While the rest of the world is still quaking with the after effects of a financial crisis, Central America has silently begun its mission to change.
Often associated with poverty and political upheaval, Central America has commenced plans to merge key services across the five countries, including ambitious plans to continue with Central American integration and to, ultimately, create a single government and currency for the region, as a stepping-stone to modernise and create an improved way of life.
At the forefront of this social and cultural change is Arias & Muñoz, the law firm who cover all areas of practice law throughout Central America.
The firm, which was established in the very heart of Central America almost seventy years ago, has been proactive in its approach to helping the cause, with a dedication to improve situations for those who are in need while also providing excellent service for all of their clients.
Incorporating El Salvador in 1942, the firm has steadily expanded over the last three decades. Founder, Dr. Francisco Armando Arias, who at 95 years old still works in their main offices in El Salvador, was joined in the 1980s by Costa Rican attorneys Josè Antonio Muñoz and Pedro M. Muñoz, and now has seven offices in five countries.
The desire to work to the best of their ability for their clients is an admirable quality with a corporate mission to provide the passion and drive needed to achieve and exceed client needs.
Pro Bono operations
By opening offices and developing a client base in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Arias & Muñoz have been able to cater to the needs of their clients and aid in the reconstruction of some areas of society that are most at need.
Dr. F. Armando Arias, current partner of Arias & Muñoz and son of its founder, spoke to World Finance about the importance of this pro bono work to the company as they strive to help those who are in need.
“We feel like we have a responsibility within the different societies which we are doing business and we feel the pro bono work is a way to reciprocate all the good things we have received from society,” Dr. Arias said.
The pro bono work carried out by Arias & Muñoz has indeed been very successful, with a résumé that reads similar to that of a charity organisation, achieving many triumphs in their quest to protect the interests of the needy.
“I recall that a few years ago I was talking with the priest of a parish of Tacuba, a small town here in El Salvador,” Dr Arias said, “he told me that there was a lot of couples in this town that need to perform marriage in accordance with the civil law system that we have. There has to be a civil law in place before anyone can go to church to perform a religious marriage. He told me that there were many couples that, because of lack of facilities and lack of funds, were not able to get married.”
Arias & Muñoz decided that they wanted to help the people of this small town in El Salvador and thus formed a strong team to draw up the required documents so that marriages could take place.
“There were 40 people from our law firm that were involved in getting all the documents and put all the procedures in place to arrange the marriages and to perform the services. Since then, that was about five years ago, on a yearly basis, we go to the town and we offer to perform the marriages and get all the documents and requirements free of charge for these people.”
This is not the only generous act that Arias & Muñoz have performed for the town, having also started a small clinic and hired a team of practitioners and nurses to give free consultations and medicine for Tacuba’s low income residents.
The pro bono work undertaken by Arias & Muñoz is just part of their extensive list of services and operations. These services include advice on corporate banking, tax, property and irrigation, with the firm having advised some of the largest Central American and international companies whilst also retaining a dedication to work with small businesses and communities.
Most recently, Arias & Muñoz have struck several lucrative deals, which indicate their substantial influence and status among the world’s major organisations.
“One recent development is the participation of Arias & Munoz in a joint venture between Avianca, the leading Colombian airline and Grupo TACA, the leading airline in Central America and Peru, by which they joined operations through the contribution of their shares to a newly formed holding company”, explains Dr Arias. “The newly formed group represents a consolidation of top airline operations in Latin America which offer world class products, having important hubs in the region: San Salvador, San José, Bogotá and Lima. Estimated revenues of the joint venture are in excess of USD 3bn per annum. Arias & Muñoz work has involved assisting these companies on regulatory issues related to antitrust law in all Central American countries. The US law firm Greenberg Traurig acted as the leading firm for TACA under the coordination of Kenneth C. Hoffman, partner of the firm”.
The deal will see a combination of the two airlines achieving 130 aircraft operating in North, Central and South America, including Boeings and Airbuses.
Another highly successful transaction for the company was Arias & Muñoz’ legal advice to Monsanto, an agricultural specialist in America, whilst buying one of the largest corn producers in Central America. Their professional advice and approach has paid dividends, with Monsanto choosing to keep the firm as one of their legal advisors for future transactions.
Arias & Muñoz’ focus on the environment has also been substantial, with the creation of a specific practice for the concentration of matters in this area. Fantastic results have already been achieved in the two years of operation with the firm continuing to encourage environmental development and protection.
Award-winning
Winning several awards this year for their work, including Central America Law Firm of the Year 2009 and El Salvador Law Firm of the Year 2009 by Chambers & Partners; Best Central America M&A Lawyer 2009 for Dr. F. Armando Arias and Best Corporate and Commercial law firm 2009 both by World Finance, perhaps suggests that Arias & Munoz are more than just a word of mouth success story, as Dr Arias may have us believe. It is Arias & Muñoz’ treatment of their clients, which has earned them much admiration as they strive to be the best and take time in discovering the needs of their clients to provide a professional service.
With the firm achieving substantial success it is likely that further expansion and development may follow.
Dr Arias said: “We are always looking for new opportunities. Panama is one of the opportunities that we are assessing, as well as the Dominican Republic and why not maybe South America with a joint venture with one of our colleagues there.”
The strengthening of core services remains the firm’s main priority with a pledge to improve the knowledge-base of their current employees.
He added: “We are trying to set up a programme by which all our lawyers have masters degrees in specific areas of practice and I think that’s part of our projects in the near future. This is a formation of the professional growth at the firm and I think that is very important for us.”
It is the desire to succeed in each aspect of their work and to go that extra bit further which has made Arias & Muñoz so successful in Central America. They are indeed a “bench mark law firm”, who, as Dr Arias admits, “presume to be an elite in the legal field in Central America and the sense of belonging between our clients and between our lawyers and the firm and the dedication our lawyers feel in whatever they do, I think the clients really appreciate that because they feel that we really belong and can really be part of their business and their company.”
Despite the financial downturn, Arias & Muñoz themselves have not been affected due to their thorough knowledge, cleverly constructed deals and most of all the trust their clients have for them.
“We are great believers that we need to exceed the needs of our clients and are totally and absolutely dedicated in figuring out and meeting the needs of our clients,” Dr Arias said.
Arias & Muñoz stand as a role model for the region, with a commendable focus and tenacity to succeed.
