H&K announces 4 promotions, including new partner
Holland & Knight has announced 4 new promotions in the Bogotá office: senior counsel Juan Israel Casallas Romero becomes a partner of the firm; while associates Esteban García Jimeno, Estefanny Pardo Gutiérrez and Margarita Solorza Cortés were promoted to senior counsel. These appointments became effective as of 1 January 2023.
From this new position, Juan Israel Casallas will continue to promote the areas of Litigation and Public Law, in which he has been with H&K for more than eight years. In turn, the new senior counsels will continue to contribute their experience in the areas of Mining, Environmental and Real Estate Law, respectively.
Juan Casallas (pictured left) is a lawyer from the Universidad Externado, has a specialisation in Evidence and a Master’s degree in Administrative Law from the same university. He has extensive experience in Commercial Law Litigation and Arbitration, Constitutional and Administrative Litigation and advises on environmental liability, administrative procedures and legal aspects related to the management of community affairs and the management of governmental affairs. Mr. Casallas has extensive experience in domestic and international commercial and investment arbitration disputes, as well as in contractual and non-contractual liability and state liability matters.
Esteban García (pictured centre, left) holds a law degree from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and a Master of Laws degree from the same university. He has more than 10 years of experience in corporate law, commercial law, structuring of commercial contracts, real estate law and urban regulation and advises Colombian and foreign clients in the incorporation, transformation, merger, spin-off and acquisition of companies, as well as in the negotiation and drafting of shareholders’ agreements and share purchase and sale agreements. He also advises clients on the structuring of urban and rural projects regarding the design, construction and commercialisation of buildings, shopping centres and infrastructure, including all trust schemes and agreements for the development and financing of such projects.
Estefanny Pardo (pictured centre, right) is a lawyer from the Universidad Libre, has a specialisation in Contract Law, a specialisation in Business Law from the Universidad del Rosario and a Master’s degree in Administrative Law from the Universidad Externado de Colombia. She has been an associate in Holland & Knight’s Bogotá office for eight years and her experience focuses on environmental litigation and advising mining companies. She has advised companies in the mining and oil sector in relation to obtaining mining concessions, extensions or extensions of concession contracts, as well as obligations arising from concession contracts and illegal mining, among others.
Margarita Solorza (pictured right) has a law degree from Universidad del Rosario, a specialization in Environmental Law from the same university and a Master of Laws degree from the University of California Davis School of Law. She focuses her practice on Energy and Environmental matters in the areas of Corporate Law and Litigation and has extensive knowledge in environmental regulatory and compliance matters.
With these promotions Holland & Knight Colombia completes 11 partners and four senior counsels.
