Mauricio has more than 20 years of experience in the legal profession, specializing in the practice areas of Dispute Resolution, Environment, Health and Safety, Compliance & Anti-corruption and International Trade. He directs the firm’s regional practice of Dispute Resolution of the firm and is the managing director of ZONE, part of BLP´s group of companies dedicated to environmental consulting.
He is on the list of arbitrators appointed by the member states pursuant to the free trade agreements with the United States (CAFTA) and Mexico, among others. He is an active litigant in the courts of Costa Rica. He serves as President of the Administrative Council of the International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CICA-AMCHAM) and is a member of the arbitration committee of the national chapter of the ICC. His internship in the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (1999) stands out. Due to his experience in this area, Mauricio has been included in the list of expert arbitrators of the Ibero-American Arbitration Center (CIAR).
To the area of Environment, Health & Safety, he brings a background in natural sciences and has advised the country’s main environmental NGOs on regulatory matters. Additionally, he is an active litigant in cases related to natural resources, compliance, and application of sanctions, permits, and remediation, and provides representation and supervision before regulatory entities. He is also a Director of the Organization for Tropical Studies.
He has been a tenured professor of international treaty administration courses, international merchandise trade, and public international law. He is currently a professor of international dispute resolution at Lead University, San José.
In 2011 he received the Rodolfo Piza Award from the Costa Rican Association of International Law, for his contribution to the teaching on the subject. He has been a participant, coach, and judge of university students in the Jessup competitions, ELSA Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organization law, and the Eduardo Jiménez de Aréchaga Moot Court Competition (JSCA) of which he was a founder.
Mauricio has been recognized in his practice areas by renowned publications such as IFLR 1000, Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500 and Latin Lawyer, which consider him a leading lawyer in Costa Rica and the region in Dispute Resolution, International Trade, and Environmental Law. Latin Lawyer rated him among the 40 lawyers under 40 years of age in Central America in 2005, and since then he has repeatedly been described as an outstanding lawyer in the legal practice of Costa Rica.
Last updated July 2019
