Professional notice
In 2004, Pérez Bustamante & Ponce participated in the first-ever claim against Ecuador at ICSID, helping Repsol YPF to win a US$13 million award.
Remarkably, two of the firm’s partners oversaw the whole case, without any assistance from international co-counsel.
Today, the firm – one of Ecuador’s oldest – is the first port of call for many foreign energy companies faced with developments they don’t like, such as changes introduced by the Correa administration. Clients include Perenco, Burlington Resources, Murphy Oil, Duke Energy and Noble Energy. It’s often found pairing up with international counsel such as Covington & Burling, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and King & Spalding. Brazilian construction group Odebrecht used the firm, alongside White & Case, when it was threatened with expulsion from the country over a hydropower plant dispute.
It has emerged from US court filings that Chevron has also turned to the firm for local law advice in connection with its long-running environmental litigation.
Rodrigo Jijón, one of the founders of the Ecuadorian Arbitration Institute, leads the practice. He’s described in our sister publication Latin Lawyer as a lawyer of “complete integrity”. While known for his expertise in energy law, he assists a wide variety of clients and is praised for his versatility.
In the past, the team obtained a US$70 million settlement for Noble Energy and also won decisions on provisional measures in claims underway for Burlington, Perenco and Repsol.
Recent events
The practice suffered a blow with the departure of partner Javier Robalino, who left in August 2011 to join another Quito firm, Paz Horowitz, as name partner and head of international arbitration. Robalino was a key player in the Burlington and Noble Energy cases and featured recently in GAR’s “45 under 45”.
Pérez Bustamante & Ponce Abogados is one of the most prestigious and the largest full services law firm in Ecuador.
Because of the country’s complex political and judicial situation, alternative dispute resolution methods have become necessary in the business. The firm’s Arbitration Team has been extremely successful since its creation and has delivered positive results to our clients in various areas of business.
The firm has gained global recognition in investment arbitration cases at ICSID as well as proceedings according to UNCITRAL rules. In all of those cases we have worked as co-counsel with the most notable international law firms with positive and quantifiable results for our clients.
Besides, our firm has a strong team that handles local complex arbitration cases.
We continuously handle cases in several areas of business including energy and natural resources, project financing, construction, securities, banking, telecommunications, and health. Our clients include multinational companies, global non-governmental organizations, and the most prestigious Ecuadorean companies.
The Arbitration Team comprises partners with experience and knowledge in litigation and arbitration as well as younger attorneys with salient academic credentials and creativity. In order to best serve our clients’ needs, we assemble a team for each project that includes attorneys with expertise in the required areas.
A significant number of partners and associates are arbitrators and secretaries in various arbitration centers in Ecuador as well as abroad. Most of the members in our Arbitration Team are also law professors and lecturers at the most prestigious universities in the country.
Pérez, Bustamante & Ponce firmly believes in high-quality legal services, the importance of our clients’ trust and confidence, the necessity of technological developments, and the practice of law with emphasis on internationalization.
For more information please contact:
Rodrigo Jijon Letort
[email protected]
Juan Manuel Marchan
[email protected].