Garrigues joins practices in Latin America with DLP, one of Colombia’s leading firms
With this move, Garrigues reinforces its capacity in key areas of business law in the region and creates a 40-strong expert local team in Colombia
Garrigues, one of the leading law firms in Europe, has reached an agreement to join practices with the prestigious Colombian law firm De la Calle, Londoño, López y Posada Abogados (DLP), as part of its Latin American expansion strategy begun in 2013. This acquisition consolidates Garrigues’ presence in Colombia, augmenting its capacity in the areas of antitrust law, public law, corporate law and financial law.
As a result of the agreement, José Miguel de la Calle Restrepo and Ignacio Londoño Rivera, the founding partners of DLP, will become equity partners of Garrigues, using their leadership and commitment to help expand the Firm both within Colombia and throughout Latin America. Roberto Borrás Polanía, who recently joined DLP as a partner is also to join Garrigues in Colombia as of counsel, leading the financial and stock market law practice.
Humberto De la Calle Lombana, DLP Abogados’ most senior adviser and founding partner, will join Garrigues as of counsel. Mr. de la Calle, an expert in constitutional law, has served as Vice President of the Republic of Colombia, government minister, ambassador to the UK and Spain and senior judge of the Supreme Court of Colombia.
In the words of Fernando Vives, executive chairman and managing partner of Garrigues, “by incorporating professionals with the prestige and determination of Humberto de la Calle, José Miguel de la Calle, Ignacio Londoño and Roberto Borrás, and their teams, Garrigues has confirmed its commitment to Colombia and Latin America and its desire to become the firm of choice in the region, with fully integrated own offices, enabling us to offer service of the highest quality to our clients”.
José Miguel de la Calle added “we are very excited about joining an organization like Garrigues and being able to play an active role in the development of the Latin American practice.” He also highlighted that DLP’s lawyers and other staff view the merger as recognition of their hard work and all they have achieved over the past 15 years.
There are also plans to continue Garrigues’ relationship with Eduardo López Villegas, as an external collaborator handling labor litigation. Mario Posada García-Peña, on the other hand, will continue with his independent tax law practice, collaborating with Garrigues whenever appropriate.
For the most part, the legal teams and administrative staff of DLP Abogados will be joining Garrigues Colombia as employees of the Firm, thereby ensuring full integration and seamless continuity of services to clients. With this agreement, Garrigues will have a 40-strong team of lawyers in Colombia.
The agreement is expected to be ratified by the Garrigues Partners’ Meeting in the next few weeks and will be brought into effect as soon as possible.