José Miguel Mendoza > DLA Piper Martinez Beltrán > Bogota, Colombia > Lawyer Profile

DLA Piper Martinez Beltrán’s dispute resolution group strikes the right note with sources for its ‘strong focus on service’. The multidisciplinary practice handles a broad range of contentious matters, with notable activity in civil and commercial litigation, administrative proceedings and constitutional actions, among others. Key contacts include managing partner Camilo Martínez, whose litigation expertise is supplemented by his complementary strength in corporate and finance transactions. Martínez recently paired up with Julian Solorza, who advises on all aspects of dispute resolution, to represent Club El Nogal in an action brought by a former club member, who was banned from the club for five years by its board of directors. Martínez and Solorza co-head the department together with insurance and reinsurance specialist Sergio Rojas and José Miguel Mendoza, who specialises in corporate conflicts, and energy and natural resources. Other senior names include Nicolás Polanía, who advises on arbitration, litigation and corporate law matters; and Ricardo Alarcón, who is the associate director of the arbitration team. At associate level, seniors Sergio Londoño and Juan Pablo Amaya are both noted for their emphasis on corporate litigation. Intermediate associate María José Figueroa left in July 2022 to study abroad. Since publication, both Londoño and Amaya have been raised to the partnership – effective as of February 2024.

An increasingly prominent player in the energy market, DLA Piper Martinez Beltrán’s practice secured 13 new clients during 2022/23, including PowerChina International Group, CarbonFree Technology and Intercolombia. The group ‘strives to truly meet customer needs’, according to sources, and possesses experience along the full energy chain, including regulatory, transactional and contentious matters. A former legal director of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Lucas Arboleda was promoted to partner in January 2023; he is valued for his ‘great knowledge on energy regulatory issues’. José Miguel Mendoza specialises in corporate conflicts and energy and natural resources work and co-heads the department alongside Arboleda. In February 2023, energy and infrastructure partner Paola Aldana left to become an independent advisor, but the firm has since hired Johanna Cajigas -formerly associate director of the hydrocarbons unit at Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU & Uría– as director of the firm’s energy practice (effective as of May 2023). Since publication, Cajigas has been promoted to the partnership (effective February 2024).