Meythaler & Zambrano

Managing Partner: J.D. José Meythaler
Senior Partner: J.D. Margarita Zambrano
Executive Partner & Legal Counsel: Atty. Maria Cecilia Saá Vega, Atty. Beatriz Meythaler and Ing. Isabel Zuleta
Number of Partners: 3
Number of other Fee-earners: 22
Offices: Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador
Contact: +593 2 223 2720
Website: meythalerzambranoabogados.com
Mail: [email protected]

Firm Overview:
Meythaler & Zambrano is one of the most successful and renowned Ecuadorian law firms and forms a part of Primerus, a society of the world’s finest independent law firms, with nearly 200 member firms in more than 40 countries.

Main Areas of Practice:
Meythaler & Zambrano is recognized as having strong centers of excellence in respect of intellectual property, especially on pharmaceuticals and medical, with important teams in Quito and Guayaquil. The legal team consists of 34 lawyers, with specialists in the areas of, inter alia, drug advertising and unfair competition, business development deals and co-operation agreements, IP, product liability, regulatory, compliance and anti-bribery, reimbursement, customs, tax, trademark, and copyright, anti-piracy, and competition law. The team has substantial experience in patent litigation and advising clients on healthcare compliance and advertising strategies.

Meythaler & Zambrano has handled significant appellate matters that have shaped the substantive direction and development of intellectual property law in Ecuador. So, their client portfolio includes the world's most renowned companies, who rely on the group to protect their most important assets, as well as against acts that jeopardize their fundamental business interests.

A description of the firm's areas of practice can be find below:

• Regulatory & Market Access: The firm provides strategic counsel and skillful advocacy in regulated industries. The practice covers all aspects of clients who oversee product development, manufacturing, and marketing activities, with a strong focus on: pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, cosmetics, dietary supplement, and agrochemical products. The firm provides legal counsel on market strategies and their implementation; labeling, advertising, and promotion; product development, clinical investigations, and approval pathways; dispute resolution, inspection down-raids, counterclaims to agency enforcement actions, patent term extension; adverse event reporting, product recalls, good manufacturing practices, and others.
• Intellectual Property: The firm is especially recognized for its achievements in this area. The firm's legal advice focuses on helping individuals and businesses protect, manage and enforce their intellectual property rights and handle complex prosecution, enforcement, and dispute resolution mandates. Likewise, the team has broad expertise in anti-counterfeiting, reviewing licensing agreements, patents, and trademarks. This area represents a broad array of domestic and international clients from various sectors, which stands out for pharmaceutical companies, retail, and entertainment companies.
• Competition & Antitrust: The firm provides expert counsel in complex legal issues in the area, such as abuse of dominant position, concerted and prohibited practices, mergers, acquisitions and, disloyal Practices. The firm specializes in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors, distribution networks, food and beverages, cosmetics, being able to address any matter related to competition law.
• Corporate & Commercial Affairs: The firm mainly advises clients in aspects related to the planning and structuring of their operations in the country, the establishment of partnerships in various sectors of the economy, major due diligence processes, among others. The firm also participates in the designing of business structures, preparation, and negotiation of agreements.
• Dispute Resolution: The firm runs multiple cases of considerable legal complexity in arbitration & mediation, civil litigation (generally corporate and commercial) administrative litigation (tax, customs, regulatory, intellectual property, criminal and competition law), and criminal litigation, most of them related to commercial, corporate, financial, investment, and technical disputes.
• Tax: The firm has an exceptional tax department highly skilled in representing clients in litigation proceedings before authorities such as Internal Revenue Service, the Constitutional Court, Customs; providing tax advice related to all corporate and financial activities, loan structures, and corporate finance projects in Ecuador.
• Public Procurement & Public Law: The firm offers public law practice advising on both constitutional and administrative matters before State Authorities. The firm is well regarded for assisting clients with competitive tendering and public procurement processes, as well as on public audit and regulation-control matters.
• Labour: The firm offers comprehensive labor consultancy; including the drafting of employee contracts, social security registration and administration, presentation of company obligations before authorities, negotiation, business re-organization, litigation, labor inspections, and other crucial decisions which require legal advice for business operations.
• Real Estate: Purchase sale contracts, exchanges and donations, divisions, partitions and separations, declarations of horizontal property and common spaces regulations, rectification and legalization of titles and land registry.
• Consultation & Legal Research: Preparation of studies and legal research, in each of the fields of law, analysis of current national and international legislation.
• Migration: Obtaining visas, naturalization of foreigners, recognition of Ecuadorian nationality, processing and obtaining of identity cards, censuses, migratory movements, military permits, exit permits, and other documentation of a migratory nature.

Offices  

• Quito: Avenue 6 de diciembre 2816 and Paúl Rivet Av., Josueth González Building, 10th Floor, PBX (593-2) 223-2720
• Guayaquil: Ciudad Colon, Business Building 2, Office 308, PBX (593-4) 390-195