Currently, ARIFA has a network of affiliated and fully integrated offices in Panama, London, Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, Belize and Uruguay, ready to provide solutions to clients in more than 100 markets worldwide. BVI and Hong Kong offices celebrated 30 years of operation in 2018.

ARIFA is the exclusive member firm in Panama for three of the most prestigious associations of independent firms worldwide: Lex Mundi, Interlaw and PRAC (The Pacific Advisory Council).

Exposure to strong local expertise alongside first class networked cross-border legal work is a powerful combination and one that offers you huge professional opportunities.

Your ARIFA experience will be challenging and will provide you with legal excellence, business savvy skills and leadership talents.

ARIFA strongly believes in bringing in, stimulating and empowering young associates who aim to become real specialists on their particular area of interest and use their talents to build interesting and productive careers as lawyers.

ARIFA is one of the few firms in Panama that has a structured formal annual personal performance and development review process as part of its commitment to excellence, allowing Associates in all levels, the opportunity to regularly review and discuss their performance. It's an opportunity for you and your manager to have an open, constructive discussion about how you are getting on in your career path, to set personal business-related objectives and to identify your learning and development needs.

Choose ARIFA and you join a dynamic group of lawyers of extraordinary quality. Mostly educated in major law schools in the United States and Europe, or trained in law firms in New York. Many admitted to practice in foreign jurisdictions. This unique feature of ARIFA legal teams allows the firm to act as a bridge between legal and business cultures, providing effective legal services to its clients, particularly in complex cross-border transactions.

Lawyers of the firm are regularly ranked as outstanding and leading lawyers by international publications.

Since its establishment in 1914 and during its 100-year history, ARIFA lawyers have drafted important pieces of legislation as a contribution to the construction and development of the economic-political- legal framework upon which our Republic is founded. From the first codes as were the Mining Code, Civil Code, Administrative Code, Code of Commerce; to the corporations laws, anti-takeover laws, securities regulation laws, the law of regulations of the Free Zone, Panama Canal law, telecommunication industry laws, and more recently, securities law and the law creating mergers and acquisitions in Panama, just to mention a few.

Members of the firm act or have acted as officers of international and local bar organizations, and are members of the board of important private companies.

Some ARIFA lawyers have held government offices, including Minister of Foreign Relations, member of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal, Assistant Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of Commerce and Industries of the Republic of Panama, Director of Air Transportation of the Civil Aviation Authority of Panama, Assistant District Attorney, and Chief Negotiator of the US-Panama Free Trade Agreement, among others.

ARIFA recruits highly motivated paralegal talent and offers significant opportunities for career advancement. ARIFA apprentices undertake rotations into different areas to broaden their experience while assisting head attorneys to deliver cost-effective legal services. Currently, more than 32 paralegals work side by side with ARIFA attorneys on all phases of cases and transactions.

ARIFA understands the kind of studying responsibilities that innovative, talented paralegals have and strives to create a healthy work-study balance.

Your career at ARIFA will begin with a comprehensive two-day orientation session to ensure that you settle in as quickly as possible. For new team members, ARIFA provides training and mentoring on the firm’s culture, timekeeping system, expectations, firm resources, local practices and procedures.

ARIFA fosters diversity, inclusion and equality. The firm promotes an equal opportunity environment with transparent pathways to success, where everyone has the opportunity to grow their career, free of discrimination or harassment due to race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and physical or mental disability.

Lawyers are supported by state-of- the-art technology, comparable to those used by international law firms to provide the best and most cost-efficient services to clients.

Permanent investments in technology, with the support of a qualified management team and highly qualified staff, allows the firm to offer organizational structure like few in Panama.