One of our firms founding partners, Mr. Muñoz was the partner in charge of opening the Nicaragua and Guanacaste, Costa Rica Offices of Arias & Muñoz. In Guanacaste, Mr. Muñoz practices inreal estate, municipal law and tax, primarily providing quality legal work to the participants in the real estate boom that has taken place there before founding Arias & Muñoz, Mr. Muñoz was a partner in the Costa Rican law firm Facio & Cañas from 1992-1998.
Mr. Muñoz corporate experience is broad Recently, he advised a Costa Rican municipality pro bono regarding the collection of land taxes and back taxes from a major real estate developer. He has also advised the seller of a major stock stake in a Nicaraguan incumbent telecommunications company, and a major food production company on the multijurisdictional divestiture of production line. His other major transactional work includes counseling the acquiring party on the acquisitions of a controlling stake in a major hotel and conference center in Costa Rica, and providing local counsel to a major Dutch brewer regarding the acquisitions of a 25% minority stake in Costa Rica's largest brewery.
In addition to his private law experience, Mr. Muñoz has been very active in the public sector and in the international legal community. He served as Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Rights in 1999, and was the President if the Liberian Chamber of Tourism from 2004 to 2006. Additionally he is very active in the legal community in both Costa Rica and abroad. He served as a professor of Public International Law at the University of Costa Rica Law School in 1993, and was a visiting professor at Renmin University in Beijing, China in 2011. He also frequently serves as a judge and coach in international moot court competitions like the Jessup Competition and the Jimenez de Arechaga Human Rights competition. The teams he coaches are frequently successful, ending up in the top rounds of the competitions.
Recently Mr. Muñoz has pioneered the firm's role in the cultivation of Sino-Costa Rican business and investment relationships, participating in some of the first transactions between China and central America. In 2009, he represented the Bank of China and Sinosure in the first Sino-Central American Financial Transaction with ICE, the Costa Rican state owned telecommunications company. His emester of teaching experience at Renmin University of China has further cemented the relationship between Arias & Muñoz and this important emerging market.
Professional Organizations
Member, Advisory Board on Human Rights to the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998).
Participant, Coach and Judge, Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition (1991 to present).
Judge, Jiménez de Arechaga Human Rights Competition (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002).
Founding Member, President Costa Rica Association of International Law (ACODI).
Member, Board of the International Law Students Association (present).
Member, Council of the Municipality of Liberia (present).
Coach, Renmin University Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition (2011).
News and Publications
· In English
"Arias & Muñoz sees eastern promise in China," Lattin Lawyer Online, May 2010.
Costa Rican Chapter, The International Comparative Legal Guide to Real Estate," April 2009.
"Walmex moves into Central America," Latin Lawyer, January 2010.
"Central America ties to China," Latin Lawyer, February 2010.
· En Español
"Arias & Muñoz asesora al Banco de China y Sinosure en la primera transacción financiera Sino Centroamericana," Latin Counsel. April 2010.
"lider regional mira al Oreinte," La República, Costa Rica, May 2010.