Ramón A. Azpúrua focuses his practice on corporate and cross-border transactions and investment matters. He advises multinational corporations regarding their business interests and general commercial matters in Venezuela. Mr. Azpúrua also assists and advises clients on ethics and corporate compliance matters, as he is a certified professional in those areas.
Mr. Azpúrua was selected by his peers as one of the top 25 Venezuela-based lawyers under 40 in a survey conducted by LatinLawyer (Volume 3, Issue 4) and as a top lawyer in bankruptcy and insolvency matters (LatinLawyer; Volume 3, Issue 5). He is also listed in Chambers Latin America, Chambers Global, LatinLawyer 250 and The Best Lawyers in Venezuela for his corporate/M&A practice.
Mr. Azpúrua’s practice covers a broad range of Venezuela- and non-Venezuela-based international transactional matters in a wide variety of areas including franchising, technology, maritime, pharmaceuticals, and oil and gas. His experience includes providing assistance in software licensing and development agreements, asset-based financings, project finance, maritime and environmental permitting, franchising, distribution agreements and technology transfers. Mr. Azpúrua’s experience also includes corporate formation, venture financing, mergers and acquisitions, advice on government controls and general commercial contracting. Mr. Azpurua has also assisted clients on compliance training to local personnel and domestic providers, has advised clients in several internal compliance investigations (including anti-bribery and conflicts of interests issues), has conducted third party compliance investigations, and has advised clients on designing and setting up functional compliance programs and on assessing legal and compliance risks with a view to the mitigation of such risks.
Mr. Azpúrua was co-author of the chapter on Venezuela’s environmental law in The International Comparative Guide to Environmental Law from 2004 through 2010 (Global Legal Group), as well as the chapter on Venezuela’s labor and employment law published in International Labor and Employment Law, Volume II, International Labor and Employment Law Committee, Section of Labor and Employment Law, American Bar Association, from 2001 to 2004.
He was a part-time professor in the MBA program of the Universidad Metropolitana de Caracas (legal framework course) and is an international associate of the American Bar Association, a member of the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics.
WDA legal offers companies, families and individuals doing business in Latin America access to a sophisticated team of international lawyers who, combined with state-of-the-art technology, can help clients to achieve their business goals. Our nationally recognized team of professionals is fluent in English and Spanish as well as in other languages. Members of our Caracas office are graduates of Venezuelan universities as well as universities abroad. They are able to provide integrated services in the civil system as well as the Anglo-Saxon common law system. As a result, they can understand, take part in and promote locally the changes and innovations required to respond to the local realities and demands of the marketplace.
WDA legal provides services to multinational companies with investments and operations in Latin America. Our services include the creation of distribution channels, acquisition of local companies, debt or credit restructuring and labor law counseling. We represent both private and state-owned companies in their business transactions, especially in the formation of mixed companies and in the financing of projects with international banking institutions, credit multilateral agencies, and local and international securities markets. We also have counseled local companies on outsourcing processes and on the implementation and development of infrastructure projects using various financing options such as “Build, Operate and Own” and “Build, Operate and Transfer.”
Venezuela