Nicolás Polanía > 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.

‘A first-rate team that is focused on seeking transactional solutions’, DLA Piper Martinez Beltrán attracts glowing reviews from sources for its lawyers’ ‘experience and knowledge in everything related to M&A’. Distinguished by its extensive global network and increasingly prominent position in infrastructure-related deals, the comprehensive practice covers the full life-cycle of corporate and M&A matters, with notable experience in cross-border work. Among the names to note, key partner Felipe Quintero had a banner year, which included advising Macquarie Asset Management on the acquisition of 50% of Odinsa’s road concession business in Colombia. In another significant infrastructure highlight, corporate and finance specialist Juan Manuel de la Rosa advised John Laing on the acquisition of two electric bus concessions in Bogotá from Somos K Fondo Ashmore Andino II – FCP, and Ashmore Andean Fund II. Outside of the infrastructure sphere, managing partner Camilo Martínez utilised his dual practice strengths in corporate and financial law to represent Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores in a spin-off process of certain of its assets in Panama and Central America before the Superintendence of Finance and the Colombian Stock Exchange, as part of the reorganisation process of Banco de Bogota and Grupo Aval. At senior level, the department also includes Felipe Aristizabal, who was promoted to partner in January 2023, and restructuring and insolvency specialist Nicolás Polanía. The deep corporate bench additionally draws on directors Juan Camilo Varón and Juan Carlos Gambín (‘a young and brilliant lawyer’), as well as senior associates Daniela Duarte, Natalia Bernal and María Alejandra Cabrera. Since pubication, the practice has been notably strengthened with the hire of Dario Laguado Giraldo -formerly chair of the corporate and M&A practice at Brigard Urrutia, (effective April 2024).