Alejandro Garcia de Brigard > Brigard Urrutia > Cali, Colombia > Lawyer Profile

‘An expert firm with excellent service‘, Brigard Urrutia continues to be the only full-service national heavyweight with an on-the-ground presence in Cali. More than this, the firm remains fully committed to expanding its offering in the city and the wider region, with the team recently swelling to five lawyers following several new hires into the office including: international trade-focused of counsel Maria Eugenia Lloreda, who joined in April 2021 and is a former regional manager at ANDI; senior associate Jimena Rincon , who has an emphasis on corporate and M&A matters and arrived in April 2022 from Fanalca; and intermediate associate Rafael Reyes, who advises on labour and employment law and was formerly a clerk for specialised labour judges — he joined in 2021. The office is now equipped to  provide standalone advice on a wide range of corporate and M&A, international trade, labour and employment and antitrust law— it can also parachute in teams from the wider firm as required. Competition and antitrust expert Alejandro Garcia de Brigard continues to head the local practice and recently provided training to 18 companies in Valle del Cauca on technological prototyping, data management and intellectual property.

Brigard Urrutia‘s competition team leverages the firm’s top-tier corporate practice to pack a punch in merger filings. However, the group is more than just a transactional support practice, as demonstrated by its recent strong performance in competition litigation and complex behavioural matters. Dual-qualified (Colombia/New York) department head Alejandro Garcia de Brigard brings to bear an impressive record in advising on the local leg of major cross-border merger reviews; notably, he and his team handle nearly a quarter of the country’s total merger filings — he also advises on investigations and enforcement matters. García’s recent highlights include advising AstraZeneca on merger control matters related to its acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceutical and also representing Suzuki Motor de Colombia in the Competition Authority’s antitrust investigation into alleged anti-competitive conduct in the public procurement of motorcycles. Senior associate, and practice coordinator, Nicolás Cardona is also a key contact and brings significant hands-on expertise earned during a three-year stint at the Competition Authority.