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 Álvaro Josué Yáñez
Managing Partner

Álvaro Josué Yáñez

Languages
  • Spanish
  • English

Álvaro Josué is Managing Partner of the firm and co-leads the Energy & Climate Change team. He is a lawyer from the Universidad del Rosario and has a master’s degree in Corporate Law from the Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain. He has more than 20 years of experience advising projects related to the energy sector, in the mining, oil and gas and electric power subsectors.

His support for projects ranges from the incorporation of companies in the country, the award of the respective contracts, permits and licenses, and the legal support for their operational maturity. Álvaro has also been in charge of the drafting and negotiation of agreements for the acquisition of companies or equity participations in hydrocarbon producing interests in Colombia, and associated due diligence reviews, as well as acquisition agreements (such as earn-in and farm-in agreements) and joint venture agreements (including joint operating agreements (JOAs) and production sharing contracts). He has also been in charge of drafting and negotiating agreements related to energy and petroleum infrastructure, including EPCs and Built, Operate, Own, Maintain and Transfer agreements (BOOMTs), among others.

For eight years he was Senior legal counsel to the largest private hydrocarbon operator in Colombia, in charge of the legal structuring of important projects that led the company to exceed 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent (barrels of oil per day (BOPD) equivalents) and to operate more than 310,000 BOPD equivalents.

Relevant experience

  • 2024-present – Managing Partner, CMS Rodríguez-Azuero, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2021-2024– Partner, CMS Rodríguez-Azuero, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2017-2021 – Managing Partner, Yáñez & Asociados, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2010-2017 – Legal Manager, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2009-2010 – Legal Manager of Contracts and Special Projects, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2003-2009 – Partner, Yáñez & Asociados, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2001-2003 – Lawyer, Arrieta, Mantilla & Asociados, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2000-2001 – Legal Assistant to the National Presidencyl, Cámara Colombiana de la Construcción – CAMACOL, Bogotá, Colombia

Publications

  • Author, “Strategic Alliances, a path during the crisis” Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, 1999

Memberships & Roles

  • Former Member of the Board of Directors of Transportadora del Meta
  • Director for Khiron Life Sciences Corp
  • Member of the Board of Directors of Momentous Capital Corp

Awards & Rankings

  • Legal 500 Latin America 2024 recognition in the area of Energy & Natural Resources (Tier 2).
  • Álvaro Josué Yáñez, Leading Individual and Recommended Lawyer in Legal 500 Latin America 2024 in the area of Energy & Natural Resources.

Education

  • 2004 – Master’s degree in Corporate Law, Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain
  • 2000 – Lawyer, Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia