Departments

• Banking, Finance & Securities

  Head: Philbert E. Varona
  
  

  SyCipLaw’s Banking, Finance & Securities group has been consistently recognized by the financial and business community as the Philippine leader in this practice. It is a mainstay in country surveys as a top choice for local counsel.

  We represent and advise most of the major banks and in all types of financing transactions and regulatory matters. We have established solid partnerships with them—assisting foreign institutions in establishing local branches, conducting regular legal audits of bank forms and systems, and providing advice on day-to-day operations, as well as significant deals.




• Corporate Services

  Head: Imelda A. Manguiat
  
  

  We advise our corporate clients on, and help them manage, compliance and good governance. In this connection, lawyers of our firm are able to serve as corporate secretaries, assisting the client in managing board and stockholder meetings, share issuances and transfers, record keeping, and complying with reporting requirements imposed by such agencies as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Board of Investments, and the Philippine Stock Exchange.

  We have experience and systems for servicing special types of corporates, such as public companies, companies possessing secondary licenses or registrations, and non-stock non-profit corporations, including educational institutions and foundations.




• Employment and Immigration

  Head: Leslie C. Dy
  
  

  SyCipLaw’s Employment & Immigration Department represents clients in compulsory and voluntary arbitrations as well as in adversarial and non-adversarial labor proceedings before labor agencies and the courts. It handles conflicts between labor and management, including strike disputes, mass action controversies, unfair labor practice cases and terminations of employment, both as part of the employee disciplinary process and as a direct result of corporate restructuring, dissolutions and plant closures. We have successfully assisted clients in satisfactorily concluding collective bargaining negotiations and manpower reorganizations involving strategic retrenchment, down-sizing and right-sizing.

  Our services include labor audits, due diligence and the preparation and review of company policies, personnel manuals, rules and regulations. We also provide lectures and seminars on employment law and labor relations to senior executives and personnel managers in top corporations.

  For our clients with expatriate staff, we provide professional advice and assistance in the procurement and renewal of the proper visas and work permits.




• Intellectual Property

  Head: Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan
  
  

  SyCipLaw’s intellectual property (IP) practice is the largest in the country in terms of client base and range of services offered. These include basic rights protection, such as trademark, copyright, patent and product registration.

  We help clients administer and maintain their property rights on an ongoing basis through established systems and the support of highly-trained staff. We have expertise in licensing, technology transfers and similarly-focused business transactions. We assist our clients in navigating the legal issues and concerns that have arisen with developments in science and technology, e-commerce and Internet-based transactions law, and have the experience and capabilities to continue providing them with responsive and creative support.

  Our IP practice has been cited in leading international surveys as a first choice for IPR counseling and as one of the leading IP firms in the Philippines. We are consistently ranked as a Band 1/Tier 1 Firm for our trademark and patent prosecution work, as well as for our trademark, copyright and patent contentious work.




• Litigation

  Head: Ricardo Ma. P.G. Ongkiko
  
  

  SyCipLaw has a very extensive litigation practice in virtually all court levels—from the municipal trial courts and the regional trial courts, to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, as well as in various administrative agencies. The firm also has a very extensive arbitration practice, being involved in foreign arbitrations, international commercial and other domestic arbitrations, and construction arbitrations.

  The firm represents both foreign and local clients in a wide array of industries—mining, power, banking, pharmaceutical, milk and other food manufacturing, distilled spirits, hotel, airline, construction, hospital, and others.




• Special Projects

  Head: Rose Marie M. King-Dominguez
  
  

  SyCipLaw’s Special Projects Group undertakes the firm’s project and transactional work, which constitutes the firm’s traditional focus and largest practice area. This includes M&A, privatization, power and energy, mining and natural resources, environmental law, infrastructure, construction, real estate and property development, telecommunications, aviation, shipping, and transportation.

  Our collective experience covers a broad field. We acted in the sale of the largest US private investment in the Philippines and for bidders for the principal assets sold under the government’s privatization program, including the Philippine flag carrier and the national oil company. We acted for the developer of the country’s first build-operate-and-transfer power station and for the proponents of plants now constituting over 90% of privately-installed capacity. We continue to advise on nationality laws and regulatory and industry issues, including in mining, telecommunications, gaming, and pharmaceuticals, and assist in the construction and development of industrial plants, light industry parks, office buildings and residential condominiums, tollways, and light-rail systems. Our partners have been involved in the purchase, lease, and chartering of aircraft and vessels and many aspects of international trade, including importation and countertrade. Several of our partners act as advisers to boards of major companies, including listed corporations, and provide counsel on a wide range of industry and business issues, including, in the case of family-owned enterprises, wealth conservation and business succession.




• Tax

  Head: Carina C. Laforteza
  
  

  SyCipLaw’s tax department provides the entire range of tax services, from advising on and structuring the tax aspects of corporate transactions to administrative and judicial litigation in relation to tax refunds and defending clients against assessments for both national taxes and customs duties and local taxes.

  To a great extent, we draw our work from the extensive client base of our firm and assist our corporate departments in the tax aspects of their multi-varied transactions. We would like to think that we are more effective as tax lawyers because of familiarity with corporate transactions. A significant part of our practice in recent years has been defending our corporate clients in the power sector from large real property tax assessments issued by local governments. We also assist our corporate clients in obtaining rulings and with compliance requirements.