Business enterprises in the Philippines come in different forms – sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation. Gorriceta will advise you in selecting the most profitable, but cost-effective business structure and assist in the entire registration process in compliance with existing Philippine laws.
THE FIRM
A Firm Built on Principle.
Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra is a premier Philippine law firm — trusted by institutions, corporations, and investors for over two decades of rigorous, principled legal counsel.
Capabilities
Full-Service Legal Counsel.
Spanning transactional, regulatory, and contentious matters — Gorriceta delivers integrated legal capabilities across the industries and institutions that shape the Philippine economy.
Insights & Publications
News & Events.
In-depth legal analysis, firm news, and thought leadership — written by Gorriceta lawyers for clients, peers, and the broader business community.
GORRICETA AFRICA CAUTON & SAAVEDRA
Our Expertise
Deep practice knowledge, sector-specific insight, and comprehensive support services — integrated to deliver strategic legal counsel.
PRACTICE AREAS
Expertise That Moves Business Forward
Our multidisciplinary team provides strategic, commercially focused legal counsel across the full spectrum of practice areas, helping clients navigate complexity with confidence.
01
Technology, Media & Telecommunications
The Firm is undisputed leader in Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) law practice in the Philippines. We provide industry-specific and in-depth advice covering the entire spectrum of this practice area, including other emerging practice areas that extend to financial technology (Fintech), cloud computing, distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence, blockchain initiatives, cryptocurrency, digital assets, electronic payments, e-commerce, and other innovative initiatives.
02
Mergers & Acquisitions
As a core practice area, we are internationally ranked as a leading law firm in the field of mergers & acquisitions. We advise clients on transactions in the Philippines and on cross-border acquisitions. Through our deep experience and expertise, we have developed industry-specific knowledge that extends to handling cross-border, complicated domestic asset-purchase and share-for-share swap deals, public and private mergers and acquisitions, as well as equity investments, and disinvestment.
03
Capital Markets
We are one of the leaders in the Philippines in this field of practice. We have acted as the transaction counsels for several companies intending to go public, issuers, investors, and underwrites. We have successfully assisted clients in initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and private placements.
04
Taxation
We specialize in complex tax work, tax planning, tax counselling and tax litigation. We provide clients with practical, realistic and expert advice on various taxation issues. We are highly respected for our practical and client-centric approach in handling, identifying, and resolving tax cases and concerns for our clients.
05
Corporate
We provide legal services in dealing with broad and diverse issues arising from setting up of businesses, securing of permits and licenses, entry of foreign investments, establishment of corporate vehicles and joint ventures, corporate restructuring and reorganizations, dissolution and regulatory compliance.
06
Transportation Law
We handle all legal aspects of travel and commerce especially on the streets and highways -- including regulation of vehicles, implementation of safety standards, litigation and labor matters, overall compliance, and oversight of activity.
07
Construction & Real Estate
We represent major real estate and property developers, as well as top condominium corporations in all aspects of real estate development. We have deep expertise in land banking, property conveyancing, land use reclassifications, land acquisitions and titling, conversion of land, commercial leasing, and the entire gamut of real estate practice.
08
Labor & Employment
We counsel clients in all matters of Labor Relations and Employment including labor compliance, employment documentation, overseas employment alongside immigration requirements, sexual harassment in the workplace, mandatory government employment compliances, and social security, including workmen's compensation. The Firm handles all types of labor disputes, including collective bargaining negotiations, unfair labor practice cases, money claims, and welfare benefit matters, among others.
09
Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, & Artificial Intelligence
We provide a broad and in-depth data privacy, and cybersecurity protection practice in the Philippines. We assist clients with cyber-risk and data privacy assessments, data privacy law compliance, data breaches, regulatory issues, data ethics, and information security matters.
10
Intellectual Property
We deal with a full spectrum of intellectual property practice which includes filing, enforcement, litigation and prosecution of patents, trademarks, copyrights, domain names, licensing, electronic commerce, and software issues. We have a deep expertise in technology transfer and intellectual property assignment, licensing, and documentation. Our expertise in intellectual property law has been recognized by prestigious international organizations. We have been ranked as a top tier firm by the Asia Legal Business and The Legal 500.
11
Infrastructure & Special Projects
The Firm advises government agencies and clients in infrastructure law and policy, project development, and contract administration in a variety of areas, including public private partnership (PPP) transactions, concession agreements, and toll operation agreements The Firm advises upon traffic decongestion programs, flood control and management, inter-island linkage projects, logistics improvement projects, and national road networks and bridges, with the latter including the Luzon Spine Expressway Network. The Firm's lawyers advise upon procurement matters under R.A. 9184 for both locally and foreign-assisted projects, the latter driven by official development assistance.
12
Disputes Resolution & Litigation
Handles disputes that deal with an extensive range of civil, criminal, administrative, and regulatory issues. We also provide service for dispute resolution along with our experience in handling arbitration matters such as the drafting of dispute resolution clauses, among others. We also provide practical and efficient solutions for conflicts that covers family law, whether through litigation, settlement, or mediation.
13
Banking & Finance
The Firm's practice in banking and finance encompasses both regulatory and transactional fields of financial services and business affairs. From banking to quasi-banking to various financial products and activities, including emerging Fintech companies, the Firm's advice has been recognized for its in-depth legal knowledge, practicality, and business know-how.
14
Entertainment Law
We provide services to the entertainment industry. The Firm counsels to the biggest personalities on issues involving a wide range of legal practice areas.
15
Regulatory Compliance
We also provide legal advisory services and regularly assists private and publicly listed companies in their compliance requirements with various government agencies. Clients rely on the Firm's advice and expertise in adapting to a changing regulatory environment. Clients get continuous access to an experienced team of governance, regulatory, and risk specialists with the ability to deliver services in a timely manner.
16
Energy & Natural Resources
Gorriceta represents investors, participants, and industry players in power generation, supply, transmission, and distribution, ranging from conventional power sources, oil and gas, and renewable energy. The Firm's highly recognized team of lawyers have dedicated their careers to working in the field of energy law and its cross-practice areas of capital markets, project finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, taxation, and dispute resolution, making Gorriceta the firm of choice for top corporations in the country and around the globe.
17
Environmental, Social, & Governance
Our Firm’s ESG Team is composed of multidisciplinary legal professionals and experts who have robust and practical experience in complex corporate, securities, and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, labor, litigation, and environmental law. Through its combined expertise, lawyers are well-versed in handling legal and regulatory compliance, regulatory disclosures and reporting, and in advising clients in a myriad of issues pertaining to corporate governance, ESG acquisitions, impact investments and due diligence, as well as environmental laws, labor, and data privacy compliance. The Team has also represented clients in litigation and regulatory proceedings; and has the capacity to provide innovative and practical approaches to ESG compliance.
18
Anti-Money Laundering
Our team of anti-money laundering professionals and financial crime specialists provides unmatched expertise and deep insight into AML regulations, Counter-Terrorist Financing Measures and Sanctions Implementation, ensuring that clients - from multinational corporations and financial institutions to fintech startups, virtual asset service providers and other covered industries - meet global and local risk management and compliance standards. We provide advice and services on a full range for Covered Persons, such as legal advisory, risk assessments, policy development, internal investigations, regulatory enforcement response, and training programs.
INDUSTRIES
Industry Expertise That Goes Beyond the Law.
We combine legal excellence with a deep understanding of the industries we serve, delivering practical, strategic advice tailored to each sector’s unique challenges and opportunities.
SUPPORT SERVICES
Complementary Capabilities.
Specialized services that enhance our legal practice and ensure comprehensive client support.
Setting Up in the Philippines
Financial and Transactional Advisory
Money is the lifeblood of every business. Monitoring and reassessing of finances on a regular basis are tedious. Gorriceta helps you explore your funding options, maintain your liquidity, management of cash flow, identify and mitigate potential risks, and create an exit plan in case you wish to cease business operations.
Bookkeeping
Maintaining an accurate accounting record is vital in the sustainability of a business. To help you focus more on business operations, Gorriceta offers bookkeeping services starting from collation of pertinent documents, recording of transactions, financial reporting, and other management reports, to safekeeping of documents for future use.
Tax Compliance
Keeping up with the tax liabilities on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis is a demanding task for business operators. Gorriceta will help you in the preparation and filing of returns for, and payment of Creditable Withholding Tax, Income Tax, Value-Added Tax, and other tax liabilities under existing tax laws and regulations. Gorriceta will also assist you on liabilities starting from business registration, transfer of business operations to other local government unit, until the retirement of business operations.
Corporate Secretarial
Ensuring corporate compliance is vital to preserve the good standing of corporations. After successful incorporation, Gorriceta will assist you to maintain good corporate governance by acting as your Corporate Secretary. We help in the corporation’s regulatory compliance, planning and management of board meetings, keeping corporate books and documents up to date, drafting of board resolutions and other similar corporate secretarial functions.
Cybersecurity
In this digital age, attackers are getting more creative due to non-stop innovations. Hence, digital systems become more vulnerable. Cybersecurity has become a crucial part in the success of every business. Gorriceta helps clients’ business secured and protected by providing effective cybersecurity approaches such as identification, prevention, and mitigation of potential cybersecurity risks, and data protection and privacy. We likewise assist our clients with data privacy assessments, data privacy law compliance, data breaches, regulatory issues, and data ethics.
ESOP and ESOP Solutions
One of the key factors to attract best talents to a company is to offer long-term employee benefits. Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOP) is a plan designed to provide employees with an ownership interest in the company by investing primarily in stock of the employer. Companies used this as a mechanism for achieving shareholder liquidity while providing equity incentives to their employees. Gorriceta has designed and completed these transactions over the years. Through our Partner, Svested, we bring a creative, yet practical approach to structuring transactions and finding solutions. Svested offers an integrated platform for ESOP and CapTable management which allows founders and employees view and manage their ESOP. It likewise supports entrepreneurs by digitalizing and handling their administrative matters for a minimal fee.
Insurance
Employees are valuable assets of an organization. Thus, ensuring their welfare and protection is an investment. Through its insurance broker partner, Gorricerta helps you decide the applicable and most efficient insurance policies for your employees. We help you choose among the comprehensive line-up of Employee Benefit programs and Life Insurance products which include HMO Plans, Health Insurance, Group Life Insurance, Group Personal Accident Insurance, OFW Insurance, Employee Retirement Plan funding mechanisms, Credit Group Life Insurance/Mortgage Redemption Insurance and various health and wellness programs.
WORK WITH US
Ready to Engage Gorriceta?
Speak with our team about your legal needs — whether a transaction, a dispute, or a complex regulatory matter, we are ready to advise.