Profile

Pablo is a Partner of ZONE in Costa Rica. Pablo is a lawyer with over 16 years of experience in cross-border transactions in Latin America and the Caribbean. His practice focuses on corporate, infrastructure, and multilateral organization financings in emerging markets, including energy infrastructure projects (conventional and renewable), hospitality, transportation, agribusiness, and manufacturing.  An expert in overseeing complex transactions, Pablo has facilitated billions of dollars in investments and financings for the region.

He has been involved in and advised on transactions in the United States, Asia, Europe, and almost every country in Latin America, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, Bahamas, Bolivia, among others.

Service Areas

• Environment
• Energy

Languages

• Spanish
• English

Certifications and related experience

Rising Star on Latinvex’s Top 50 Rising Stars List

Profile

Ruben is a lawyer with experience in the public sector, specifically in the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance where he served as Coordinator of Legal Advice, being in charge, among other functions, of preparing regulations and ministerial norms applicable to sanitary compliance, potability of water and good practices in food production.

He has advised and prepared occupational health and safety plans for different companies. He has experience in the design and monitoring of environmental compliance audits and in the preparation of diagnoses to measure energy performance, water performance, and industrial safety performance. He leads the technical team in Guatemala, in charge of preparing environmental impact studies and environmental licenses.

He is certified by the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction in terms of the development of protection protocols against COVID-19 and the use of the INFORM Guatemala national risk measurement platform.

Service Areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Environment
• Energy

Lenguage

• Spanish
• English

Profile

Zygmunt is a Partner of ZONE based in the El Salvador office. Zygmunt acts as the primary external legal counsel for major local and international companies. He has been responsible for the ongoing management and coordination of domestic and multi-jurisdictional legal projects, including the structuring, negotiation, and execution of complex acquisitions, divestitures and mergers, financial arrangements, corporate and tax planning, and conflict management and resolution. Zygmunt is roundly recognized as a top-tier practitioner by market observers, with considerable experience in the financing of capital markets’ projects, as well as complex multi-jurisdictional M&A transactions for clients acting in a diverse array of industries, including retail, automotive, banking and finance, hospitality and healthcare, in coordination with international law firms and legal teams around the world. These projects involve legal advice and coordination in more than 20 jurisdictions throughout Central and North America and the Caribbean region.

Service areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Food Safety
• Environment
• Energy

Languages

• Spanish
• English

Certifications and related experience

• Recognized in Corporate/M&A practice by Chambers & Partners
  
• Listed as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500
  
• Recognized as a Market Leader by IFLR1000
  

Profile

Rodolfo is a Partner of ZONE in Guatemala. He specializes in the areas of Dispute Resolution, Public Law, Administrative Contracting & Economic Regulation, Energy & Infrastructure and Environmental, Occupational Health & Safety.

Throughout his more than 20 years of extraordinary professional practice, he has successfully resolved complex litigation in both the private and public sectors, including his participation as Judicial Director of the State for the Defense of Guatemala in the ICSID Arbitrations ARB 09/05 promoted by Iberdrola Energía and ARB 10/23 promoted by Teco Holdings. He was also part of the national legal team that advised Guatemala in the arbitration promoted by the United States in chapters XVI and XX of CAFTA-DR.

He is recognized for his experience in advising on governmental affairs, public-private partnerships, public bids, public policies and strategies; in the development of energy and infrastructure projects, with particular expertise in national and international bids; and in contracts for environmental mitigation measures, environmental impact studies, and socialization processes for electric power projects.

Service Areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Environment
• Energy

Lenguages

• Spanish
• English

Certifications and related experience

• Recognized in Dispute Resolution by Chambers and Partners.
• Recognized as Leading Lawyer byIFLR 1000.
• Recognized asleading LawyerbyWho´s Who Legal.

Profile

Mauricio is a ZONE Partner in Costa Rica. He is a lawyer with more than 25 years of experience specializing in Conflict Resolution and Environmental Law. He has a background in natural sciences and has advised the main environmental NGOs in the country on regulatory matters. Additionally, he is an active litigator in cases related to natural resources, compliance and application of sanctions, permits, and remedial plans. He regularly represents the firm’s clients before regulatory bodies.

In the area of ​​Conflict Resolution, Mauricio is part of the list of arbitrators appointed by the member states in the free trade agreements with the United States (CAFTA), Mexico, and the Central America-Dominican Republic. He is an active litigator in the courts of Costa Rica. He serves as President of the Administrative Council of the International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CICA-AMCHAM) and is a member of the arbitration committee of the national chapter of the ICC. He stands out for his internship at the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (1999). Mauricio is also on the list of expert arbitrators of the Ibero-American Arbitration Center (CIAR).

Service areas

• Environment

Languages

• Spanish
• English

Certifications and related experience

• Recognized in the practice areas of Dispute Resolution and Environment by Chambers and Partners
  
• Listed as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500
  
• Highly Regarded by IFLR 1000
  
• Recognized as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation
• Recommended Lawyer by Who’s Who Legal
  

Profile

Luis is a Lawyer and Environmental Consultant for ZONE in Costa Rica. He has actively assisted the leading national and international companies in Costa Rica in cases related to natural resources and mining, regulatory compliance, litigation, and the application of sanctions, permits, and remedies, as well as representation and supervision before regulatory bodies. He is also an experienced environmental consultant and auditor in Carbon Neutral according to ISO / INTE 14064-1, 14064-2 and National Standard 12-01-06: 2016, ISO 14001: 2015 Environment, FSSC 22000 Food Safety standard, and OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and security. Luis studied Law at the Metropolitan University in Venezuela in 2016 and the University of Costa Rica in 2018. He is pursuing a Master’s in Environmental Law, Energy, and Natural Resources at Lewis & Clark Law School. He is a founding member of the Venezuelan Costa Rican Business Chamber (CEVENCO) and a member of the Environmental Law Commission of the Costa Rican Bar Association. He has published several articles and been interviewed in various media on environmental and sustainability issues.

Service areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Food Safety
• Environment
• Energy

Languages

• Spanish
• English

Certifications and related experience

• INTE/ISO 14001:2015 Internal Auditor in Environmental Management System, Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica, August 2017.
  
• OHSAS 18001:2008 Internal Auditor in Occupational Health and Safety, Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica, August 2017.
  
• FSCC 22000:2005 Internal Auditor in Food Safety System. INTECO-Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica, August 2017.
  
• Measurement of the Organizational Carbon Footprint, Information Systems for Organizational Carbon Neutrality, Carbon Auditors for Organizations: Internal Audit and Third-Party Verification. EARTH University – Neutral Carbon Unit, August 2018.
  
• INTE-ISO-45001 Internal Auditor, in Occupational Health and Safety Management System, INTECO COSTA RICA, November 2019.
  
• Awarded “Environmental Ambassador” by Lewis & Clark Law School.
  

Profile

Lourdes is a Lawyer and Environmental Consultant to ZONE based in Guatemala. A professional with experience in investigation and analysis of regional cases in environmental regulation processes, current local support of the country in the Secretariat of Environmental Affairs of CAFTA-DR, and the promotion and compliance of environmental regulations in Central America, the Dominican Republic, and the US.

She has experience in the public sector, advising on the Legal Coordination of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance in the review of sanitary compliance in food issues, water quality compliance, and PTAR projects. She is also well-versed in conflict resolution in the sanitary and regulatory field, as well as the systematization and formulation of technical standards applicable to the production of food for human consumption.

She also advises on compliance with occupational health and safety obligations, environmental audits, and industrial safety.

Service areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Food Safety
• Environment

Languages

• Spanish
• English

Profile

Karla is a Partner of ZONE in Honduras. A lawyer with extensive experience, her practice areas include Environmental, Occupational Health & Safety, Corporate Law, Aviation & Maritime, and Energy & Infrastructure.

With more than 20 years of experience in Environmental, Occupational Health & Safety, she knows all procedures to obtain permits and licenses, contracts for environmental mitigation measures, preparation of environmental impact studies, and the performance of processes and strategies for the socialization of projects of all kinds, especially in Electric Power and Infrastructure.

In the area of ​​Energy & Infrastructure, she has served as a legal consultant in the regulated sector, international and national bidding processes, electricity supply contracts (PPA), permits, strategies, and socialization for the development, construction, and operation of electric power projects, legal consulting and obtaining environmental licenses.

Service areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Environment
• Energy

Languages

• Spanish
• English

Certifications and related experience

• Recognized in the practice of Corporate/Commercial by Chambers and Partners.
  
• Recognized as a Leading Individual in the practice of Energy and Projects by The Legal 500
  

Profile

Julio is a Lawyer and Environmental Consultant for ZONE in El Salvador. Throughout his 10 years of experience, he has advised large commercial enterprises on corporate matters such as the formation of local companies and branches of foreign companies. The advice includes regulatory issues with different government agencies, matters of civil and commercial contracts for companies, merger processes, absorption, liquidation of companies, and economic concentrations. He also works on labor issues advising on administrative and regulatory issues in companies with national and international presence.

Service areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Environment
• Energy

Languages

• Spanish
• English

Profile

Juan is a Lawyer and Environmental Consultant for ZONE in Nicaragua. In his more than 15 years of experience he has advised multinational companies in the aviation, energy, construction, manufacturing and agricultural industries.

Service areas

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Environment
• Energy

Languages

• Spanish
• Ingles