International Development: Panama Marathon
April 11, 2007, Miami Daily Business Review

The Panamanian government announced in early April that commercial developer London & Regional Properties will redevelop 2,750 acres that previously used to be a US Air Force base. Behind that announcement is a six-year long story of continuous legal challenges for Miami-based lawyers H. William Walker, Pedro A. Alvarez and Albert Diaz-Silviera, all with White & Case.

White & Case acted as legal counsel to International Finance Corp. in redevelopment and structuring the bidding. "The overriding, primary motive of the government was to create economic stability and jobs," Walker said. "Our first job was to conceptualize the project and structure the deal itself."

Among the challenges was convincing Panama’s government to pass the legislation necessary to make the base a special economic zone, in order to attract large international companies. "It was very clear that the legal infrastructure to create this kind of special economic zone simply didn’t exist in Panama," Walker said.

Another was drafting a contract for the redevelopment acceptable to the final two bidders for the project — an unusual practice for US law, but a requirement under Panamanian law.

"We would publish a draft, have a series of meetings with the interested developers, and then redraw the agreement trying to address everybody’s comments as much as possible without creating a new problem," Walker said.

The project was first of its kind in Panama — and the experience of the local lawyers simply wasn't sufficient, Walked explained. "They wanted to make sure that they had a law firm that understood the needs and requirements of development of this type from the point of view of a large developer."

Six years later, both problems are resolved, and the contract is expected to be executed within a month.

The project, Walker said, "will eventually total in the billions of dollars and have a significant impact on neighboring countries and throughout Latin America."