ACCRALAW was founded in 1972, out of the shared vision of its five founding partners to establish an institutional law firm based on the highest standards of legal competence.
The Firm was initially conceived by Edgardo J. Angara † and Manuel G. Abello †, who had known each other since their student days at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law. In a landscape then dominated by larger and more established firms primarily designed to serve multinational corporations, Angara and Abello saw an emerging and dynamic generation of local enterprises and individuals whose legal requirements were not being prioritized and adequately addressed. They saw this as an opportunity to establish a law firm which would focus on this new group and provide exceptional legal advice and expertise.
Teodoro D. Regala † and Jose C. Concepcion †, former classmates at the University of the Philippines College of Law, soon joined Angara and Abello and with the arrival of Avelino V. Cruz, Angara’s classmate at the University of Michigan Law School and an alumnus of the San Beda College of Law, the Firm’s founding partners were complete.
A history of growth and strength
On May 1, 1972, ACCRALAW opened its first offices at the Philippine Bank of Commerce Building on Ayala Avenue in the premier business district of Makati City. Starting from an initial six and then increasing to more than 30 lawyers, in 1975 the Firm moved to its own building, the ACCRA Building on Gamboa Street also in Makati. In just a few years, ACCRA had achieved phenomenal growth and had become one of the nation’s largest and leading law firms. Furthering its expansion, the Firm established a branch in Cebu City in 1980 and in 1996, an office was opened in Davao City. Having outgrown its Head Office at the ACCRA Building, in March 2010, the Firm moved to a new, modern and bigger ACCRALAW Tower in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
Today, 50 years after it first opened its doors, the Firm has approximately 170 lawyers (44 of whom are partners), around 130 support staff, and two branches in the two most important commercial cities in the country outside Metro Manila. ACCRALAW is uniquely positioned to service clients throughout the Philippines. Equally as important, its lawyers have vast cross-border experience in complicated international transactions and are able to quickly service and communicate with its international clients in real time. The Firm also has an impressive network of correspondent firms positioned in the primary business centers of the world. The Firm’s strong presence in the Philippines, coupled with its international experience, makes it truly distinct in the Philippines.
Perhaps more than any other law firm in the Philippines, the Firm has trained and produced an impressive list of top tier government officials including, among others, three Executive Secretaries, two Senate Presidents, six Senators, several Congressmen, two SEC Chairpersons, and a BIR Commissioner. The Firm’s Partners have also been instrumental in providing invaluable resource persons to government agencies and assisting in the drafting of crucial legislation, rules and regulations.
The economy of the Philippines, together with the rest of Asia, is growing at an unprecedented rate. Moreover, financial centers and fortunes are shifting towards this region where there is a burgeoning, young, upwardly mobile and educated population with increasing disposable income. In the face of all this growth and economic activity, ACCRALAW is strategically and uniquely situated to serve its clients within and outside the region.
ACCRALAW is evolving and expanding in today’s world of ever changing technologies and shifting economic fortunes.
We are here to serve.
The Firm assists its clients in the establishment of complex business ventures, as well as structuring corporate vehicles for their foreign investments using innovative and creative strategies. ACCRALAW renders legal advice and counseling on doing business issues, choice of business entities, and possibility of obtaining incentives from the government, as well as a myriad of other business issues.
In addition to the foregoing, ACCRALAW represents clients in complex commercial litigation arising from intra-corporate disputes, derivative suits, proxy fights and corporate takeovers.
ACCRALAW handles both contentious and non-contentious copyright issues. The Firm assists copyright owners in the preparation and deposit of their copyrighted works with the National Library. ACCRALAW was the first firm to file a case involving the novel issue of contributory infringement in copyright, which was one of the amendments introduced to the copyright law in 2012.
The Firm is adept in handling criminal cases, either in the prosecution of criminal charges as private prosecutor or in the defense of individuals charged with the commission of a crime, including white collar crimes. The Firm has been actively involved in several notable criminal cases. The Firm acted as private prosecutor in the case of People v. Claudio Teehankee Jr., better known as the Hultman-Chapman case where the accused, the son and namesake of a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was convicted of multiple murder and frustrated murder and which conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court. In the case of People v. Manalili, better known as the Cochise-Beebom case, ACCRALAW acted as private prosecutor against the murderers of students Cochise Bernabe and Beebom Castanos who in a case of mistaken identity, were abducted and murdered. In People v. Bryan Dy and Giovanni Bernardino, the Firm acting as private prosecutor, successfully prosecuted the rapist of an American student tourist by the son of a Governor. Mention should also be made of the case of People v. Luis Beltran, Maximo Soliven, et al., a criminal case for libel filed by a sitting president, President Cory Aquino, against the newspaper The Philippine Star. The Firm acted as defense counsel for Maximo Soliven and the other officers of The Philippine Star and successfully reversed a judgment of conviction.
The Firm represents the large local and international insurance companies as well as re-insurance companies. ACCRALAW acts as counsel for clients in actions involving claims on life and non-life insurance. The Firm also provides advisory opinions on the proper compliance with the Insurance Code in relation to other relevant laws.
ACCRALAW has a vast experience in advising and representing clients on immigration matters. The Firm’s immigration specialists are sought by multinational companies, foreign embassies, local conglomerates, international hotel chains, business process outsourcing companies, foreign businessmen doing business in the Philippines, and expatriates. The Firm assists these clients in the smooth entry of its expatriates and their continued legal stay in the Philippines. ACCRALAW also advises on the acquisition, recognition, and reacquisition of Philippine citizenship, outbound employment and procedures, deportation and exclusion of illegal aliens, securing hold departure orders, the inclusion and lifting of watchlist and blacklist orders, and the preparation of defenses against unmeritorious deportation charges.
The Firm’s labor lawyers are first in mind for labor and other employment issues. ACCRALAW’s lawyers are actively engaged in labor consultancy on various employment issues, including the provision of employee benefits, such as retirement plans, effects of mergers and the like, for numerous major multinational companies and local business conglomerates. The Firm’s lawyers draft collective bargaining agreements and hundreds of opinions on all matters dealing with labor and employee benefits with the aim in view of assisting and guiding clients to comply with the numerous labor laws and rules and regulations. In addition to drafting, the Firm’s lawyers actively negotiate and participate in collective bargaining negotiations on the side of the employers. The Firm also handles the litigation of various labor employment and labor relations cases such as illegal dismissals and cases related to strikes.
The Firm is frequently called on to render legal advice on workers’ compensation and benefits in the face of frequent mandated upward adjustments to minimum wage and benefits.
ACCRALAW supports the active prevention of labor disputes by assisting clients at the first instance in the formulation and review of their respective employee policies with the end in view of maintaining industrial peace. The Firm also assists in the drafting of Employee Codes of Conduct and employee manuals and advise on best practices on employee relations.
The Firm is first in mind when the matter entails litigation or alternative dispute resolution. ACCRALAW has a consistent and outstanding track record in handling high-value and complex disputes.
The Firm has successfully litigated sophisticated commercial, administrative, civil and criminal cases and represented domestic as well as foreign parties. ACCRALAW’s lawyers appear in trial and appellate courts and various quasi-judicial and administrative bodies.
The Firm represents its clients in cross border disputes arising out of international transactions. ACCRALAW also assists its clients in obtaining Philippine processes and resorting to discovery necessary to principal actions pending in foreign courts. The Firm also enforces and repels judgments rendered by foreign jurisdictions before the local courts.
The Firm’s lawyers are well-versed in both domestic and international arbitration and have represented clients before international arbitral tribunals involving a wide array of disputes from construction projects to intricate commercial transactions. The Firm’s lawyers are also appointed arbitrators under different arbitration regimes applying the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce, the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. (PDRCI), and the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC). The Firm’s leading arbitration lawyers assisted in the drafting of the Special ADR Rules promulgated by the Supreme Court in 2009.
The Firm represents clients involved in projects involving billions of pesos for both vertical as well as horizontal real estate development projects. These projects involve among others, commercial, residential condominiums, subdivisions, malls, industrial estates, factories, mills, export processing zones, hotels, resorts, plantations, casinos and others.
The Firm represents clients in complex litigation before the competent regulatory bodies and courts arising from real estate and construction disputes. ACCRALAW has acted as counsel for one of the largest real estate development companies in the country in several actions relating to the acquisition and development of prime real estate into an integrated commercial, residential and entertainment center.
