Mr Andrés López > BLP > San Jose, Costa Rica > Lawyer Profile

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.

Employing the full bench strength of offices in San José, Puntarenas and Guanacaste, in addition to branches across Latin America and Europe, BLP remains a market leader, advising multinational and national commercial banks, investment banks, private equity sponsors and international funding organisations involved in high-value, multi-jurisdictional transactions. The firm’s full service extends to the securing and servicing of loans, credit restructuring, bankruptcy, regulatory compliance and complex litigation. The team is led by Vivian Liberman, an expert in capital markets, and Andrés López, who specialises in fintech and blockchain. Other key figures include Julio Castellanos, who advised on a recent social bond issuance of Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest) for a total of up to $75m, along with Pablo Umaña, who manages financing for major infrastructure projects in the energy, hospitality, transportation, agribusiness and manufacturing sectors. Luis Hernández brings expertise to advising on finance for real estate developments. The team was bolstered with the hire of Rodrigo Cubero as senior counsel in July 2022; he served as president of Costa Rica’s Central Bank between 2018 and 2022, and his previous experience includes over a decade spent in senior positions at the IMF.

The team at BLP remains a leader in the market, creating, implementing, and monitoring compliance programmes and risk management strategies for domestic and household-name multinational corporates such as Microsoft, Colgate-Palmolive and Samsung, across the tech, electronics, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, construction and hospitality sectors. The group advises clients on matters ranging from anti-money laundering, consumer protection and antitrust to corporate human rights, data privacy, corporate regulatory frameworks and ESG. Juan Carlos Tristán, who brings strength to investigations, training and the drafting and implementation of ethics and anti-corruption programmes, leads the team, along with Uri Weinstok, a specialist in conducting audits and compliance programmes. Other key figures include Andrés López, who brings AML expertise; experienced litigator and special counsel Alejandro Rojas; and San José office director and data privacy expert León Weinstok.