Hoet Pelaez Castillo & Duque traces its origin to the founding in 1942 of an office dedicated to Intellectual Property matters. Today, in addition to being one of the oldest, largest and leading full practice law firms in Venezuela, it serves many of Venezuela’s top of the line private companies and public corporations along with a large number of foreign companies and financial institutions doing business in the country.

The professional services rendered by the firm cover the following main areas of practice: Contracts, Mergers and Acquisitions; Energy, Natural Resources, Utilities and Public Services; Telecommunications, Information Technology and E-Commerce; Trade, Investments, Finance and Competition; Taxation; Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits; Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

The firm also has specialists to provide services on: Insurance, which covers Maritime, Aviation and Multimodal Insurance; Environmental Law; Entertainment; Real Estate; Transportation (Aviation and Maritime); Consumer Protection; Registries and Notaries; Tourism; and Immigration.

Throughout the years Hoet Pelaez Castillo & Duque has represented clients in major merger and acquisitions; joint ventures; in the different privatization processes; in project financing for public and private projects and large contract negotiations with public and private corporations.

Hoet Pelaez Castillo & Duque continues to be a leader within intellectual property practices in Latin America, focusing on: Patents, Trademarks, Models, Designs and Geographical Indications; Copyrights and Border Measures; Domain Names; Licensing, Franchising and Merchandising; Unfair Competition, Alternatives means for Solving Controversies and Litigations.

As an acknowledgment to the quality of its services, Hoet Pelaez Castillo & Duque has been the first and only law firm in Venezuela to obtain the COVENIN-ISO 9001:2000 quality certificate.

Most of its partners speak English and others speak French, Italian and Japanese; a large number of its professionals have studied abroad, giving them an international perspective on business and allowing the firm to provide global counseling of quality and reliability, both to our local and our international clients.