CYFA - Cambiaso & Ferrari

The 20-strong CYFA - Cambiaso & Ferrari has a broad service offering (from corporate, IP and sports law, to real estate, tax and wealth planning), but is best known for its aviation practice, which draws on the capabilities of 15 fee-earners. The firm has successfully built a market-leading position on the back of the depth of its partners’ industry knowledge, combined with an intelligence-led analytic approach to client requirements. Managing partner Diego Ferrari has a background in regulatory, administrative and public law, and began working with American Airlines (AA) back in 2005. Trained at long-standing aviation boutique Freidenberg Freidenberg & Lifsic, Sebastián Villa  joined the firm as a partner in 2017, broadening the firm’s aviation offering while concurrently giving it critical mass in the sector. In addition to AA, the firm currently acts for clients including regional carrier Jetsmart and low-cost operators Gol, Norwegian and FB Líneas Aéreas (‘Flybondi’); along with a range of flight support services groups, such as Universal Weather & Aviation, and a a range of cargo firms. Villa (’the best aviation lawyer in the country and one of the best in the region’), handles financings, tax and corporate matters as well as regulatory aviation matters, while Ferrari’s practice focuses on regulatory and administrative matters pertaining to the industry, along with consumer matters and related litigation. Junior partner Santiago Marotta leads on all contentious matters, managing the full range of disputes from contractual issues and class actions, to disagreements with relevant authorities; associate director Lucia Echezarraga, in turn, heads up the four-strong litigation team, which typically has some 500-700 cases in process at any given time. Commercial and consumer law matters are handled by Florencia Martini and Belén Pérez Lazarte; while Gabriela Ocando Peña directs the legal operations team which oversees client-onboarding and information and knowledge management.