Being aware of the importance of the maritime industry to the national and international economy, and of the exposed risks that the companies engaged to the maritime industry should bear daily, our Firm provides specialized legal advisory to meet the challenging needs of the industry, aiming to become in its strategic allied, by assisting in the following matters, amongst others:

  • CONSULTANCY:

    1. Insurance:

    a. Legal counsel and representation of insurance and reinsurance companies in handling claims arising from contractual matters, such as, contracts of carriage of goods by sea.
    b. Legal counsel and representation of insurance and reinsurance companies in extra-contractual issues, such as, maritime casualties.
    c. Legal counsel in General Average and Salvage issues, such as, coverage and exclusions under a marine insurance policy, General Average contributions paid by the interested parties, legal assessment of the General Average statement under local law and international instruments (York-Antwerp Rules).
    d. Legal counsel and representation of insurance companies in subrogation matters.

    2. Contracts:

    a. Legal counsel in marine insurance contracts.
    b. Legal counsel in contracts of carriage of goods by sea.
    c. Legal counsel in charterparties.
    d. Legal counsel in multimodal transport contracts and logistic contracts.
    e. Legal counsel y Salvage contracts.
    f. Legal counsel in international sale of goods contracts.

    3. Legal opinions: Providing legal opinions related to maritime and marine insurance issues, arising either locally or internationally, such as, liability exposure under local law and international applicable conventions, direct actions against insurers, maritime credits, etc.

    4. Training: Providing training to the maritime and marine insurance industry in our expertized areas and subject to the particular needs of our clients.


  • LITIGATION:

    1. Maritime casualties: Legal counsel and representation in proceedings carried out by the Colombian Maritime Directorate for the occurrence of maritime claims in Colombian jurisdictional waters, such as, collision, grounding, pollution, amongst others.
    2. Contractual issues: Legal counsel and representation in judicial or extrajudicial claims arising from contractual relationships, such as, contracts of carriage of goods by sea, charterparties, multimodal transport contracts, international sale of goods contracts, amongst others.
    3. Ship arrest: Legal counsel and representation in arresting a ship in Colombia for the obtention of a security.
    4. Subrogation claims: Legal counsel and representation of insurance companies in subrogation claims.
    5. Recovery claims under General Average: Legal counsel and representation in General Average claims to recovery contributions from the liable party in a General Average case.


  • PROCEDURES:

    1. Governmental Licenses, authorizations and permits:

    a. Obtaining the Commercial Exploitation License for the companies engaged in providing maritime services in Colombia, such as, Classification Societies (Recognized Organizations), Ship Agents, Pilotage Companies, amongst others.
    b. Obtaining other licenses, authorizations and/or permits before the Colombian Maritime Directorate (authorization to perform offshore activities, authorization to build and/or modified ships and naval artefacts, etc).

    2. Registry:

    a. Registry of ships and naval artefacts in Colombia.
    b. Withdrawal/cancellation of the registry of Colombian flagged vessels and naval artefacts.
    c. Registry of foreign based insurance, reinsurance and mutual insurance companies (P&I Clubs) before the RAIMAT or REACOEX held by the Colombian Superintendency of Financial affairs.


NOTABLE CASES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Legal counsel and representation of a worldwide prestigious insurance company and of its insured insured (contractual carrier) for the liability arising from an unclaimed containerized cargo in a main Latin-American Port.
  • Legal counsel to prestigious Law firms and their pharmaceutical companies’ clients in negotiating and drafting logistic contracts for the international carriage of goods.
  • Providing counsel and representing an importer and international distributor of textiles, shoes and fashion accessories in the handling of a loss related with lost merchandize at a Latin-American port.
  • Advising an international law firm in relation to the viability of filing a liability claim for the lost merchandise of one of its notable clients.
  • Advising and representing a food importer and distributor in the handling of a claim related with lost merchandize.