The powerhouse team at BLP remains a market leader, leveraging the bench strength of offices in San José, Puntarenas and Guanacaste (with a new fourth location in Marina Flamingo which opened in January 2023), in addition to branches across Latin America and Europe, to advise banks, sponsors, non-bank lenders, contractors and operators involved involved in major energy and transportation projects, including hydro, wind and solar plants and toll road, airport and port concessions. The practice’s comprehensive service extends to project finance and development, as well as public-private partnerships (PPPs), public procurement, public debt and governmental budget issues. The team is led by Luis M Castro, who specialises in energy contracts and dealing with governmental entities; David Gutiérrez, who handles cross-border purchases and operations; and Luis Ortiz, who brings over 20 years of experience to public procurement processes. Other key figures include Julio Castellanos, who advises national and international and multilateral financial entities on multi-jurisdictional credit operations, and Pablo Umaña, whose practice focuses on corporate, infrastructure, energy and multilateral-related financing in emerging markets.

The team at Arias utilises its regional presence to advise investors, government agencies, NGOs and multinationals including Telefónica and McKinsey & Company on a diverse spectrum of matters, ranging from administrative procedures, lawsuits against the government and government procurement proceedings to public works, infrastructure concessions, public project financing, and claims before the Costa Rican Constitutional Court. The firm’s active client base spans such sectors as telecoms, construction, pharmaceuticals, tech, energy, and hospitality. The team is led by Carlos Ubico, who brings experience in administrative procedures, work concessions and project finance, along with Vicente Lines (an expert in energy and infrastructure), Carlos Camacho, Andrey Dorado and Diego Gallegos (who brings expertise to asset finance transactions). Other key figures include senior counsel Luis Diego Obando and associate Mónica Espinoza, both seasoned international litigators.

The team at Aguilar Castillo Love employs the full bench strength of nine offices throughout the region to bring expertise to advising major national and international energy generators and distributors throughout the entire lifecycle of renewable and infrastructure projects. The firm’s full service covers matters ranging from energy and transport concessions to public procurement processes and operation and maintenance agreements, in addition to providing assistance to operators and users of ports with the analysis and negotiation of tariffs. The team is led by Rubén Zamora Castro, who brings experience to high-value sales and purchases, permits, energy supply agreements, regulatory issues and the leasing of wind, solar and hydroelectric plants. The team is supported by associate María Cristina Corrales, a specialist in project environmental impact issues.

The experienced team at Consortium Legal utilises the deep bench strength of offices in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua to advise corporations in the energy, health, construction and real estate sectors on matters ranging from litigation before the administrative and constitutional authorities and the granting of permits to analysis of regulations and public bidding and procurement processes for major infrastructure projects. The team is led by Rolando Laclé Zúñiga, an expert in multi-jurisdictional transactions who has over 30 years of experience in the practice area, and senior associate Roy Ramos Morales, who specialises in public law and administrative contracts.

The public law and environmental law department at Dentons advises clients across the construction, energy and civil engineering sectors involved in high-value, cross-border infrastructure projects, assisting with matters ranging from regulatory compliance and procurement processes to structuring PPPs, project finance and litigation. Managing partner Eduardo Zúñiga is a key contact.