LLM Graduate Leonardo Rodriguez Co-Authors Articles About Argentine Stability Agreements

Attorneys Leonardo Rodriguez (LLM graduate 2008) and Francisco Macias of the Buenos Aires, Argentina, law firm of Marval, O'Ferrell & Mairal recently have co-authored two articles about stability agreements as they relate to mining investment in Argentina.

The articles, "Stability Agreements in Flux: Argentine Courts Show Signs of Supporting Miners" (Sept. 8, 2009) and "A Step Closer to Stability" (Sept. 16, 2009) were published in the on-line edition of LatinLawyer, a prestigious journal focusing on legal developments in South America.

In the latter article, Mr. Rodriguez and Ms. Macias explain a landmark Argentine Supreme Court ruling ordering that a South African mining firm, Cerro Vanguardia, be repaid taxes collected by the Argentine government.

The attorneys wrote:

"The court ruled...that the 1998 equalization tax -- a 35 percent levy on shareholder dividends from company earnings not subject to income tax -- was in breach of the fiscal stability provisions of the country's mining investment law. This is a landmark decision for the protection of the incentive regime contained in that law, which we believe will support mining companies with stability regimes that are challenging taxes on mining exports enacted in 2007..."

Leonardo and I became good friends during his time in Denver, which included a position post-graduation with the Denver firm of Holland & Hart. He distinguished himself in the program, winning the Outstanding 2007-2008 Student of the Year award.

I also met Francisco during a recent trip to Argentina. He, Leonardo, and I have talked about the type of education and experience that will most benefit Latin American lawyers who study in Denver.

From my perspective, it is wonderful to see graduates contributing all over the world in many different spheres. Leonardo Rodriguez is one of those graduates. He has a long and successful career ahead.