← Consulting 01 · Legal Advisory
E&Co Consulting · 01

Structure
before risk.

Commercially grounded legal strategy for Costa Rica's regulatory reality. We protect what you've built and create the architecture for what comes next — before problems surface, not after.

E&Co · Legal Advisory · SETENA · CFIA · Registro Nacional ↓
AI Judicial File X-Ray — property history timeline output
AI · Legal Intelligence · Document Analysis

Judicial File
X-Ray

We fed hundreds of pages of judicial records into large language models and extracted a structured timeline of every hearing, cancellation, gap, and procedural event. What took a lawyer days to manually map — reconstructed in hours.

The output: a visual timeline, gap analysis, prescription risk flags, and a narrative summary of procedural stagnation — ready for legal review in minutes.

AI-assisted legal intelligence. All findings reviewed and verified by qualified legal professionals. Not a substitute for legal counsel.

Explore E&Co Labs →
01
When clients call us → "I don't know what risk I'm actually carrying."

Structure before risk.
Clarity before expansion.

Commercially grounded legal strategy for Costa Rica's regulatory reality. We protect what you've built and create the architecture for what comes next — before problems surface, not after.

Client fear:
Hidden exposure in a transaction I thought was clean.
→
Our position:
Legal architecture built before capital is committed.
Representative situations
Real Estate · Due Diligence

Acquisition Risk Surfaced Before Closing

A client approached an attractive property opportunity with significant capital at stake. Title history, municipal limitations, water availability rights, and environmental restrictions were unverified. We conducted full due diligence — surfacing risks that weren't visible in the initial review, and restructuring the negotiation accordingly.

Title inconsistencies identified and resolved pre-close Negotiation repositioned around verified risk factors Asset protection structure in place before funds moved
Resort Development · Regulatory

Unblocking a Stalled Development Process

Two simultaneous resort developments in environmentally sensitive zones were stalled in regulatory proceedings. We coordinated Gestión de Pronto Despacho filings with the Registro Nacional, built SETENA/CFIA compliance roadmaps, and structured the entity framework to protect principals across both projects.

Registro Nacional proceedings expedited Full SETENA · CFIA · INVU compliance roadmap delivered Entity structure separating personal and project liability
FTZ · Employment Law

Free Trade Zone HR Legal Audit

A technology company operating under the FTZ regime needed its employment practices aligned with ZEE obligations. Legacy contracts and benefit structures created PROCOMER exposure. We audited, documented, and rebuilt the employment framework from compliance upward.

Full ZEE/PROCOMER compliance gap analysis Standardized employment contract templates deployed Reduced legal exposure on incentive and benefit structures
Typical engagements
What clients say
"Esquivel & Company helped us identify risks we did not know existed before the transaction advanced. Their approach combined legal rigor with practical business judgment."
Real Estate Developer · Costa Rica
"What stood out was not only the legal expertise, but their ability to coordinate regulatory, operational, and commercial considerations into one strategy."
Multinational Operations Director
"Their guidance gave us the confidence to move forward in a highly complex process — without the uncertainty that had paralyzed us for months."
Private Investor · San José
Law
E&Co perspective · Legal
In Costa Rica's layered regulatory environment, legal counsel should not be reactive.

The firms that protect their growth are those who build compliance architecture before transactions begin — not after disputes arise. Most legal exposure we encounter was preventable. It accumulated quietly, in contracts that were never reviewed, structures that were never formalized, and regulatory requirements that were assumed rather than verified. In Costa Rica, regulation understood is a competitive advantage. Regulation ignored is a liability waiting to materialize.

SETENA · CFIA · INVU Registro Nacional Commercial Law Asset Structuring ZEE · PROCOMER

Who leads this practice

Laura Esquivel M.

Attorney and notary · Foreign trade and economic diplomacy

  • 2015–2018Ambassador of Costa Rica to Japan
  • PROCOMERChaired the Advisory Council of the Single Export Window
  • Foreign TradeChaired the Foreign Trade Advisory Council
  • MEICRegulatory Improvement Commission

Attorney and notary, a graduate of the University of Costa Rica, with more than thirty years in public and private institutions linked to domestic and international trade.

She was Ambassador of Costa Rica to Japan, with a focus on economic diplomacy, and represented Costa Rica’s export sector in trade missions and in the negotiating rooms for free trade agreements with Japan, the United States, Central America, South America, Europe and China.

She chaired the Advisory Council of PROCOMER’s Single Export Window and the Foreign Trade Advisory Council, and served on the Regulatory Improvement Commission of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce. Her private practice focused on constitutional law and the defense of individual rights.

Meet the team

Let’s talk

What is taking the most work today?

Tell us in a few lines. We will schedule a conversation or an observation visit, free and with no commitment.

Prefer WhatsApp? Message us directly.

We use this information only to answer your inquiry.

E&Co Consulting · Legal Advisory

Ready to work
together?

Begin the conversation →
E&Co · Legal Advisory anacesquivel@esquivel-company.com Structure before risk.