations. Given recent circumstances, the wide ranging conversation also touched on life/work balance management for GCs, and the use of legal tech and AI – although the latter subject also brought data security issues to the fore.
The Legal 500 would like to extend its thanks to all those who attended, and -of course- to sponsors Robalino.