Category: News

At Guzmán Ariza we are honored that our president, Mr. Fabio Guzmán Ariza, has been featured in the first edition of the book BEST LAWYERS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC by Mercado Media Network, which highlights the best legal professionals in the Dominican Republic.

Congratulations to all the lawyers included in this edition and success to Mercado Books with this new addition to its catalogue.

The interview can be read at the following link (Spanish only):

DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS ARTICLE HERE:

BEST LAWYERS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC book by Mercado Media Network

Lawyers Marianne Olivares and Pamela Benzán Arbaje become partners at the firm, consolidating its commitment to recognizing the talent of its lawyers and promoting diversity in the work environment.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, June 20, 2023 – Guzmán Ariza is pleased to announce the promotion of attorneys Marianne Olivares and Pamela Benzán Arbaje to partners of the firm.

With these appointments, Guzmán Ariza consolidates its offer in the areas of litigation, tourism and corporate law, while recognizing the professional excellence and the importance of gender equality and the diversity of its team.

In her professional practice, Marianne Olivares has excelled for ten years in the litigation, real estate and tourism areas at the firm’s offices in Bávaro-Punta Cana, Casa de Campo and La Romana, advising real estate developers, hotels, condominiums and tourist complexes. most important in the eastern region of the Dominican Republic. At the same time, she is a professor of Civil Law and Civil Procedural Law at the Universidad Central del Este (UCE).

Marianne is a graduate of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) where she obtained her Law Degree, magna cum laude, with a Master’s Degree in Civil Law and Civil Procedure from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD).

For her part, Pamela Benzán Arbaje has excelled in the practice of corporate and commercial law in the Santo Domingo office, participating in important mergers and acquisitions transactions, project financing and, especially, in corporate restructuring and liquidation matters, in which she has excelled, participating in most of the corporate restructuring and insolvency cases that are pending in the Dominican courts. She is the coordinator of the Restructuring Procedures Observatory of the Dominican Federation of Chambers of Commerce (FEDOCAMARAS) and advises the Restructuring Commission and the Legal Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo on commercial restructuring matters. She is co-author of the Getting Restructuring and Insolvency publication the Deal Through since 2018, as well as the Dominican Chapter of the America’s Restructuring Review from the Global Restructuring Review (GRR).

Pamela is a graduate of the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), where she obtained a Law Degree, summa cum laude, with a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in Commercial Law.

Recently, Pamela and Marianne were jointly recognized as the best students of the tenth promotion of the Master of Laws in Law and Management of the International Institute of Law and Business (INIDEM). Both have also been recognized as outstanding attorneys by Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 legal directories.

The announcement of their promotion was made by Mr. Fabio J. Guzmán Ariza, president of the firm, who commented: “Throughout their tenure, Marianne and Pamela have showcased a profound alignment with our core values of integrity, client service, excellence, teamwork, and innovation – the hallmark of professional practice at Guzmán Ariza for nearly a century. Their promotions serve as recognition for their exemplary understanding of these values and their exceptional performance and commitment in their respective fields: tourism and litigation in the case of Marianne Olivares, and corporate and commercial law with respect to Pamela. We are invigorated and inspired to approach our firm’s centenary and beyond, strengthened by the addition of our new partners.”

We are proud to have been recognized by Chambers and Partners in the 2023 Global Guide as a top-ranked Dominican firm in three of our core areas of practice: Corporate/Commercial, Real Estate & Tourism and Dispute Resolution.

Real Estate and Tourism

Guzmán Ariza Abogados boasts a powerhouse practice group with a longstanding tradition advising on complex real estate transactions and the development of tourism projects. Its strong team of highly experienced lawyers stands out for its breadth of expertise, which ranges from counselling hotel groups on day-to-day operations to project financing and land and asset acquisition deals. Guzmán Ariza Abogados provides further counsel on permitting and licences, as well as environmental compliance.

Corporate/Commercial

Guzmán Ariza Abogados houses a noteworthy corporate and commercial practice handling company incorporations, restructuring and M&A transactions, in addition to corporate and acquisition finance. The team also advises on free trade zone regulations and the tax implications of transactions.

Dispute Resolution

Guzmán Ariza Abogados possesses an experienced conflict resolution team that is usually found representing real estate developers, as well as tourism and hospitality clients in civil and commercial litigation, in addition to bankruptcy proceedings.

The Henri Capitant Association – Dominican Republic, chaired by the firm’s partner, Alberto Reyes, held a cocktail party at the French Embassy to report on past activities and achievements, review future plans and confirm new members of the organization.

Present at the activity were the president of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic, Magistrate Milton Ray Guevara; the French ambassador to the country, Eric Fournier; the president of the Henri Capitant RD Association, Alberto Reyes, Magistrate Edynson Alarcón, as well as the secretary of the Constitutional Court, Grace Ventura Rondón; the lawyer Juan Francisco Puello Herrera; the director of the School of Law of the PUCMM, Santo Domingo campus, Héctor Alies; the president of the Dominican Association of French Graduates, Gabriela Beltré Acosta; and other personalities linked to the legal community.

On February 9, Guzmán Ariza presented a webinar on Environmental Law to teachers of the Ministry of Education – SPM and La Romana branches – with the Council for Economic and Social Development of Santo Domingo (CODESSD). The lawyers of the firm, María Virginia Ditrén and Kamily Castro, presented on this occasion the topics of Environmental Law, Constitutional Environmental Law and Civil Liability for Environmental Damage and other generalities.

Last Tuesday, February 21, the launch of the book ‘’Repertorio de la jurisprudencia civil, comercial e inmobiliaria de la República Dominicana (1908- 2021)‘’, a three-volume work by Fabio J. Guzmán Ariza, president of the firm, took place at the TEP auditorium of the PUCMM Santiago campus.

It is the first academic dictionary in the country that registers the words and meanings of the usual vocabulary in Dominican Spanish that do not have a common use in Spanish.

The Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic (MINERD) received from the Dominican Academy of Language and the Guzmán Ariza Foundation the donation of 1,250 copies of the Dictionary of Dominican Spanish to be distributed in the same number of educational centers.

The Minister of Education, Ángel Hernández, expressed his gratitude for the delivery, while saying that all those who can do something for the school are welcome, and that it is important for the country’s educational centers to have a dictionary of Dominican Spanish because it is what society needs.

‘’It is an invaluable contribution of great value to put this dictionary in the hands of our students, teachers and parents; that is why I want to congratulate the Academy that was behind this project and the Guzmán Ariza Foundation”, said the minister.

Hernández assured that the dictionaries will be distributed in schools, while he explained to the academics the initiatives implemented by the MINERD to strengthen teacher training in the field of language and the teaching of the Spanish language so that the country can have a good level of reading comprehension.

Bruno Rosario, president of the Academia de la Lengua, thanked the MINERD for inviting them to be part of the creation of textbooks, for what it means to Dominican education, as it is essential to have good school textbooks, which, he believes, is the first step to raise the level of education.

In addition, Fabio Guzmán Ariza, president of the Guzmán Ariza Foundation, which was in charge of the creation of the volumes, said that the purpose of the dictionary is to disseminate this knowledge to the national students so that they can know and value our vocabulary, which is what defines us as a people and as a nation.

Present at the ceremony on behalf of MINERD were Oscar Amargós, Vice-Minister of Evaluation and Quality Control of Education, and Leónidas Germán, Director General of Curriculum, while Rubén García, María José Rincón, Rita Díaz and Ruth Ruiz also participated on behalf of the Academy.

About the Dictionary

This is the first academic dictionary in the Dominican Republic that records the words and meanings of the usual vocabulary in Dominican Spanish that are not commonly used in Spanish.

This dictionary provides readers with a work that includes the Dominican Spanish lexicon of the 20th and 21st centuries up to the present day, the current and frequent in the present and also that which has disappeared or is disappearing for generational reasons or due to changes in the culture or way of life of Dominican society.

Words and meanings, in addition to their definition and grammatical information, provide data on their social and stylistic value or on the connotation they have for the speaker.

Its pages describe more than 11,000 words, with more than 14,000 meanings, 4,250 locutions and 8,000 examples.

Our restructuring law expert, Pamela Benzán Arbaje took part in a virtual round table organized by the British magazine Corporate Live Wire, to discuss developments in the areas of bankruptcy and restructuring.

The activity addressed the latest trends, challenges and best practices in light of the current global economic situation, offering a useful overview of regulatory developments around the world. Topics include a discussion on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s controversial legal maneuver, the impact of the Ukraine war on bankruptcy and restructuring, and cross-border insolvency as a tool for asset recovery.

The activity included lawyers from Quantuma, Winthrop Golubow Hollander LPP, Kordamentha, Selwyn D. Whitehead and Guzmán Ariza.

This publication is available to read HERE (in English only). Link: https://www.corporatelivewire.com/round-tables.html?id=virtual-round-table-bankruptcy-restructuring-2022