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fELIPE MUTIS
E-mail: fmutis@rinconcastro.com
Felipe has over sixteen years of experience advising and representing clients in national and international dispute resolution, government contracting, constitutional and administrative law, telecommunications, infrastructure, transportation, public utilities, oil, mining, and energy law.
He has acted as counsel in numerous arbitration, amicable settlement, mediation, and conciliation proceedings, both domestic and international, under the rules of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and the Arbitration Center of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce. His experience includes landmark cases involving highway, port, telecommunications, public utility, and urban transport concessions, as well as construction contracts, BOMT contracts, oil and gas pipelines, and interconnection agreements.
Felipe has represented clients in over one hundred complex litigations before the Council of State, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice, and various courts and tribunals across Colombia. He has also handled strategic corporate matters before the Delegation of Commercial Procedures of the Superintendence of Companies and unfair competition cases before the Delegation for Jurisdictional Matters of the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce.
He has represented clients in more than forty constitutional actions, including writs for protection of fundamental rights (tutelas), popular actions, group actions, and compliance actions, defending, among others, major economic and business operations in Colombia involving both public sector entities and foreign investors.
Felipe has extensive experience in administrative proceedings before various authorities, especially sanctioning procedures in telecommunications, government contracting, free competition, environmental law, consumer protection, corporate, oil, mining, and energy matters. He has also advised clients in the negotiation and conclusion of termination processes for government contracts and the reversion of infrastructure and assets to the State.
Before joining Rincón Castro Abogados as a partner, Felipe was a partner at one of Colombia’s leading law firms, where he worked for over twelve years and co-led the dispute resolution team.
In 2012, Felipe worked at the Secretariat of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, where he was responsible for administering and processing several international arbitration cases, both commercial and investment-related.
He is currently a Tenured Professor of Administrative Law at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and teaches in the Master’s and Specialization Programs in Public Procurement and Contract Management at Universidad del Rosario. He is a frequent speaker in Colombia and abroad on domestic and international arbitration, public law, and procedural law. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the prestigious ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal.
PUBLICATIONS
- “Does the Annulment of Arbitral Awards by National Courts engage State Responsibility under International Law?”, CEPMLP Annual Review – CAR Volume 16 (2013)
- “Energy Security and International Relations between Colombia and its Neighbours: A Factor Redefining Foreign Policies”, CEPMLP Annual Review – CAR Volume 16 (2013)
- “Remand Powers and the WTO Appellate Body: Is it Necessary to Amend the DSU?”, CEPMLP Annual Review – CAR Volume 16 (2013)
- “Prima Facie Decisions on Jurisdiction of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce: Towards Consolidation of a ‘Pro-Arbitration’ Approach”, Electronic Library of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (2013)
- “Arbitrators’ Independence and Impartiality: A Review of SCC Board Decisions on Challenges to Arbitrators (2010–2012)”, Electronic Library of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (2013)
- “Conditions and Criteria for the Protection of Legitimate Expectations under International Investment Law”, ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal Vol. 27.2 (2012)
- “Applicability Over Time of the Legal Norms on Commercial Agency”, Universitas Estudiantes No. 3, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (2006)
- “Stipulation for Another in Colombian Law”, Universitas Estudiantes No. 2, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (2005)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Experience as Counsel in Arbitration:
- Advised two multinational construction companies in an arbitration arising from disputes over the construction and liquidation of a hydroelectric power plant in Colombia.
- Advised an oil & gas company in an arbitration concerning the transfer and delivery of a gas pipeline under a BOMT contract.
- Advised a multinational utility company in an arbitration over the performance and settlement of a concession agreement for public waste management services in Bogotá D.C.
- Advised a hydrocarbons company in an arbitration over the execution and payment of fees under a port concession contract.
- Advised a multinational telecommunications company in an arbitration regarding disputes over the price of extending three concession agreements and renewing a radio spectrum license.
- Advised a multinational utility company in an arbitration over the execution and settlement of two special management contracts for water supply and sewage services in Bogotá D.C.
Experience as Counsel in Amicable Settlements:
- Advised a multinational construction company in a settlement procedure over disputes regarding the calculation formula for one of the concessionaire’s remuneration components.
- Advised a multinational construction company in a settlement over the determination and payment of a variable in the concessionaire’s remuneration.
- Advised a multinational utility company in a settlement over the execution and settlement of a concession contract for the operation, refurbishment, expansion, and maintenance of a potable water treatment plant.
- Advised a multinational transportation company in two settlement proceedings related to the execution and payment under a mass transit system concession.
- Advised a multinational construction company in a settlement over disputes arising from the construction and liquidation of a hydroelectric power plant in Colombia.
Experience as Counsel in Domestic Litigation:
- Advised a multinational technology company in defending more than sixty (60) tutela actions filed by third parties.
- Advised a multinational telecommunications company in defending two (2) popular actions aiming to suspend and reverse one of Colombia’s most significant M&A transactions.
- Advised a multinational construction and energy company in a proceeding arising from a contract to build a power plant in Colombia.
- Advised a multinational telecommunications company in over thirty (30) administrative litigation cases.
- Advised a multinational utility company in two declarative proceedings initiated by the guarantors of a concession agreement.
- Advised a multinational retail company in defending one of Colombia’s most prominent and complex mergers and acquisitions.
- Advised a multinational infrastructure company in defending the legality of a third-generation (3G) concession contract.
- Advised a multinational mining company in defending the legality of a mining concession contract.
- Advised a multinational construction company in a lawsuit seeking to annul a multimillion-dollar fine imposed by a government authority.
- Advised a multinational technology company in lawsuits seeking to annul two fines imposed by a government authority.
- Advised a multinational technology company in a lawsuit seeking to annul certain orders issued by a government authority.
- Advised an energy company in a lawsuit to annul a government decision barring its participation in a privatization process.
- Advised a multinational pharmaceutical company in defending three tort lawsuits alleging harm from the use of one of its products.
- Advised a multinational construction company in over eight (8) contractual lawsuits seeking damages for breaches in various construction projects.
- Advised a multinational construction company in more than five (5) tort lawsuits related to the execution of three construction contracts.
- Advised a hydrocarbons company in various administrative litigation proceedings.
- Advised a hydrocarbons company in over ten (10) tort lawsuits.
- Advised a nonprofit entity dedicated to providing forgivable loans in two (2) tort cases.
- Advised a multinational security construction company in a lawsuit to annul a sanction imposed by a state authority.
Experience Advising on Public Contract Execution:
- Advised a multinational construction company in the execution, disputes, and settlement of a contract for the construction of an 820MW hydroelectric power plant in central Colombia.
- Advised a multinational utility company in the execution and settlement of a concession agreement for a potable water treatment plant.
- Advised a multinational construction company in the execution, disputes, and settlement of a contract for a 400MW hydroelectric plant in southern Colombia.
- Advised a multinational infrastructure company in the execution and disputes of a third-generation (3G) concession agreement.
- Advised a multinational utility company in the execution and disputes of a concession for biogas production.
OUR PartnerS
