Legal judgment with commercial insight
Equo is a specialised law firm focused on complex disputes, arbitration and high-impact corporate decisions. We are not generalists: we concentrate on matters where outcomes matter and where a legal misstep can have real consequences for a client's assets, operations or business continuity.
Legal strategy for decisions that move the business
What sets us apart
The partner leads
the matter
Direct responsibility at every stage, with no loss of context and no delegation of critical work.
Technical rigour
grounded in scholarship
Postgraduate qualifications in Procedural Law and Commercial Law, advanced arbitration studies, university teaching and active legal scholarship.
Demonstrable international experience
ICC arbitration in Paris, AAA/ICDR proceedings and recognition and enforcement matters involving LMAA awards exceeding USD 250 million.
Structured
communication
Clients understand the status of the matter, the available scenarios and the implications of each decision, with direct access to the lawyers leading the work.
Team
Senior counsel, close to the decision
At Equo, matters are led by the lawyer who stands behind the work. Responsibility is direct and the critical work is not delegated.
Fidel Castillo
founding partner
A strategic litigator and arbitration counsel with experience in commercial, civil, constitutional and energy disputes before Venezuelan courts and arbitral tribunals, including ICC, AAA/ICDR, CACC and CEDCA. He also serves as an arbitrator at CACC, teaches postgraduate courses at UCAB and publishes on arbitration and procedural law.
Experience
- Lead counsel in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris, achieving a reduction in the client’s exposure of more than 75%.
- Defence in recognition and enforcement proceedings involving London-issued LMAA awards exceeding USD 250 million.
- Obtained the first annulment of an equity arbitral award in Venezuela, establishing a national precedent on arbitrability and procedural standards.
- Complex civil and commercial litigation, including proceedings before higher courts.
- Advice to companies and executives on critical corporate decisions and negotiated resolutions.
Focus
- Domestic and international arbitration
- Complex civil and commercial litigation
- Recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards
- Asset recovery and interim measures
- High-impact corporate decisions
- LL.B., Universidad de Carabobo (Summa Cum Laude)
- Postgraduate Specialisation in Procedural Law (Summa Cum Laude), Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB)
- Postgraduate Specialisation in Commercial Law, UCAB
- Advanced studies in arbitration, Universidad Monteávila
Languages
- Spanish
- English
Admissions and appointments
- Admitted to practise in Venezuela
- Arbitrator, Arbitration Center of the Caracas Chamber (CACC)
Publications and teaching
- Postgraduate lecturer at UCAB
- Author of articles in specialised legal journals on arbitration and procedural law
Ana Sofía
associate
A Venezuelan lawyer with experience in constitutional and public law. She has held positions within the Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice and served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Embassy to the Holy See. Her background includes advanced training in human rights and constitutional justice, and she is currently pursuing an LL.M. in Private International and Comparative Law at Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Experience
- Experience within the Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice
- Constitutional law, human rights and public-sector matters
- Constitutional law, human rights and public-sector matters
- Support in disputes and decisions involving constitutional or regulatory issues
Focus
- Constitutional law and public affairs
- Regulatory disputes
- Institutional strategy and public-law risk
- Human rights analysis, where relevant
- LL.B., Universidad del Zulia (Summa Cum Laude)
- Advanced training in human rights
- Postgraduate Specialisation in Constitutional Justice and Human Rights, Universidad de Castilla–La Mancha, Spain
- Master’s degree in International Policy, Cooperation and Development, Rome
- Diploma in Canonical Administrative Practice, Vatican City
- LL.M. in Private International and Comparative Law, Universidad Central de Venezuela (in progress)
Languages
- Spanish
- English
- Italian