Aguilar Castillo Love > San Jose, Costa Rica > Firm Profile

Aguilar Castillo Love > The Legal 500 Rankings

Costa Rica > Banking and finance Tier 1

With the combined bench strength of ten offices in nine countries throughout Latin America, the powerhouse banking and finance group at Aguilar Castillo Love remains a market leader, assisting major regional and global financial institutions, private equity firms and corporates on high-value, multi-jurisdictional transactions. The group’s active client base includes such household names as JP Morgan, American Express, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Barclays and Goldman Sachs, and spans the medical devices, automotive, telecoms, financial services, and retail sectors. The team’s comprehensive service covers syndicated loan facilities, asset-backed financing structures, default swaps, project finance, credit facility agreements, regulatory matters, due diligence and debt structuring. Finance expert Marco Solano Gómez leads the team, bringing over 25 years of experience advising underwriters, issuers and trustees on debt instruments, including the private and public offering of bonds. The team is supported by senior associate Stephanie Howard Peña, who provides expertise in finance law and securities, and associate Karlo Suñol, whose utilises a background acting for multinationals in complex proceedings before Costa Rica’s financial regulators.

Costa Rica > Compliance Tier 1

The powerhouse compliance and investigations practice at Aguilar Castillo Love remains a market leader, leveraging the bench strength of nine offices throughout the region to advise public figures (including former Costa Rican presidents Carlos Alvarado Quesada and Óscar Arias Sánchez) and such major household names as BMW, DHL and Hewlett Packard, across the pharmaceuticals, food, logistics, tech, construction, automotive and education sectors. The team’s comprehensive service covers matters involving anti-money laundering, compliance, anti-bribery and corruption investigations, risk management and corporate defence strategy. The team is led by experienced criminal litigator Rodolfo Brenes Vargas and Tatiana Rojas Hernández, the president of the Costa Rican Chapter of the World Compliance Association, who assists clients with free trade zone matters. Key support is provided by associate Sergio Herra Rodríguez, a white-collar crime specialist.

Costa Rica > Corporate and M&A Tier 1

The corporate team at Aguilar Castillo Love leverages the bench strength of nine offices throughout the region to advise major multinationals such as Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Mondelez and AstraZeneca on high-value, multi-jurisdictional transactions. With a client base spanning sectors ranging from tech, financial services, manufacturing and healthcare to food and beverages, hospitality and consumer goods, the multidisciplinary team’s comprehensive service extends to complex negotiations, antitrust matters, labour matters, tax issues and the detection of criminal risks. Foreign investment authority and senior partner John Aguilar Quesada leads the team, bringing expertise to complex M&A. Other key figures include Esteban Agüero Guier, the former head of the Costa Rican government’s international investment and trade disputes department; Tatiana Rojas Hernández, who brings expertise to corporate compliance and investigations; Marco Solano Gómez, who has over 20 years’ experience managing major cross-border deals and day-to-day operations; free trade zone regime expert Andrea Sáenz; and senior associate Stephanie Howard Peña. Laura Rodríguez Amador was promoted to partner in September 2022. Since publication, the firm has appointed Mary Ann Drake -formerly the firm's regional manager- as both a partner and the firm's General Counsel - effective as of December 2023.

Costa Rica > Dispute resolution Tier 2

The dispute resolution team at Aguilar Castillo Love leverages the bench strength of nine offices throughout the region to represent public figures (including former Costa Rican president Carlos Alvarado Quesada) and such major multinationals as Synthes (Johnson & Johnson), DHL and Hewlett Packard in high-stakes domestic and multi-jurisdictional disputes. Acting in matters ranging from international arbitration and distribution contract disputes to white-collar criminal proceedings, the firm’s broad client base spans the energy, government, healthcare, tech, logistics, food and beverages, media and financial services sectors. The practice is led by seasoned international investment arbitrator Esteban Agüero Guier, who heads the dispute resolution group, and Rodolfo Brenes Vargas, who leads the team’s corporate crime, anti-corruption investigations and compliance work. Other key figures include alternative dispute resolution expert Tatiana Rojas Hernández; Laura Rodríguez Amador, who brings experience in handling disputes in the telecoms sector, and who was promoted to partner in September 2022; and associate Sergio Herra Rodríguez, a specialist in white-collar crime.

Costa Rica > Energy and natural resources Tier 2

Aguilar Castillo Love employs the full regional bench strength of 11 offices in nine countries across Latin America when advising national and international energy generators and distributors on renewable energy and infrastructure projects over the course of their lifecycle. In addition, the team brings experience in the transport and mining sectors. Rubén Zamora Castro and associate María Cristina Corrales are the key contacts.

Costa Rica > Labour and employment Tier 3

With ten offices in nine countries throughout Latin America, the experienced practice at Aguilar Castillo Love leverages regional bench strength to assist major multinational corporates with day-to-day employment issues, regulatory matters and complex labour litigation. Active across such sectors as medical devices, food and beverages, logistics and financial services sectors, the practice’s full service extends to such issues as discrimination, sexual harassment and teleworking issues. Alvaro Aguilar, Eric Romero and associate Gloriana Lara Ramos are the key contacts.

Costa Rica > Projects and infrastructure Tier 3

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.

Costa Rica > Tax Tier 3

Leveraging the bench strength of 9 offices throughout the region, the team at Aguilar Castillo Love provides household-name multinationals (including Coca-Cola and Hewlett-Packard) with advice on the tax aspects of cross-border transactions and representation in contentious-administrative proceedings. With a client portfolio spanning such sectors as security, tech, food and beverages, and financial services, the firm’s comprehensive offering covers tax advice on M&A, joint ventures, real estate matters, restructurings and derivatives. In addition, the team assists with tax planning related to transfer pricing, advance pricing agreements and tax credits. Tax compliance expert José Pablo González heads the department, bringing extensive in-house experience (having served as Walmart’s tax counsel in Costa Rica).

Central America > Corporate and finance Tier 1

One of the first law firms to build a region-wide practice, Aguilar Castillo Love has established an extensive platform not only in Central America but also further afield; in addition to its offices in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, the firm now has a presence in Ecuador, Paraguay and, most recently, Bolivia, where it opened branches in Santa Cruz and La Paz in 2022. Thanks to its in-depth experience of advising international clients (and the strong international profiles of many of its lawyers), the firm is well versed in cross-border financial and corporate transactions, including project finance, debt restructurings, bond issuances and M&A. In the Costa Rica offices (located in central San José and Escazú), the key contacts are banking and finance head Marco Solano Gómez and John Aguilar-Quesada, who leads the corporate team. Juan Carlos Castillo Chacón, a market leader in energy-related deals, and up-and-coming partner Natalia Callejas Aquino oversee the Guatemala practice, while Esteban Agüero Guier and Flor De María Cortez, who has significant experience in foreign investments and free trade zone law, are the names to note in El Salvador, where the firm is commended for its fintech expertise. In Honduras, Enrique Rodríguez-Burchard and Juan José Alcerro Milla lead the corporate and finance teams, where the latter brings complementary strengths in antitrust and fintech issues. M&A expert Thelma Carrión Blandón and finance specialist Violeta Núñez head the corporate and banking departments in Nicaragua.