Dentons Paz Horowitz

Founding Partners: Jorge Paz Durini, Bruce Horowitz Rossen

Number of partners:12

Number of other lawyers/professionals: 35

Contacts

Anticorruption/ Compliance: Bruce Horowitz, Agustín Acosta Cárdenas,

Aviation: Juan Carlos Pérez, Jorge Paz Durini

Competition Law and International Trade Law: Eduardo Esparza,

Corporate: Jorge Paz Durini, Juan Carlos Pérez, Rocío Córdova, David Benalcazar, Agustín Acosta Cárdenas, María del Mar Heredia, Gabriel Santelices

Dispute Resolutions: Leyre Suárez, Jorge Paz, Agustín Acosta Cárdenas

Immigration:

Intellectual Property: Bruce Horowitz

Labour/Employment: Patricia Andrade

Energy: Jorge Paz Durini, Juan Carlos Pérez, Rocío Córdova, María del Mar Heredia

Tax: Jorge Paz Durini, Sara Romero

Public Administration/Procurement: Agustín Acosta Cárdenas

Real Estate: Verónica Mieles, Jorge Paz Durini

Telecommunications: Rocío Córdova, Agustín Acosta Cárdenas, Patricia Andrade

Firm Overview:

Whether a multinational corporation, an investment fund, a local start-up, or international NGO, Dentons Paz Horowitz delivers the legal power and understanding needed to fulfill clients’ goals. For Dentons Paz Horowitz and its clients, this means, ‘doing well by doing it right’.

The firm focuses on quality rather than size to build its team, and when it comes to accepting new clients, it focuses on their business ethics and corporate responsibility.

Founded in 1991, Dentons Paz Horowitz delivers practical, ethical and cost-effective legal services. Its lawyers consistently receive recommendations from its clients, commercial chambers, embassies as well as from Chambers and Partners, IFLR, Legal 500, Latin Lawyer, Leaders League, among others.

Dentons Paz Horowitz was the first law firm in Ecuador to sign the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and to join the UN Global Compact. Also, it was recommended in Ecuador for The Latin America Corporate Counsel Association in Compliance and Anti-Corruption.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate/Commercial /M&A/Immigration:

Dentons Paz Horowitz is well-known for its extensive experience and knowledge in M&A transactions. The team is conformed by Jorge Paz Durini, Juan Carlos Pérez, Rocío Córdova, David Benalcázar, and Agustín Acosta Cárdenas, María del Mar Heredia and Gabriel Santelices, providing legal advice to clients in sectors such as aviation, real estate, floriculture, distribution companies, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, energy, oil and mining, importation and distribution of automobiles. This department is best known for its hands-on advice and participation in the transactions they are involved, because its partners (not only associates) get deep into the documents, details and document preparation. The corporate team works side by side with its tax and accounting team to find viable solutions to issues that otherwise could be deal breakers.

Intellectual Property:

The IP team produces creative and cutting-edge legal and consulting work, principally focused in technology transfer, recognizing, protecting and negotiating IP assets, and trademark applications and trademark rights. Dentons Paz Horowitz was the first legal firm in the region that created an area specialized in innovation and technology transfer: PH Innovations, that advises and supports corporations to develop products with high added value using cutting edge technology. As it is an innovative service, the advice requires a clear and detailed explanation of the patent system and technology transfer locally and internationally.

Tax & Accounting:

Dentons Paz Horowitz advises in tax compliance, audit requirements, complex tax transactions and tax litigation before the Ecuadorian IRS and courts. With the incorporation of Lorena Vivanco (financial expert) and Agustín Acosta Cardenas (Partner who handles Corporate matters and Investments Contracts) to the team, the tax department now changed its name to become Tax and Project Finance, with the idea to retain clients from the moment they do a economical valuation and financial analysis of possible companies they are interested in acquiring or merging, rather than just assisting on the legal matters of an M&A once the economic valuation and financial analysis are done. Its specialized team led by Jorge Paz Durini in collaboration of Sara Romero provides accounting, audit and transactional support.

Energy & Natural Resources:

Dentons Paz Horowitz is one of Ecuador’s leading law firms in energy and natural resources. Led by Jorge Paz Durini, a great negotiator and excellent in oil, mining and international contracts’ (as reported by Latin Lawyer 250), Juan Carlos Pérez, Rocío Córdova and María del Mar Heredia, clients say they come to Dentons Paz Horowitz for its broad experience in the natural resources and energy sector. The oil and gas team represents some of the largest investment ventures in Ecuador and participates in various renewable energy projects.