Mr David Gutiérrez > BLP > San Jose, Costa Rica > Lawyer Profile
BLP Offices
Roble Corporate Center
8th floor
Escazú, San José
Costa Rica
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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 partners)The powerhouse team at BLP remains a market leader, employing the full bench strength of offices in San José, Las Catalinas, Marina Los Sueños and Marina Flamingo, in addition to branches across Latin America and Europe, to advise national and global corporates across such sectors as telecoms, software, pharmaceuticals, fintech, telecoms and hospitality on day-to-day matters and complex, high-value, cross-border M&A. The group’s skill set extends to restructuring, spinoffs and compliance matters. 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, and Adriana Castro, who – along with Eduardo Calderón – specialises in telecoms and media industry matters. Other key figures include real estate and project finance expert Luis M. Castro; Adelina Villalobos, who advises on free trade zone matters; and, at the junior level, directors Adriana Acuña, who manages files involving corporate governance, and Elia Naranjo, who brings experience to contractual negotiations. Also of note is José María Pacheco, a special counsel experienced in cross-border M&A.
Central America > Corporate and finance
BLP enjoys a strong presence across Central America, with offices in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, which combines with its representative office in Madrid, Spain, to present a formidable offering to international clients – from global banks to Fortune 500 companies – seeking advice on complex, cross-border financings, bond issuances and M&A. In Costa Rica, where the firm has branches in San José and the coastal areas of Puntarenas, Guanacaste and Marina Flamingo (in order to cater to clients in the country’s flourishing tourism and real estate sectors), the corporate practice is led by David Gutiérrez (who also heads the Madrid office) and Adriana Castro, an expert in the telecoms and media sectors; while Vivian Liberman and fintech specialist Andrés López oversee the banking team. Jorge Luis Arenales
, who is based part-time in Paris, further bolstering the firm’s capacity to handle multi-jurisdictional mandates, leads the finance practice in Guatemala; he is also the key contact for corporate matters alongside Luis Ruiz, who has additional expertise in IP. José Miguel Álvarez and Karla Aguilar, an expert in the energy sector, are the names to note in Honduras (where the firm has offices in both Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula). Zygmunt Brett is a high-profile figure in the corporate and finance arenas in El Salvador, while Ernesto Rizo leads the practice in Nicaragua.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Banking and finance
- Compliance
- Corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Energy and natural resources
- Environment
- Insurance
- Intellectual property
- Energy and natural resources
- Projects and infrastructure
- Real estate