Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) is a leading international law firm with over 80 partners and 300 lawyers. We have three existing offices in the UK (headquartered in London), as well as offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore.

Our first Latin American office was formally established in São Paulo in September 2009 to meet clients’ increasing needs for representation in the region, not least arising from the deregulation of the Brazilian reinsurance market in 2008. Over the course of many years, BLG has been involved in numerous instructions concerning all major Latin American jurisdictions. We have particular expertise in the core areas of aviation, insurance and reinsurance, marine, energy, trade, and international arbitration.  Our non-contentious expertise spans corporate, commercial, employment, pensions, insolvency, property, outsourcing, and technology work.

Aerospace

Our global aviation team of 25 lawyers, led by eight partners, is one of the largest international practices and we are consistently cited as a market leader by various legal directories. We have acted in relation to a large number of the major aviation disasters in recent years, most of which have involved multi-party, and multi-jurisdictional issues. We also provide regulatory advice to many of the world’s leading airlines.

Insurance and reinsurance

We have one of the largest insurance teams in the world. Our expertise in insurance covers all major classes. We are widely acknowledged as the market leader in reinsurance law in almost every independent survey. Our expertise covers every aspect of reinsurance from new product development, advising on policy wordings, ART and structured products, through to restructuring, legacy, run-off and exit strategies, commutations, and the most complex reinsurance disputes. We count most major international insurers and reinsurers amongst clients of the firm.

Marine and trade

Our marine and trade team is highly experienced in resolving issues arising from marine and energy insurance, shipping and transport, and international trade. Our experience extends to every area of shipping: salvage and collision, charterparties, cargo, ship sale and purchase, procurement, international trade, and marine insurance. Our broad client base includes ship owners, charterers, insurers, traders, commodity brokers, banks, logistics companies, and transport groups.

Energy

As regards energy work, we routinely advise on the contentious and commercial support side in respect of bi-lateral investment treaty issues, Energy Charter issues, and cross-border energy disputes worldwide. Our energy team is also supported by pre-eminent lawyers who are specialists in fields of relevance to the energy sector including project finance, tax, health, safety, environmental, and decommissioning.

Arbitration

We are highly skilled in resolving cross-border disputes generally and have conducted arbitrations, both ad hoc and institutional, in the United States, London, Paris, Moscow, Budapest, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Indonesia, and Stockholm under the rules of the ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, LMAA, HKIAC, CIETAC, SIAC, and ARIAS.

We enjoy close relations with lawyers in all key Latin American jurisdictions in all the above areas.