Lega

Lega is a leading Caracas-based firm that draws on four decades of experience to guide global financial institutions and energy corporations through the volatile regulatory and economic landscape of Venezuela. The firm is particularly adept at handling banking and finance mandates, where it assists clients with navigating shifting foreign exchange controls and implementing rigorous anti-corruption compliance frameworks. This department is co-led by José Alberto Ramírez, who also directs the arbitration practice, and Pedro Urdaneta, who serves as co-head of corporate and M&A. Urdaneta focuses on cross-border investments and project development, while co-managing partner Luis Eduardo López Durán manages the regulatory aspects of international trade matters. In the energy and natural resources sector, the team provides comprehensive assistance on hydrocarbons and mining projects, including advising on strategic alliances and bidding processes for gas licences; Miguel Rivero is a primary contact for transnational negotiations in the steel and gas industries. This is complemented by a public law and competition practice led by Faustino Flamarique, who advises on antitrust and government policy alongside Rosa Virginia Superlano and public services expert Andrés Linares Benzo. In the contentious space, co-managing partner Carlos Domínguez Hernández represents international entities in litigation involving contract breaches and IP. The broader team features civil law specialist Lisette García Gandica, white-collar expert Andrés Chacón and Mark Melilli-Silva, who advises on commercial and labour matters for healthcare and insurance providers. The tax group is led by Elina Pou, who focuses on fiscal planning and administrative proceedings for energy companies alongside of counsel Juan Cristóbal Carmona and associate Luzmely Rey, the latter of whom advises on customs and import regimes. Juan Enrique Aigster leads the infrastructure, real estate and immigration practices, bringing specific expertise from his previous tenure as legal manager for one of the largest owners of commercial office space and shopping centres in the country. Within the labour group, litigation coordinator Carlos Alberto Henríquez focuses on union negotiations, while Isabel Pestana and of counsel María Elena Subero advise on workforce restructurings.