Rebaza, Alcázar & De Las Casas is the Peruvian legal market’s young upstart and has become one of its finest law firms. It gives fierce competition to its more established and significantly larger counterparts, especially in transactional areas like corporate, banking and private equity work, while a market-leading restructuring makes it stand out from the bunch. The firm’s rapid rise may be attributed to its trend-setting approach. While an early focus on private equity clients has paid off in dividends, it was also an early mover in offering targeted venture capital advice.
Rebaza Alcázar has emphasised developing a firm that stays strong both in times of economic growth and market downturns. Its strong transactional side is complemented by excellent restructuring and bankruptcy advice. Capabilities in handling disputes are on offer too, and this is an area the management wants to grow. The firm also stands out in the field of white-collar crime. It started building the practice when it merged with a white-collar crime boutique back in 2016, a move that was impeccably timed given the new government’s push to crack down on tax avoidance and corruption. This team has remained busy since. A complementary compliance practice was added a few years ago.
Rebaza Alcázar has identified new areas of focus in fintech, start-up and life sciences, and wants to grow these further. Real estate and antitrust departments were launched in 2021. The latter was essentially a requirement after the government implemented a merger control regime that year and has generated work in relation to M&A transactions. The firm has also seen a rise in private client and family business advice, an area the firm anticipates will continue to grow. Data privacy advice is a recent addition too.
The firm has appointed several new partners. The tax, labour, restructuring and M&A departments were boosted with one partner promotion each in late 2021. Most recently, a seasoned corporate and tax partner joined from Rubio Leguía Normand in 2022.
With more and more international firms in Peru, Rebaza Alcázar is set to mark a difference by focusing on deal sophistication: quality over quantity is the mentality. With a low partner-to-associate ratio, clients are guaranteed to have senior lawyers working on their legal matters. Rebaza Alcázar encourages its lawyers to study overseas and work at international firms, returning with valuable experience. It also keeps close contact with its best friend firms in the global market.
Rebaza Alcázar has taken steps to institutionalise the firm further. A significant overhaul of its corporate governance was made a few years ago with the support of an external counsel. The process of selecting its board has been formalised and the partner compensation system has been reviewed to include aspects other than just billing. There are now women partners in the executive committee, while practice area integration is another focus. It has also poured resources into new technology, such as new laptops, software for digital documents and upgraded cybersecurity. Strengthening the firm’s internal culture is always high on the agenda. A review by an external local consultancy confirmed to the partnership that the firm already had a good organisational culture, but management still decided to formalise its cultural structure around several pillars, such as collaboration and integrity. The partnership launched a regular Zoom session in which each partner selected a recurrent open meeting every week, allowing any member of the firm to tune in to discuss anything from personal matters to work projects.
Offices
Rebaza Alcázar has an associate office in Chile, offering Peruvian law advice to Chilean investors and facilitating Peruvian investment into Chile through the efforts of counsel María Isabel Pastor.