Alvarez, Lievano, Laserna S.A.S

Alvarez Lievano Laserna Abogados is one of the largest boutique law firms dealing with labor law in Colombia.

The main objective of Carlos Alvarez Pereira, founder of the firm, together with his partners Claudia Liévano Triana, Felipe Alvarez Echeverry and Maria Lucía Laserna Angarita, has been to have constant development in order to provide a unique and differentiated service to all the firm’s clients. This has been implemented by the professional development of our lawyers, automation of processes and the implementation of technology within daily work.

To always be at the forefront, have the best talent and the best working environment for all lawyers, Alvarez Lievano Laserna provides a continuing education program. Junior lawyers are given the opportunity to continue their professional development through postgraduate programs that are mostly arranged by the firm, or through interest-free loans. Today, 100% of the firm’s lawyers have, or are pursuing, postgraduate programs in labour law, thus guaranteeing our clients work with the best talent.

The implementation of technology and communication within daily work has been important and has grown steadily. For ALL it is important to keep its clients informed and updated on the latest developments in labor matters, therefore we have strengthened our legal content area in recent years through various publications such as the monthly Newsletter, content blogs, the ALL Estrado publication and a strong presence on specialized social networks such as Linkedin.

The integral attention for each one of our clients requires trust between both parties. It is for this reason that we guarantee each client direct contact with one of the partners, together with a team of experts who support them. Regardless of partner involvement, we like to give visibility to our senior lawyers and to constantly train all lawyers in order to get them known. This does not happen at many Colombian firms because other firms do not make visible the work of their employees.

As a firm that works exclusively in labour law, we have become experts and are well known nationally in labour consulting, auditing, litigation, collective bargaining, separation plans, restructuring, immigration and as a firm that can put the best in-house lawyers into companies who need them.

The fields in which we have recently grown are – audit processes and in cases related to the UGPP where we have had the opportunity to work with large multinationals such as Sierracol, Frontera, Unilever, Cepsa, British American Tobacco, Cruz Verde, Bureau Veritas among others.

The main industries we work with are: energy oil and gas, education, air transportation, food and beverages, automobile and parts, construction and materials, financial services (banks, pension funds), pharmaceutical, telecommunications, technology, hardware and electronics among others.
Some of our key clients are: Ecopetrol, Frontera energy, Grupo Enel, Grupo ISA, Tigo-UNE, Sierracol, Unilever, Bancamia, Bayer, Banco ITAU, BBVA, MANSAROVAR ENERGY, Universidad San Martin, Cerromatoso, AES CHIVOR, Experian, Scotiabank Colpatria, Movistar, Sodexo, Holcim, Bimbo, Terpel, LATAM Airlines, COPA Airlines,Johnson & Johnson, Mazda, ETB, Bayer, GNB Sudameris, Farmacias y Droguerias Cruz Verde, Bancoldex, Pelikan, Mercer, Lafayette, among many others.

Areas of practice
Employment relations: the firm advises a large number of companies in day-to-day employment matters, such as wages and hours, compliance, labor due diligence, compensation plans, disciplinary procedures, hiring and termination agreements, employment policies, discrimination and work harassment. The firm also provides legal support regarding the Colombian social security system.

Alternative dispute resolution and labor-management relations: this is one of the most traditional practice areas of the firm. Alvarez, Lievano, Lasana SAS throughout its history has handled critical labor situations for different companies and has been able to cope with the new alternatives that unions have found to exercise their right of association. The firm has advised national and multinational companies of different industries, including oil and gas, food, banking, mining, and energy companies, among others, and has dealt with the largest and most important unions in the country, exceeding the clients’ expectations.

Proceedings before the Colombian Ministry of Labour and UGPP: the firm has successfully represented clients before the Ministry of Labor and UGPP.

Labor and employment (M&A transactions): the firm provides advice in the process of renegotiating working conditions of new employees to avoid differences that could lead to judicial suits alleging inequality, in the elaboration and subscription of successorship clauses, and in the proceedings before the Ministry of Labor in order to obtain permission for mass dismissals, if needed.

Litigation: this is one of the most renowned practice areas of the firm. Its prestige is due to its excellent group of highly skilled litigants.

Immigration: the firm provides legal advice in immigration aspects accompanying clients in the process of obtaining working visas, working permits, residence and the validation and homologation of professional credentials in Colombia.