ECIJA Colombia

ECIJA is a European law firm with headquarters in Spain and offices in Portugal, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and El Salvador. ECIJA has a multidisciplinary team of over 800 professionals with exceptional experience in their fields of practice, working in different jurisdictions, with extensive knowledge of the various industries and international markets. ECIJA is a client-focused law firm with the agility and personal service of a high-end boutique firm and the multidisciplinary experience of a large firm. ECIJA is a full-service firm with significant experience and specialized in the practice areas required by international clients to invest and operate globally.

ECIJA’s international capacity is outstanding, and the firm offers integrated cross-border advice. Since 2019, ECIJA has merged with 16 law firms and has become the largest Spanish law firm in Latin America. Nowadays ECIJA has 29 offices in 16 countries. Furthermore, in 2019 ECIJA signed the most significant strategic joint venture agreement with the 4^th largest Chinese law firm (Grandall Law). The agreement brought together 3,500 lawyers and 54 offices in Iberia, Latin America, and Asia.

“To put that in perspective, that is comparable with CMS and Norton Rose Fulbright, some of the biggest firms in the world by headcount.” Law.com.

 ECIJA Colombia and various of its partners are recognized as leaders in their fields of practice by the most prestigious international legal ranking platforms such as Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Who’s Who Legal, among others. ECIJA Colombia has a team of over 20 capable lawyers in Bogotá, with wide experience in various legal fields.

 Main areas of practice
 Antitrust: ECIJA Colombia advises large companies at a national and international level in antitrust, merger control and unfair competition cases. Our clients come from a wide spectrum of economic sectors, including finance, oil and gas, energy, retail, telecommunications and media, healthcare, agriculture, among others. ECIJA’s practice in antitrust has been consistently ranked as a leading firm in Colombia, by Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500 and Who is Who Legal. Moreover, its leading partners, Pablo Márquez and Julio Castañeda, have been ranked as some of the best antitrust lawyers in the country.

Corporate: ECIJA Colombia provides corporate and M&A services for both local and international clients. The firm’s practice in M&A, led by Carlos Hugo Ramírez, is multijurisdictional, focused on transactions with a regional component in Latin-American markets.

Dispute resolution: ECIJA Colombia has a strong practice for dispute resolution both in local and arbitration courts, including commercial, civil, investment and public law cases. As for arbitration, the firm has a regional practice of several partners with strong experience and skills in international arbitration, using the ICC, AAA and UNCITRAL rules.

 Labor law: ECIJA Colombia has a specialist team led by Carlos Hugo Ramirez, with extensive experience in providing labor law advice on all aspects related to the company, management, and employees, both at a national and international level. The firm has a strong practice on employment matters form the employer perspective. The practice includes litigation, technology issues related to employment, company’s restructuring, compliance, among others.

 Media and intellectual property: ECIJA Colombia is one of the leading firms in Colombia in the media and entertainment law field. The team, led by Patricia Renjifo, advises national and international participants of the entertainment industry on a daily basis, especially regarding audiovisual productions. The lawyers of this team have acquired specialized practice and knowledge in copyright, business affairs, government incentives and clearance for productions held in Colombia. Our clients vary from international production companies and distributors to local and arising talent, which has allowed the team to get to know the entertainment industry from all perspectives. In addition, the team has broad experience in IP matters and the prosecution of trademarks and other distinctive signs in Colombia.

 Real estate: ECIJA Colombia is a well-known player in the Latin-American real estate market. The firm has a specialized legal practice in urban real estate law, arbitration and dispute resolution led by Camilo Ramirez, professor at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá and a renowned lawyer in arbitration, acting as attorney, arbitrator and secretary of Tribunals. Clients include the construction, industrial, extractive and services sectors, tourism and investment funds.

 Telecommunications: ECIJA Colombia has a strong practice in telecommunications and information technologies, led by partners Pablo Márquez and Julio Castañeda. The firm has specialized knowledge in radioelectric spectrum matters. The firm’s ongoing activity in this market and close relationship with regulatory entities enables it to offer the best possible solution for each case.

 Technology and data privacy: ECIJA Colombia is one of the leading firms in LatAm for technology and data privacy practices. The team, led by Pablo Márquez, focuses on complex transactions pertaining to the technology industry, including M&A and software developments.

 Regulatory and government affairs: The public and regulatory law department provides its services under the guarantee of consolidated experience, giving advice on matters such as the processing of licenses and permits in regulated sectors, attainment of grants and subsidies, due diligence, protection of fundamental rights, administrative sanctions and infringements, tenders and contracting committees, relations with public administrations and other bodies. More specifically, the firm has been directly involved with the national government in the design of public policies and regulations associated with land-use planning that are currently being implemented.

Agrarian law: ECIJA Colombia has a specialized legal practice and reputable knowledge in agrarian law (or rural real estate law), including regulation on the financing of investments in rural areas. The leading partner in this area is Lorena Garnica de la Espriella who, due to her expertise, is a consultant for the design of rural public policies and regulations for government entities and multilateral banks. Clients include the financial sector, agribusiness, extractive sector, tourism, and investment funds.