Santiago Bejarano > Latham & Watkins LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Latham & Watkins LLP Offices

Latham & Watkins LLP
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NEW YORK
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United States
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Santiago Bejarano

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+1.212.906.4773 [email protected] View profile

Position

Santiago Bejarano advises clients on a range of high-stakes international disputes around the world, under both civil law and common law regimes.

Santiago regularly represents domestic and multinational corporations and state-owned enterprises in a wide variety of industries and business sectors in their highest-stakes international disputes. Drawing on his dual qualification as an attorney in Colombia and New York and his in-depth understanding of Latin America’s legal systems and business practices, he has particular expertise advising clients on matters involving this region. He regularly conducts advocacy in Spanish-language or dual-language arbitrations.

Santiago brings over a decade of experience representing clients in international commercial and investment arbitrations held under all major institutional and ad-hoc rules, including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) , and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). He has conducted arbitrations seated in all major arbitral hubs, including New York, Washington D.C., London, The Hague, and Paris, among others.

He has handled disputes relating to the licensing of intellectual property, M&A transactions, distribution contracts in various sectors including pharmaceutical and luxury goods, and energy, oil, and gas development, distribution , and commercialization.

Santiago is consistently recognized by clients and peers as a leading arbitration practitioner, and is described in various publications by sources as “an increasingly prominent name for Latin America-related work,” “excellent,” “always up-to-speed on the advice,” “able to leverage years of common law training and practice to effectively advise on cross-border disputes,” and “one of the smartest lawyers” in the field. Santiago is Lecturer in Law at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he teaches International Arbitration, and is a frequent speaker at international arbitration conferences around the world.

In addition to his work on arbitration matters, Santiago has advised clients in connection with high-profile government investigations and inquiries, white collar matters, and complex, multi-jurisdictional internal investigations.

Santiago keeps an active pro bono practice, advising clients on immigration-related matters. He received the Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award in 2015 for his work on immigration cases.

Lawyer Rankings

Latin America: International firms > International arbitration

(Leading associates)

Santiago Bejarano  – Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins‘s Latin America international arbitration practice primarily sits in its Paris, New York and London offices. The expanding team is adept in English, Spanish and Portuguese proceedings and continues to achieve growth in commercial arbitrations, notably in post-M&A disputes; the firm is a market leader in Latin America M&A. With its ‘outstanding and reliable associates to take on highly complex tasks‘ the firm is at the forefront of energy, oil and gas, and natural resources cases, with additional progress in pharmaceuticals and construction disputes. The department represents both states and investors, although it has more of an emphasis on company representation. Fernando Mantilla-Serrano (‘attention to details makes the difference‘) is global co-chair of the international arbitration practice and is a recognised leader in Latin America disputes. Fellow global co-chair and New York-based John Pierce brought further weight to the team when he joined in 2022; while less focused on Latin America, he nevertheless has plenty of experience in the region. New York counsel Santiago Bejarano (‘very kind, extremely intelligent, he always makes himself available‘) is another genuine Latin America specialist; while London’s Samuel Pape, elected to the partnership in 2023, has a fine record in the region, having represented the Republic of Colombia in a series of ICSID cases and acted for clients in a range of commercial arbitrations. Associates Esperanza Barrón-Baratech and Diego Romero (who ‘stands out in the group of lawyers at Latham & Watkins‘) are also key team members. Named individuals are based in Paris unless stated otherwise.

United States > Dispute resolution > International arbitration

Latham & Watkins LLP‘ international arbitration practice has experience representing leading public companies across a number of States and sectors, working on matters that regularly include multiple jurisdictions. The team is skilled at handling high-value arbitrations, recently representing a leading private equity firm in a $700 million post M&A SIAC arbitration seated in Singapore.  Based in New York, John Pierce is the global co-chair of the international arbitration practice, representing a raft of clients in institutional and ad hoc arbitrations in both common and civil law jurisdictions. Santiago Bejarano has vast experience representing clients on matters involving the LatAm region and notably recently represented Calidda in a Washington DC seated ICSID arbitration linked to the construction and operation of Lima gas pipelines. Nicolas Esguerra is key to the practice, acting on a number of arbitrations in the mining and pharmaceutical sectors. All lawyers are based in New York.

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