Nicolás Esguerra is an associate in the New York office of Latham & Watkins.

Nicolás focuses on international investment arbitration and international commercial arbitration. He advises clients in complex and high-stakes international arbitrations under the ICSID and ICC Rules with a particular focus on investment and commercial disputes involving Latin America.

Nicolás maintains an active pro bono practice representing victims of domestic violence in partnership with the Immigration Intervention Project.

Nicolás served as a law clerk to the Colombian Constitutional Court. He has been a professor at national and international universities. He has also authored numerous publications on international law, legal theory, and constitutional law.

Nicolás is the co-founder and board director of Colombian Very Young Arbitration Practitioners – COLVYAP.

Nicolás’ experience includes advising:

  • A leading Latin American pharmaceutical business in an ICC arbitration seated in London, governed by English law and Colombian law, in a dispute related to a distribution agreement for highly specialized medications
  • Several Latin American subsidiaries of a major US pharmaceutical company in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris, governed by Colombian law, in a dispute related to an M&A transaction
  • The Dominican Republic in an ICSID Additional Facility arbitration, seated in Washington, D.C., related to a contract for gold tailings processing and environmental
  • A Latin American state in an UNCITRAL arbitration brought by an investor concerning the alleged elimination of tax benefits in the oil and gas midstream industry and the alleged violation of the FET standard and stability clauses in an investment contract for the construction and operation of an oil pipeline
  • A Spanish telecommunications company in a domestic arbitration brought by the Colombian Telecommunications Ministry regarding the mobile operation concession and the return of the network infrastructure after a 20-year period*
  • A Spanish-Colombian consortium in an ICC arbitration brought by a mining multinational in a dispute regarding the expansion of a seaport in Colombia*
  • A Spanish company in an ICC arbitration brought by the Colombian Infrastructure Authority for the termination of the contract*
  • A Colombian company in a domestic arbitration brought by the Bogotá (Colombia) Municipal Agency regarding a concession contract for the integrated system of transport of Bogotá*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham

Bar Qualification

  • Colombia (Abogado)
  • New York

Education

  • LLM, Yale Law School, 2022
    Milton I. Newman Scholar
  • LLB, Universidad Javeriana, 2015
  • Graduate Degree in Public Law, Universidad Externado de Colombia

Languages Spoken

  • Spanish
  • English