Colombia’s Simhon, Vanegas & Calle Abogados launches

The three founding partners have embarked on the new venture following nearly nine years at CMS Rodriguez Azuero and with a team from the same firm, comprising Ligia María Vargas Mendoza, Juan Pablo Quiñones Segura, Shadia López Herrera, Andrés Felipe Ogonaga Victoria, Valentina Marin Avella, and Alejandro Sierra Diaz, as well of counsel Laura Ospina Robledo.

Simhon, Vanegas & Calle Abogados is a boutique firm specializing in criminal law, compliance, and real estate and urban planning law.

Jacques Simhon Rosenbaum described the firm as “a project that carries our own DNA, vast experience, and a strong commitment to technology”.

Jacques co-leads the corporate criminal law, real estate law, compliance, and dispute resolution practices. Throughout his career, he has advised domestic and international clients on matters of corporate and individual criminal liability, both as a litigator and as an external advisor on criminal risk management in the conduct of business activities.

He has been directly involved in the real estate and construction sector as legal counsel and manager of companies in the industry, leading the development of major projects in Colombia from conception through completion.

Co-founding partner Sara Vanegas, of the real estate and construction law team, has over eight years of experience advising domestic and multinational clients on matters of transactional real estate law, commercial law, and condominium law, as well as on the structuring and development of real estate projects in the residential and hospitality sectors.

Throughout her practice, she has led the negotiation and drafting of investment framework agreements, the structuring of commercial trusts for administration and payments, and the conduct of real estate due diligence and property restructuring processes. She also has extensive experience in the negotiation and drafting of high-level commercial lease agreements, joint venture agreements, and matters related to condominium law.

His academic training in Paris, where she earned a master’s degree in property law from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, provided her with a comparative and sophisticated perspective that strengthens her advisory work in the field of Colombian real estate and commercial law.

Co-founding partner Santiago Calle works within the corporate criminal law, compliance, and dispute resolution teams. He has 10 years of experience advising and representing domestic and multinational clients in criminal and disciplinary matters and has advised numerous companies on criminal compliance and on the development and implementation of corporate governance policies, in addition to having collaborated on the structuring of real estate projects for the housing and hotel sectors through the drafting of contracts and the structuring of management trusts.

He has participated in international conferences on criminal law and has advised on draft legislation in Colombia’s Congress, and has served as an assistant professor of general criminal law and criminal procedure law at the Universidad de los Andes, and has authored various publications on topics related to armed conflict and property crimes.