Lewin & Wills

Managing Partners: Alfredo Lewin, Emilio Wills.

Partners: Juan Andrés Palacios, Diana Vaughan, Luz Clemencia Alfonso, Federico Lewin and Francisco González.

Associates: César Sánchez (CPA), Sofía Isaza, Adriana Rodado, Alejandro Neisa and Manuela Restrepo.

Of Counsel: María del Pilar Abella, Mónica Acebedo, Natalia Serna, Alberto Bonilla, Lina Gattas.

CONTACTS:

Tax: Alfredo Lewin, Juan Andrés Palacios

Foreign Investment: Emilio Wills

International Trade/WTO: Emilio Wills

Business Law: Diana Vaughan

Estate & Tax Planning for Individuals, Families & Family Owned Enterprises: Emilio Wills

Firm Overview:

On its 45rd anniversary, Lewin & Wills continues to be an international reach boutique dedicated to tax law, international investments law, international trade and customs laws, foreign exchange law, corporate and business laws, M&A, private clients, controversies and arbitration.

With a vast trajectory in domestic and international transactions and ventures, including numerous local and cross-border M&A deals, its clients include important national and multinational, public and private corporations in different sectors including, among others, power generation, oil and gas, energy, mining, infrastructure, banking and finance, and telecommunications. This is in addition to a well-established reputation in wealth and estate planning for high net worth individuals and family-owned enterprises.

For the 13th year in a row, Lewin & Wills has been ranked by Chambers and Partners as one of the top two tax practices in ‘Band 1’ in Colombia

This specialist tax firm has been a regular player on the Colombian tax scene since 1978 and assists clients with all areas of tax consultancy and litigation. While the team is strong across the board, it is particularly noted for its skilled handling of transactional and structuring mandates.

Lewin & Wills is a founding member and the Colombian member firm of Lataxnet – Latin American Tax & Legal Network. Created in 2003, Lataxnet currently covers 17 countries in Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. Lataxnet is a network of law firms with a strong practice and well-reputed leading individuals in the tax field in their jurisdiction. Through a peer-to-peer relation, Lataxnet has built a strong network of law firms in the Latin America region offering a variety of multi-jurisdictional tax and legal services, allowing its member law firms to render a one-stop regional reach service in each and all of the 17 jurisdictions covered.

Lewin & Wills is also the Colombian member of WTS Global, a worldwide leading tax-focused network represented in more than 130 countries.

Main Areas of Practice:

Tax:

Tax practice in the firm is developed through a range of activities, going from design of complex tax structures for running businesses to specific tax counselling, transfer-pricing related services and including such aspects as tax litigation, personal and corporate taxation, international tax planning and merger and acquisitions. Due to the importance of this area, the firm has in-house support of public accountants.

Exchange Control & Foreign Investment:

Thanks to its in depth knowledge of the exchange control and foreign investment regime, the firm provides counsel in the structuring of foreign investment in Colombia, paying special attention to the compliance with exchange control regulations. Closely linked with M&A, foreign trade and estate planning, this area of practice helps avoid different disputes that may arise with exchange control authorities in these areas. Litigation, when necessary, is also part of this practice.

International Trade/WTO:

Compliance with regulations and undertaking of proceeding before customs authorities are only two of the aspects in which the firm provides counsel. The extensive knowledge of this area of law allows the practice to include activities such as structuring the best customs possibilities for specific projects.

Business Law:

The firm mainly provides counselling on M&A, contract law and project finance. It assists in creating a corporate structure in the country, according to the requirements of each case and in drafting and negotiating any documents that may be required.

Languages:

English, French, German, Spanish.

Clients:

In addition to its multi-industry reach and a wide base of Colombian and Latin American clients from the private, public, governmental and multilaterals sectors, Lewin & Wills has a wide base of international clients such as: Talisman, Pacific Rubiales, BP, Shell, Ecopetrol, Petrobras, Glencore, Anglo Coal, Umicore, Sagem, ISA, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Decathlon, Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia, Telmex, Siemens, Sony, Starkey Laboratories, DirecTV, British American Tobacco, SAB Miller, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Bimbo, Sucromiles, Natura, ABS, Cemex, Beiersdorf, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dow Chemical, BASF, Merck, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered, HSBC, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, BBVA, AON, Exmar NV, Emgesa S.A., Cliffor Chance LLP, Carbones del Cerrejon Limited, Ecopetrol America Inc, Tidewater Marine International, Bancolombia S.A., Pacific Stratus Energy, BTG Pactual, Flick Gocke Shaumbug, Renault, Subway, among many others.