Jose Francisco Mafla > Brigard Urrutia > Bogota, Colombia > Lawyer Profile

Brigard Urrutia
CALLE 70A #4-41
BOGOTA
Colombia

Work Department

Customs and International Trade; Mergers & Acquisitions

Position

Partner

Career

Mr. Mafla joined Brigard Urrutia in 2006 and is Partner of the firm since 2015, focusing on the Corporate/M&A, and Customs and International Trade practices. Mr. Mafla is admitted to practice law in Colombia (2001), in the state of New York (2006) and in the United States Court of International Trade (2015). He worked as foreign attorney in Harkins Cunningham LLP in New York, and in Uría Menéndez in Madrid, Spain.

He has broad expertise in commercial law, international business law, mergers and acquisitions, and customs and international trade. Mr. Mafla is also an arbitrator at the Center for Conciliation and Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, and was the Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM Colombia). He is also a member of the Board of Directors and of the Academic Committee of Customs and Foreign Trade of the Colombian Institute of Tax Law.

Languages

Spanish, English and French

Memberships

Member of American Bar Association (ABA) and Instituto Colombiano de Derecho Aduanero (ICDA).

Education

Mr. Mafla is an attorney from the School of Law of Universidad de los Andes, and obtained a postgraduate degree in Business Law from Universidad Externado in Colombia. He also holds an LL.M from New York University School of Law. Aside from his legal practice, He is professor (undergraduate and postgraduate studies) of Commercial Law and International Economic and International Trade Law at Universidad Externado, Universidad de los Andes, ICESI and EAFIT in Colombia.

Lawyer Rankings

Colombia > International trade and customs

(Leading partners)

José Francisco MaflaBrigard Urrutia

Brigard Urrutia’s practice is commended for its ‘high-level knowledge of foreign trade and customs regulations at a national and international level’. Well versed across a range of regulatory and contentious trade matters, the team is primarily noted for its activity in customs disputes and trade remedies. Dual-qualified (Colombia/New York) department head, Jose Francisco Mafla, splits his time between the corporate and M&A and customs and international trade practices, with his experience in the former area arguably informing his ‘business approach’. Among Mafla’s recent matters, he is representing Mexichem Colombia in an anti-dumping and safeguarding duty investigation concerning imports of PVC from China and South Korea. The team is additionally supported by a strong duo of rising stars, with director Camilo Castrillón noted as ‘very rigorous in the evaluation of his positions’, while intermediate associate Gerardo Chadid is ‘always innovative and very practical’.