According to clients, Holland & Knight ‘cares about understanding the business realities and contexts of the companies it advises’. The group continues to consolidate its position in the market following the firm’s May 2023 absorption of Cuberos Cortés Gutiérrez Abogados, and it added several new clients during 2023/24, including Opp Film Colombia and Boston Scientific. Arguably best known for its record in cross-border transactions, where it can link up with its wider international network, the team also handles domestic M&A and advisory matters. Executive office partner Enrique Gómez-Pinzón, who operates from Bogotá and Washington DC, steers the practice. Other recommended partners include Gustavo Cuberos, who contributes ’seriousness and dynamism’; Julia Velásquez, who is ‘a great leader’; Alba Malagón, who specialises in corporate and finance deals; and transactional energy specialists José Vicente Zapata and Ines Elvira Vesga. Associates Natalia Cuberos, Diana Paola Serrano and Isabella Díaz are also noted.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Work Department
Anti-Corruption and FCPA | Compliance Services | Corporate Services | Financial Services | International and Cross-Border Transactions | International Arbitration and Litigation | Latin American Investigations | Mergers and Acquisitions | Project Finance | Risk and Crisis Management | International Energy
Position
Executive Partner
Career
Enrique Gómez-Pinzón is the executive partner of Holland & Knight's office in Bogotá, Colombia. He practices in the areas of cross-border investment and financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate and compliance, international arbitration and project financing. While Mr. Gómez-Pinzón spends the majority of his time in Bogota, he still maintains his practice in Washington, D.C.
In his practice, Mr. Gómez-Pinzón has participated in some of the most important financings and privatizations in Colombia in the last 30 years, including licensing of cellular telephones, banking entities, power generating and distribution companies, and transportation of petroleum. Mr. Gómez-Pinzón has represented contractors in matters before the World Bank Sanctions Committee. He has served as an arbitrator in a variety of cases administered by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), cases administered under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules and the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce.
Additionally, Mr. Gómez-Pinzón has represented acquiring companies in various mergers and acquisitions transactions of mass public transportation companies in Ecuador, Chile and Colombia. He has participated in various mergers and acquisitions transactions within the United States, representing foreign acquiring companies, as well as cross-border transactions in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, the Bahamas, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. Additionally, he has extensive experience in corporate matters, including internal investigations and compliance issues and he regularly advises companies in Colombia regarding the design, implementation and enforcement of comprehensive compliance and ethics programs to reduce their potential legal exposure, as well as defending clients with civil investigations, and coordinating with U.S. and other foreign counsel.
Mr. Gómez-Pinzón was the founder and former director of one the largest law firms in Colombia. He was the co-founder and ex-director of the Colombian-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In addition, he was a member of the board of directors of the Bogotá Stock Exchange, as well as an independent board member of several publicly traded companies and banks in Colombia and the United States.
Mr. Gómez-Pinzón served as the director of the Colombian Trade Bureau in Washington, D.C., where he represented the Colombian government and several of its industries. In 1999, he formed part of the Colombian Delegation for the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Seattle Ministerial Conference and the Free Trade Area of the Americas' (FTAA) Fifth Ministerial Meeting in Toronto.
Languages
English, Spanish
Memberships
- American Bar Association, Sections International Law, Advisory Panel and Alternative Dispute Resolution Section
- District of Columbia Bar Association
- Harvard Alumni Association
- New York State Bar Association
- Washington D.C. International Arbitration Club, Co-Founder
Education
Universidad de los Andes, JD
Harvard University Law School, LLM
Content supplied by Holland & Knight
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Holland & Knight is a firm that cares about understanding the business realities and contexts of the companies it advises. The team participates in making informed decisions and is very clear and sensible in its proposals.’
‘Lawyers are kind, straight people with a great capacity for service: Julia Velásquez is a great leader; and Gustavo Cuberos is an eminence in corporate matters and brings seriousness and dynamism to the firm.’
Key clients
- Azelis Americas
- Opp Film Colombia
- EXL Service Colombia
- Philips Colombiana
- PUIG Colombia
- Getinge Colombia
- Adelte Servicios Colombia
- CI Grodco Ingenieros Civiles (in reorganisation)
- Carbones de los Andes (in judicial liquidation)
- Disan Colombia
- Boston Scientific
- Cosmetika
- Heubach Colorants Colombia
- Grupo Artecola
- Grupo Obben
Work highlights
Advising Azelis Americas on the acquisition of its Colombian parent company and consequent control of its subsidiaries and affiliates in Central and South America.
Advising Opp Film Colombia on the structuring of equity contributions and debt facilities for the construction and operation of a new manufacturing and production plant in Atlantico, Colombia.
Advising PUIG Colombia on all corporate matters, including on the preparation of minutes of the shareholders assembly and compliance issues.