Juan Manuel Prieto is the senior partner and founder of the firm Prieto & Carrizosa in Bogotá, Colombia. He is a lawyer with ample experience in mergers and acquisitions and has participated in several project financing and in major domestic and international transactions. He has recently been recognized as an expert in international and domestic estate and tax planning for national and foreign clients with interests and/or heirs in more than one jurisdiction.
Mr. Prieto began practicing law in Colombia in 1974 and is today regarded as one of the leading lawyers in the country. The prestigious Colombian business magazine Dinero selected him as the most influential lawyer in the country for 1998. Several law directories have made reference to Mr. Prieto's practice, including Chambers and Partners, beginning with their publication The World's Leading Lawyers 2000 - 2001 and in all editions thereafter. He was also included among the top 100 legal advisers in the Americas by Citywealth magazine in 2006.
Mr. Prieto is currently a vice president of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, as well as member of the International Bar Association where he participates in the individual tax and estate planning, wills, and trust sections. He has been elected member of the board of directors of the Family Firm Institute (2009-2012). He has been a speaker at a number of international estate planning seminars in various cities, including New York, Miami, Prague, Laco di Como, Venice, Santiago de Chile, Cape Town, and Bogotá. Several local universities such as El Rosario, La Sabana, Los Andes, and La Javeriana have invited him as a lecturer, mainly in post-graduate studies. His most recent publication was a chapter on Colombia in the book International Estate Planning, edited and co-authored by Henry Christensen III. Mr. Prieto is a board member of several companies, as well as director and active fundraiser for various non-profit institutions.