In-house legal counsel SR | Comunicacion Celular Claro Colombia
Legal lead Colombia – contracting counsel senior manager | Accenture
Head of legal Colombia | Steward Health Care International Colombia
Ana María Flórez Ocampo has more than 15 years of experience leading and managing legal areas and high-performance teams in the hospital sector. Ana graduated from the Universidad Externado de...
Legal and compliance director, Colombia and Central America | SGS Colombia
General counsel, compliance officer and head of corporate affairs | Tecnoglass
General legal counsel of palm oil business | Aceites Manuelita
Senior advisor, legal vice president | Grupo Energía Bogotá
Legal vice president – Colombia and Perú | Cemex Colombia
Corporate and legal counsel for Andean, CCA and Mexico. Compliance officer for the Andean Region | Avaya Communication de Colombia
Global commercial and contract manager - SCM | Hitachi Energy Colombia
Coporate general counsel | Organización Espinosa
Legal and compliance manager | RIOPAILA Castilla
Legal director, general counsel - Colombia | Compass Group Services Colombia
Legal affairs executive | ISAGEN
Elizabeth Villa Mesa has a law degree from the Universidad de Antioquia, with a specialisation in private law and a Master’s degree from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana of Medellín and...
Corporate counsel and ESG director | Grupo Empresarial Levapan
General secretary and legal director | Caracol Primera Cadena Radial Colombiana
Legal business partner | Betsson Latam Services
Having worked for different companies in highly regulated industries, Jorge Andrés Torres, Betsson Group’s legal business partner for Latin America, has been praised for his skilful handling of complex legal...
Vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel | Alianza Team
Associate Legal Director EPD & MD Colombia, Ecuador & Venezuela | Abbott
Legal vice-president, general counsel | Hoteles Decameron
Legal director Alsea Colombia | Gastronomia Italiana en Colombia
Head of law, patents and compliance for Bayer Andean, Central America and Caribbean Countries (PACA) | Bayer
Vice president of corporate affairs, legal affairs and sustainability | Amarilo
General legal counsel and corporate secretary | BBVA Valores Colombia
Legal counsel – team manager legal and corporate | Schlumberger
Legal and compliance manager LATAM | Bureau Veritas
Senior counsel, regulatory Mexico and antitrust counsel, LATAM | Uber
Legal director Colombia and Venezuela | PepsiCo Colombia
Legal vice president and general secretary | Scotiabank
Olga Varón Palomino, legal vice president and general secretary of Scotiabank Colpatria, is in charge of leading the legal vision of the Bank, in order to leverage business strategies, plans...
Chief business and legal officer | Dynamo Producciones
Paola earned her law degree from the Universidad del Rosario in 2000. She received a specialisation in commercial law from Los Andes University in 2003 and postgraduate studies in Legal...
General counsel and compliance officer | Nestlé Colombia
Phyllis Gleiser has nearly 20 years of experience advising companies in the FMCG sector. Her diverse experience in private practice at leading law firms in Colombia and as in-house counsel...
General counsel beauty and wellbeing LATAM, head of legal Andean region and data privacy and governance leader LATAM | Unilever
The Legal 500 takes great pleasure in introducing the latest edition of the GC Powerlist Colombia: 2023. In the contents of this publication, we embark on a thorough journey, delving deeply into the intricate interplay of legal innovation, regulatory changes, and the ever-shifting environment. These elements collectively sculpt the dynamic responsibilities of in-house legal professionals in Colombia.
In this distinctive landscape of political and regulatory evolution, the fires of legal technology are blazing new trails within in-house legal teams. Colombian legal professionals have graciously shared their experiences in enhancing team functionality through the savvy implementation of technology, all while achieving significant cost savings for their organisations. General counsel in Colombia adopted a different mindset towards innovation to ensure the success of their teams, as Jorge Mario Castillo, senior legal counsel at Automotores Toyota, suggests: ‘I used to have a manager that said as a joke: ‘If you want to kill a deal, call a lawyer’. This joke was enlightening to me. I hate this perception of lawyers. The kind of lawyer I always wanted to be was to be a facilitator and someone who can become a legal partner in all areas of the business. I believe this approach and this mindset have been my greatest contribution to the team. This is the way all members of the team act, which enables us to gain the trust of our peers and be more involved in the decision-making process, learn from other departments and people in the company and in the long run, will make us better professionals’.
Once constrained within traditional advisory boundaries, the role of in-house legal leaders in Colombia has flourished into stewardship that spans multiple domains, including the vital initiative of promoting diversity and inclusion policies within their teams. As Natalia Encinales, legal director of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, told us: ‘I prioritise diversity and inclusion, making a visible topic of it, improving knowledge, sharing and creating greater awareness, and building a common understanding and language. I have led many D&I initiatives these past few years’.
Throughout these pages, the sagacious advice of seasoned in-house lawyers resonates, serving as guiding beacons for their colleagues. Their insights underscore the paramount importance of solid foundational legal skills and a deep understanding of industry-specific nuances. Eminent legal experts featured here have discussed their passions, emphasising the significance of fostering workplaces where individuals are appreciated, and their work-life balance takes centre stage in organisational processes.
This edition highlights the remarkable in-house lawyers featured in The Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Colombia 2023. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to these outstanding general counsel, whose indomitable spirit and expertise have firmly positioned them at the forefront of legal excellence in this extraordinary nation.
Sara Maggi| Deputy Editor The Legal 500 GC Powerlist Series
We are delighted to launch our first China GC Powerlist since the pandemic. It has been far too long since we could celebrate the best in-house lawyers in this remarkable country, but it has certainly been worth the wait. We thoroughly enjoyed researching this edition and are immensely grateful to the many lawyers and GCs who supported us over the past few months to bring this publication to fruition. The launch event was a huge success, with over 120 key legal professionals who make up the elite of the Chinese legal scene attending to hear speeches from leading partners at sponsor firm Tian Yuan and the in-house lawyers who made it on to this exclusive list.
In particular, the excellent team at Tian Yuan Law Firm played a pivotal role in providing insights into key market changes and introducing some of the most innovative GCs for consideration in this publication.
As expected for legal and business leaders in such a powerhouse economy, we had an abundance of outstanding candidates to choose from. Narrowing it down to the final 100 names was no easy task. Congratulations to everyone included—earning a place on this prestigious list was a significant achievement.
