Juan Carlos Forero
Partner at PPU, expert in Criminal Law. Juan Carlos is a renowned litigation attorney, with more than twenty years of experience in criminal law, with a focus on corporate criminal law. He is a pioneer in the handling of criminal matters related to the business sector. Former Dean of the Jurisprudence department at Universidad del Rosario de Bogotá. He has served as General Attorney of the Nation and Deputy General Attorney of the Nation. Has been Associate Judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice and of the Sectional Council of the Judiciary. Member of the Monitoring Commission for the Accusatory Penal System. Also, he has advised the Ministry of the Interior and Justice in the reform and implementation of the accusatory criminal system and is member of the Comisión redactora del Código de Procedimiento Penal. Author of several publications within which it is possible to highlight the book “Criminal Aspects of State Contracting”. He has advised state entities in criminal matters such as FONADE, Ecopetrol, Social Security, among others, as well as concessionaires. Juan Carlos has extensive experience advising in the prevention of criminal conduct related to state contracting, as well as defense and representation in those processes.
Andrea Succar
Member of the Criminal Law and Compliance teams. Her professional practice focuses on counseling on criminal compliance, developing good corporate practices and designing legal strategies to prevent and manage corruption, money laundering, financing of terrorism, and white-collar crime. She also specializes in advising and litigation in corporate criminal law and asset forfeiture.
Pamela Alarcón
Partner at PPU, expert in Criminal Law. Attorney and consultant in criminal law, corporate criminal law, corruption, crime prevention and compliance, as well as risk analysis in corporate business and criminal litigation. She has an outstanding reputation for managing crises arising from criminal activities within companies, by advising legal representatives, CEOs, managers and administrators. She is also a criminal consultant and provides risk analysis in real estate, financial, M&A and infrastructure related matters, among others. She has extensive experience in economic crime law, as well as corruption and criminal compliance issues. Founding member of the Colombian Association for Integrity, Ethics and Compliance-ACIEC. Trainer for a number of companies on Corporate Governance and Good Practices, prevention and fight against corporate criminality and corruption, as well as environmental criminal law, among others. Professor of Corporate Criminal Law at Universidad del Rosario and Corporate Governance and Compliance at Universidad de Los Andes Bogotá.
Criminal Law
PPU has a specialized practice in criminal litigation and consulting especially on corporates crimes. We have extensive experience in representing victims and in the development of defense strategies in the context of criminal litigation
PPU APPOINTS FIVE NEW PARTNERS AND TWO NEW DIRECTORS AT A REGIONAL LEVEL
We are proud to inform that, today, the General Meeting of Partners has appointed five new Partners at a regional level: Juan Sebastián Arias, Daniel Parodi, Milagros Pastor, Daniel Ramos, and Guillermo Vial. Likewise, starting January 1st, 2024, there shall be two newly appointed directors: Víctor Abad and Iván Páez. Martín Acero, Managing Partner at PPU stated, at the end of the meeting, and on behalf of all law firm members, that he was proud of this group of new partners and directors, who have the best of skills and abilities both professionally and personally. “We are hopeful and excited to have with us professionals that boast the strictest standards in terms of ethics, client service, and collaborative work, along with their profound understanding of markets, and who share with PPU its principles and core values, as well as the strongest of institutional commitments as one Law Firm at a regional level.” The following includes descriptive summaries for each of the new appointees: Juan Sebastián Arias – Partner; Dispute Resolution: His professional practice has focused on the representation of clients in international and domestic arbitrations, and on litigation before national courts of law. He has been part of international commercial arbitrations conducted under the rules of several arbitral institutions, such as the ICC, the LCIA, the CCB, the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, and investment arbitrations pursuant to the ruled of the ICSID and the UNCITRAL. Admitted to the Bar both in Colombia and the state of New York. Juan Sebastián is an arbitrator at the Arbitration and Conciliation Chamber of Bogota (“CCB” [from the Spanish Centro de Arbitraje y Conciliación de la Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá]). He has extensive experience in domestic arbitrations conducted under the regulations of the Conciliation and Arbitration Centre of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce. He has participated in multiple litigations before national courts, including the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia Juan Sebastián has been involved in multiple disputes related to the following industries: oil & gas, infrastructure, real estate, and telecommunications. Recognized in the Legal 500 ranking in the areas of Litigation and Arbitration. Daniel Parodi – Partner; Banking, Finance and Capital Markets: His professional practice focuses on advising national and foreign developers, debtors, and financiers in asset and project financing. Daniel conducts a significant part of his practice in aircraft and vessel financing. He also counsels Chilean companies and foreign underwriters in bond issuances by Chilean debtors in international markets, such as 144A and Reg. S bonds. He has been recognized as Associate-to-Watch: Banking & Finance in Chambers & Partners Latin America (2023 – 2024); as Rising Star: Banking & Finance (2022 – 2023 – 2024) and Capital Markets (2022 – 2023 – 2024), and Rising Star Associate of the Year 2024, in Legal 500. He has been recognized, as well, as Outstanding Lawyer – Sub-45 Category – Project Financing in Leading Lawyers (2022). Milagros Pastor – Partner; Tax and International Trade: Her professional practice focuses on tax consulting for various clients, with extensive experience in strategic planning, financing operations, capital markets, corporate reorganizations, and acquisitions. Experienced in tax audits, administrative contentious tax procedures, and customs taxation. Milagros has been recognised by Chambers and Partners as Associate to watch. Daniel Ramos – Partner; Criminal Law / Compliance: His professional practice focuses on the assessment, initiation, and monitoring of criminal investigations and proceedings. He provides counsel on the scope of an indictment and potential liabilities, to minimize potential criminal contingencies. Additionally, he implements tailored compliance programs for each company. Daniel has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as Up and Coming and Leaders League. Guillermo Vial – Partner; Corporate/M&A: His professional practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial law, infrastructure and projects, highly complex contracts, and corporate law in general, counselling both local and foreign clients. Additionally, he counsels startups and investors in Venture Capital matters, as well as local and foreign FinTechs dedicated to digital wealth management, payment systems, alternative transaction systems, investment platforms, among others. Víctor Abad – Director of Corporate/M&A: His professional practice focuses on Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, and Financing. He has extensive local and international expertise in prestigious law firms in three different jurisdictions (Peru, Florida, and New York). Víctor has been consistently recognized, for seven consecutive years (2017 – 2023), by British publications Legal500 and International Financial Law Review, as one of the rising stars in the Peruvian market in Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions matters. Iván Páez – Director of Environment and Sustainable Development: His professional practice focuses on environmental law in public and private field and environmental licensing processes advising companies in the infrastructure, energy, oil, mining, and agro-industry sectors. He has relevant experience designing legal strategies for litigation and environmental sanctioning processes, and in the judicial and administrative representation of national and international companies. He led for more than 8 years the group of litigation and environmental sanctioning processes of an important legal firm in Colombia.
Manuel Fernández
Associate member of the Criminal team, specializing in economic criminal law. He has experience in the litigation of criminal cases before the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judiciary. He also has experience providing advice on matters of prevention of criminal contingencies and in the design of legal strategies in the criminal field.
