Mr David Gutiérrez > BLP > San Jose, Costa Rica > Lawyer Profile
BLP Offices
BLP BUILDING, VÍA LINDORA BUSINESS CENTER
SANTA ANA
SAN JOSÉ
Costa Rica
- Firm Profile
- Go to...
Mr David Gutiérrez
Work Department
Business Law with emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, Banking & Finance, Energy & Infrastructure
Position
Partner
Career
David has been a Partner of BLP since 2003. He was one of its two co-founders.
Since 2017 he leads the BLP representative office in Madrid, which serves as a link between Europe and Central America, facilitating business opportunities between both continents. His practice areas include corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, and infrastructure financing.
Throughout his more than 25 years of professional experience, he has advised national and international financial entities in multi-jurisdictional purchase and credit operations for the largest projects in the region, for an amount greater than 5 billion dollars.
For many years he has been recognized as one of the best lawyers in the Central American region by Legal 500, Latin Lawyer, Who’s Who Legal and IFLR 1000. Chambers and Partners has recognized him with the exclusive category of “Emminent Practioner” for several years.
Clients describe him as practical lawyer, totally oriented to offer innovative solutions, key in team management and with great vision.
In 2005 he was selected as one of the 40 best corporate lawyers under 40 in Central America by Latin Lawyer. In addition, he was awarded the Law Firm Leader of the Year award by the prestigious Law Business Research, and Latin Lawyer magazine in 2012.
He has had an important and distinguished career at the International Bar Association (IBA), the largest and most important legal organization in the world.
He was an officer (2010-2016) and President (2017-2019) of the Latin American Forum. He was Chair (2019-2020) of the world fora. Since 2019 he is a member of the Latin American Regional Forum Advisory Board and since 2018 he is a member of the IBA Council, the most relevant body of the IBA.
Since 2013, he has been a Fellow of the Central America Leadership Initiative (CALI), affiliated with the Aspen Global Leadership Network, one of the most recognized think tanks worldwide. Since 2020 he is the Latin America Chair of the World Services Organization (WSG), a company that brings together the most important legal firms, accounting firms and investment banks in the world. Since 2020, David is a member of the board of DESARROLLOS ERMITA DEL SANTO SOCIMI, S.A., a publicly traded company in the BME Stock Exchange in Madrid. Finally, since 2009 he is an honorary founding member of the Omar Dengo Foundation, the most relevant NGO on education and technology issues in Costa Rica.
David is a member of the Madrid and Costa Rica chapters of the Young Presidents Organization, the world’s most exclusive business organization. In the Madrid chapter he has held various leadership positions.
David has been an important leader in Pro Bono and sustainability matters. In 2008 he was founder and first President of the BLP Foundation, the first Costa Rican signatory of the Pro Bono Declaration for the American Continent of the Cyrus R. Vance Center, as well as the first coordinator of the Pro-Bono Commission of the Costa Rican Bar Association from 2010 to 2011. From 2018 to 2002 he was a founder and member of the board of the Fundación Pro Bono España, the first of its category in that country.
In past positions, he was Founding Member, Director and President of CICA, AMCHAM’s arbitration center (2010-2011) and also President of the Costa Rican Association of International Law (ACODI) (1994-1998).
He was part of the Advisory Council (2010-2013) of the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas in New York, and from 2011-2016 a member of the board of directors of the Business Alliance for Development (AED), the most important business organization in Costa Rica. From 2000 to 2008 he was director of the Costa Rican chapter of Junior Achievement International.
As a soccer fan, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of Deportivo Saprissa, the most popular and successful club in Central America, from 2011 to 2017. Likewise, from 2015 to 2017 he held a chair on the Executive Committee of the Costa Rican Football Federation.
Prior to the founding of BLP with his colleague and life friend Luis Castro in 2003, he served as an Associate and then a Partner at KPMG.
Languages
Spanish, English
Memberships
- International Bar Association: member of the Latin American Regional Forum Advisory Board and the IBA Council, the most relevant body of the IBA.
- Aspen Institute: Fellow of the Central America Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
- World Service Organization (WSG): Chair of Latin America.
- Omar Dengo Foundation: honorary founding member.
- YPO: member of the Madrid and Costa Rica chapters.
- CRUSA Foundation: Honorary President.
- Costa Rican Bar Association
Education
- Master of Laws, Fulbright and OAS Scholar, with honors, Georgetown University, United States, 1997.
- Degree in Law, University of Costa Rica, 1994, with honors.
Lawyer Rankings
Costa Rica > Corporate and M&A
(Leading individuals)The powerhouse team at BLP remains a market leader, employing the full 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 provide day-to-day advice and assistance with complex, high-value, cross-border M&A to national and global corporates across sectors ranging from building materials, life sciences, software and aviation to pharmaceuticals, fintech, telecoms and hospitality. The practice is headed by David Gutiérrez, who divides his time between the San José and Madrid offices, and who brings expertise to corporate structuring and infrastructure financing. Other key figures include Eduardo Calderón and Adriana Castro, both of whom are specialist in telecoms and media industry matters; Adelina Villalobos, who advises on free trade zone matters; and directors Adriana Acuña, who manages files involving corporate governance, and Elia Naranjo, who brings experience to contractual negotiations. José María Pacheco, a newly appointed special counsel experienced in cross-border M&A, joined the team from Sfera Legal in August 2022.
Costa Rica > Energy and natural resources
With offices in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, the team at BLP leverages regional strength to advise multilateral banks, development finance agencies and major multinationals on high-value energy and infrastructure projects, including solar power plants, battery energy storage systems, hydro facilities and wind farms. Energy finance expert Luis M Castro; David Gutiérrez, who specialises in multi-jurisdictional purchases and credit operations; Julio Castellanos, who brings experience in the negotiation of public works concession contracts; and Pablo Umaña, who assists with project finance matters, are the key contacts.
Costa Rica > Projects and infrastructure
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.
Central America > Corporate and finance
BLP has continued to expand its presence in Central America, launching its fourth Costa Rica office, which focuses on real estate transactions, in Marina Flamingo in January 2023, as well as providing environmental and immigration advisory services through two innovative companies: Zone and Moval. The firm houses comprehensive corporate and finance practices in the region, with standout expertise in infrastructure and energy-related transactions, and is widely recognised for its representation of Fortune 500 companies. Its strength in international transactions is reinforced by its representative office in Madrid, where David Gutiérrez is the key name. Gutiérrez, an expert in M&A and infrastructure financing, also heads the corporate practice in Costa Rica (where the firm has additional branches in San José, Marina Los Sueños and Las Catalinas), while Vivian Liberman and Andrés López lead the banking team. In Guatemala, the firm strengthened its practice with the hire of former Arias senior partner Jorge Luis Arenales
, who has a wealth of experience in corporate and finance transactions, in June 2023; he joins the well-regarded duo of Luis Ruiz, who is also a skilled IP lawyer, and María Inés Arenales. Zygmunt Brett, an authority in financing, capital markets and M&A matters, is the name to note in El Salvador, and Ernesto Rizo, an expert in the mining and agribusiness spheres, leads the corporate and finance team in Nicaragua. In Honduras – where the firm has branches in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula – José Miguel Álvarez and energy specialist Karla Aguilar are the key contacts.
Lawyer Rankings
- Corporate and M&A Costa Rica
- Energy and natural resources Costa Rica
- Leading individuals Costa Rica > Corporate and M&A
- Projects and infrastructure Costa Rica
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Banking and finance
- Compliance
- Corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Energy and natural resources
- Environment
- Insurance
- Intellectual property
- Projects and infrastructure
- Real estate