RODRIGUEZ, ARCHILA, CASTELLANOS, SOLARES & AGUILAR is specially qualified to lend its services in the following areas:
 

COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS:

This area of practice includes matters related to corporations, banking and financial consulting and contracting, agency contracts, distribution and representation, license contracts, stock exchange, credit titles, mercantile purchase and sale.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:

This area includes the execution of all of the administrative measures related to patents, utility models, industrial drawings and designs, trademarks, trade names, propaganda signals or expressions, licenses related with industrial property, copyright and measures before sanitary authorities, in their event (medical and nutritional products).

This area also includes litigation for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE:

The services rendered in international commercial operations cover all of the procedures involved with exports and imports from and to Guatemala, including the preparation and/or supervision of international purchase and sale contracts, securities, payment, transportation and insurance, bill of exchange regulations, imports, customs matters, dumping regulation, and the promotion of exports. The Firm has particular expertise with international agreements in this field such as: WTO.

 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

The Firm has ample experience with respect to mergers & acquisitions, starting with the due diligence investigation of the companies to be merged or acquired, planning the best structure for the transaction, preparing all the necessary agreements, specially in relation with shareholders’ agreements, up to the necessary proceedings before the administrative authorities, if required.

LABOR LAW:

Firm members advise foreign investors on the labor law in effect in Guatemala. This includes individual labor rights, among them, work contracts, salaries, law permit for foreign citizens. and social services; collective rights and those mandated by Guatemala’s social security regulations.

LITIGATION:

The litigation department handles all judicial matters before tribunals of the Guatemalan judicial system.

This department also includes all of the procedures of a litigious nature before the administrative authorities. The Firm also has the capacity to offer legal consulting and support in international and domestic arbitration.

 ARBITRATION

The firm has experience and knowledge in arbitration area, since one of its partner's participating writing the actual Law of Arbitration in our country.  He has also been a member of national and international arbitration court.

Also, other attorneys of the Firm's litigation department have participated assisting and counseling one of the parties in arbitration proceedings of important amounts.

PETROLEUM, MINING & ENERGY LAW:

The Firm counsels clients with regard to the legal system applicable to the exploration and exploitation of mines and hydrocarbons in Guatemala, and has special expertise in the area of power purchase agreements and issues related to the electrical power sector in Guatemala. The Firm assists in the preparation of the contracts and corresponding registries.

REAL ESTATE:

The Firm has ample experience with contracts related to real estate, horizontal property, work and construction contracts, financing, parceling, securities, purchase, sales and leases in real estate, including the respective authorizations and registries.

TAX LAW:

In this field the Firm can provide advice on matters regarding taxes related to national and foreign investments, corporations, contracts, especially for certain activities, deductions and other issues that affect tax planning for foreign investors in Guatemala.

BANKING AND FINANCE LAW, AND CAPITAL MARKETS

The Firm has extensive and solid experience in advising the different participants of the financial market, especially local banks, branches of foreign banks, representation offices of foreign banks, and other financial institutions, as credit card issuers and leasing corporations.

Our experience covers aspects related to the regulation applicable to banks, insurance companies and brokers; the structuring of complex local or international financial transactions; project finance; the advice on all types of corporate and structured transactions, as asset securitization, factoring, leasing and derivatives.

TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY AND FOREIGN INVESTMENTS:

The Firm supplies foreign investors with the legal information necessary to invest successfully. It also prepares and presents all of the applications and administrative measures necessary for foreign corporations to operate in Guatemala when the nature of the investment so requires.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS:

The Firm offers advisory services in the telecommunication’s field. It also prepares and presents all the necessary documents and takes care of the administrative procedures of Registry and operation of foreign entities and companies, including the Registry before the “Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones” (SIT) and the acquisition of usufruct rights on the frequencies.

MIGRATION, LABOUR PERMISSIONS AND NATIONALIZATION OF FOREIGNERS:

The Firm offers in this area all kind of migration proceedings, including tourist visa, business visa, student visa, temporary and permanent residents visa, pensioned visa and  renewal of visas; also prior authorizations granted by the General Direction of Migration in Guatemala for foreigners that because of their nationalities are subject to a consulted visa; nationalization of foreigners of any nationality in Guatemalan territory.

In the Labour Area, the Firm offers services related with all kind of necessary proceedings granted by the authorities of the Guatemalan State regarding labour permissions for foreigners.

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

The Firm has been involved in environmental projects and transactions. We have advised several well-known and influential environmental NGOs and international corporations in diverse environmental dealings and activities. Most recently we have been involved in the Debt-for-Nature-Swap between the Guatemala and United States of America, the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya emission reductions and environmental services projects to potentially be implemented by the Guatemalan government, and a solid waste transboundary transportation project under the Basel Convention.

CRIMINAL LAW 

The Firm provides services in this area, especially in matters related to crimes of economic and tax nature or of any other kind.
 

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