ECIJA and Expertis merge to create one of the largest firms in Latin America
ECIJA and Expertis have reached an agreement to integrate their professional activities. After this movement, ECIJA incorporates 9 new offices in 7 countries of Central America and the Caribbean, and a total of 81 professionals.
After several years of joint collaboration, ECIJA has reached an agreement with the Latin American firm Expertis for the integration of its activities under the ECIJA brand. This movement represents, without a doubt, the largest corporate operation of the Firm since its foundation 20 years ago. This movement will also involve the integration of 9 new offices in 7 countries of Central America and the Caribbean: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Expertis, which on the occasion of the merger will operate in the market under the ECIJA brand, is one of the largest firms in the legal sector in the region, with a long history as a full service firm, which counts among its clients several of the most relevant multinationals.
The operation represents the welcome to ECIJA of a total of 81 new professionals and 17 partners recognized by the most prestigious international directories in their different practice areas. After the operation, ECIJA will count with 16 offices in 11 countries, 56 partners and more than 280 professionals worldwide, through its presence in Europe, USA and Latin America.
ECIJA will operate in the region offering its clients full service legal advice, with an important differential value that relies in the Firm’s deep knowledge of TMT and innovation, where it has been recognized for the third consecutive year as the best firm of Intellectual Property, New Technologies and Data Protection and as the most innovative firm in the Spanish market in the last edition of the Expansión awards.
In the words of Hugo Écija, founder and CEO of ECIJA, “the aim of this movement is to become the largest firm in Latin America. We will achieve it in the hands of one of the major players in the region, which also enjoys recognition of the market and which is the best key access to future operations in different Latin American countries in the short to medium term”.
According to Alejandro Touriño, managing partner of the Firm in Madrid, “it was an operation motivated mainly by the demand of our clients, who are very present in the leisure and tourism sector, and who require legal advice with full knowledge of the local market. This merger is based on the personal connection with its partners and is fully aligned with the growth strategy of the firm, hoping to end the year exceeding the number of 300 professionals”.
Mauricio París, managing partner of Expertis and Regional Manager for the LAC region (Latin America and the Caribbean) of ECIJA, points out that “through this merger we become one of the largest Ibero-American law firms with presence in Central America and the Caribbean, potential market for major multinationals in the US, Europe and the region, which require large legal firms to support the different projects effectively, cross-cuttingly and with a legal partner in each country. This operation marks the beginning of a new stage, in which we consolidate in the top 5 of the legal sector in Central America and the Caribbean. ”
About Expertis
Expertis is a leading firm in Central America and the Caribbean with 9 offices in 7 countries and a team of 17 partners and 81 professionals, with experience in all practice areas of business law and special recognition in the Corporate, M&A, Dispute Resolution and Real Estate by the most prestigious international rankings: Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, IFLR, among others.
About Mauricio Paris
Managing partner of the ECIJA office in Costa Rica and Regional Manager. He has more than 15 years of experience in Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Data Protection, Privacy and Corporate / M & A. Recognized by Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 as one of the best lawyers in the field of Dispute Resolution.
