Luis Enrique
Cuervo

Position: Partner
Office: Houston

Luis Enrique Cuervo is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group, where he focuses primarily in the areas of oil and gas, energy, and natural resources.

Luis advises US and Europe-based clients on their complex international transactional and litigation needs, including white collar crime, assistance before foreign courts, and in international commercial and investment arbitrations.

Luis counsels investors and multinational companies engaged in international business, including in Latin America, among other oil and gas, mining, admiralty, insurance, and reinsurance matters. His counsel runs the gamut, from the negotiation of operational documents and contracts to advice on a broad range of issues such as best form of domestic incorporation, foreign investment, specific industry regulations, and host-country environmental regulation requirements. Luis regularly drafts contracts and advises on labor laws and mandatory labor benefits, as well as on the appointment of representatives, agents, and distributors.

Luis provides Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) anti-corruption convention training and advice in connection with codes of conduct, financial matters (including loans, real estate, commercial transactions, and all in-country legal issues), and litigation representation. He also helps companies navigate the bidding processes for refinery construction abroad and with matters regarding trade-related sanctions, license requests with OFAC, due diligence processes, and investigations.

Among various other engagements, Luis has represented P&I clubs and ship owners in international claims and in the negotiation of charter party agreements and contract affreightments in various Latin American countries. He has represented life and health insurance companies and distribution conglomerates throughout the region in matters ranging from international commercial transactions to multinational disputes. He also assists his clients’ business and investment immigration needs.

After beginning his legal career in New Orleans in 1991, Luis returned to Colombia, where he served as the attorney in charge of a multinational firm's Bogotá office. There, he provided legal counsel to international companies and foreign clients doing business in the country and was appointed advisor to the Colombian Ministry of Justice. In that capacity, he defended the bill for the approval of the Code of Criminal Procedure before Colombia's Congress. He is also the author of the 1991 Annotated Code of Criminal Procedure. Luis’ primary areas of focus included energy, oil and gas, commercial, maritime, and insurance.

Luis has been active in public interest foundations that promote the rule of law in Colombia. His bicultural, multilingual, and common law and civil law backgrounds offer a unique perspective for solving international disputes and transactions. In 1996, he drafted the criminal lawsuit against the members of Colombia's Congress that issued an acquittal in the proceedings against the President of the Republic of Colombia. In 1999, he acted as advisor for the Commission for Excellence in Justice. Luis has been a member of the board of directors of Fundepúblico and the CAR, the most important environmental organization in Colombia.

Luis has served as a law professor at the Universidad de la Sabana and the Universidad Javeriana and as an adjunct professor of International Petroleum Transactions at Tulane University Law School, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas Law School at the Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration and Environmental Law. He is a prolific author and speaker on the subject of oil and gas.