Our heritage

Aguilar Castillo Love is the product of business and legal traditions that reach back for several centuries. Our philosophy and culture have evolved over many generations.

The Bufete Aguilar was the first law firm in Costa Rica, founded by Don Manuel Aguilar Chacón in the 1820s. Don Manuel was known as the “the first Costa Rican lawyer”, making the name Aguilar the oldest still active in the Central American legal community.

A Castillo took part in the foundation of Guatemala, and the family created one of the region’s biggest business conglomerates.

The modern law firms that were the immediate predecessors of Aguilar Castillo Love were established in the 1960s: John Aguilar & Asociados, (a re-establishment of Bufete Aguilar by John Aguilar Osborne in Costa Rica), and Bufete Castillo Love (founded by Francisco J. Castillo Love in Guatemala). By the time they came together, both firms already had a long history of serving major regional and international businesses in complex commercial transactions and dispute resolution in Central America. An agreement to embark on a joint regional venture was made between the current senior partners whilst at Harvard. This journey began in 1991, and evolved into the first truly Central American initiative and law firm. It concluded with a formal integration in February 2006.

Read more about our heritage here.