AVL Abogados

Firm Details:

Number of Partners: 9

Total number of lawyers: 37

Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.

Firm Overview:

AVL Abogados is a full-service law firm that resulted from the merger in 2021 of Andrade Veloz (founded in 1976) and Lexim Abogados (founded in 2004), which delivers specialised services in highly competitive and state-regulated industries. Innovation and ethics are fundamentals of AVL’s practice.

Areas of Practice:

Commercial & Corporate (M&A): 15%

Competition (Antitrust): 10%

Dispute Resolution: 15%

Energy and natural resources: 15%

Intellectual Property : 15%

Other (Environmental, Labour, Taxation): 25%

Main Areas of Practice:

Mining:

AVL Abogados has extensive experience in mining law, having practiced in this industry for over 25 years. It advises its clients on all phases of their mining activities. The firm has been retained by Lundin Gold, First Quantum Minerals, Southern Copper Corp., Shandong Gold, Adventus Mining Corp., INV Metals, Cornerstone, Lucky Minerals, among others, to advise on their day-to-day operations. AVL has a remarkable practice in the negotiation of contracts with the state (investment and exploitation agreements) and with private parties (Joint Ventures, Farm-In, Opt-In, Operation, Financing, and Stream Agreements) as well as various securities schemes.

Commercial & Corporate (M&A):

AVL Abogados is known in the market for having a sophisticated corporate practice. Beyond advising in the selection of appropriate vehicles to implement a particular project, the firm focuses on matters of specialised knowledge and experience, such as M&A transactions and complex disputes between shareholders and managers. The firm regularly works as co-counsel of global law firms in M&A transactions and has an extensive portfolio of clients with headquarters throughout Latin America.

Competition (Antitrust):

AVL Abogados has been a pioneer in this discipline from the enactment of the competition law (2011). The firm advises clients particularly on preventive audits, compliance programs, competition investigations and premerger notifications. The added value of the firm is its knowledge of the market and the economic underpinnings of the competition legislation. The firm has been recently retained by companies operating in the cement, pharmaceutical, food, insurance, finance, distribution and gas industries.

Dispute Resolution:

AVL Abogados has a very strong dispute resolution team that applies innovative and international practices to all international and domestic arbitration proceedings and ordinary court proceedings. AVL works under the same standards of a global firm, both for the experience in international cases and for the different languages the attorneys speak. Its lawyers have (i) acted as arbitrators; (ii) worked for arbitration and mediations centres; (iii) worked with arbitration departments at renowned global law firms; and (iv) have extensively lectured on international arbitration in Ecuador’s main universities. The firm regularly works as co-counsel of global law firms in international arbitration proceedings.

Intellectual Property:

AVL offers practical and proactive solutions to clients based on having an intimate knowledge of the business so as to offer the adequate legal tools for achieving the desired objectives. AVL advises both national and foreign clients (through correspondents around the world) to provide quality service in all their intellectual and industrial property rights. AVL has the technological resources to enable appropriate surveillance of intangibles both in Ecuador and the Andean Community countries.

Labour Law:

AVL has a team of lawyers committed to providing quality service thanks to their thorough understanding of the employer’s business and the employees’ needs. This team provides on-going support for decision-making by senior management, human talent managers and business owners. The firm have developed legal tools on matters of labour and employment that put the firm at the forefront of the labour market.

Personal Data Protection and Privacy:

The regulations on data protection in Ecuador are new, since the Organic Law on Personal Data Protection, inspired by the European GDPR, entered in force in May 2021. This statute establishes a variety of incentives for companies that comply with its standards within the deadlines set. AVL supports clients in preparing for the compliance of the new law in a timely fashion, especially by verifying the use they currently give to the personal data of their clients, employees, associates, and suppliers.

International Work:

AVL is a truly international law firm. Its lawyers have worked in global law firms, speak several languages and have experience in international transactions. The firm regularly works as co-counsel of global law firms in international arbitration proceedings and M&A transactions.