Attorneys at Business Law Partners, a Central America-wide firm, are all about providing solutions to complex issues.
Luis Castro, a founding partner at the firm, known commonly as BLP, says he and more than 150 other lawyers at the firm will become thoroughly involved in each project they handle.
“Attorneys and firms traditionally provide advice on the law. That is now how we see ourselves. We see ourselves as a piece in the puzzle of our clients’ businesses,” he says.
The strategy has worked well for BLP, which has expanded from Costa Rica to five other countries in its 21 years and plays a key role in many of the iconic deals in Central America, a region for which it wins Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year for the second year running.
Castro says the firm’s success is down to a number of factors, first among them the fact BLP is one firm, not a network. He says that while there are many good firms in the region with offices in different countries, “they do not operate under a single roof. We are one firm, which sets us apart.”
Also setting the firm apart is its strong ESG focus, which includes a commitment to communities where it works. It was the first firm in Central America to sign the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas, a project of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. Its lawyers contributed more than 4,000 hours to pro bono work in the last year.
A focus on infrastructure has been at the heart of the company since it opened its doors in 2003 and remains the central driver of business, as evidenced by the long list of deals BLP worked on over the past 12 months.
The firm acted as legal counsel to clients in various sectors, including energy, transportation and telecommunications. According to Castro, it boasts “a strong reputation in the region for its expertise in public-private partnerships.”
Among the stand-out deals it advised on over the past year was EnfraGen’s acquisition of energy assets in Costa Rica and Panama from Celsia – one of the most complex transactions in the region but one Castro says reflected BLP’s know-how. EnfraGen won the Renewable Energy Financing of the Year award.
Outside of energy and infrastructure, the firm also stood out for its involvement in major deals, including its participation in El Salvador’s $1-billion sovereign note. BLC was legal counsel to BofA Securities, the deal manager.
BLP expects to stay busy in the coming years as economic trends, such as nearshoring, reshape the region. Central America, because of its geographic location and regional free-trade agreement with the US, is already seeing an upsurge in interest that Castro says is likely to continue.
“Nearshoring is already creating opportunities that are keeping us busy. We are representing investors looking at the region and local developers of the free-trade facilities. I think we have a fun five to 10 years ahead of us working on these kinds of project financing,” he says.