With this move, ECIJA reinforces its position as the Spanish law firm with the largest presence in Latin America, with a total of 16 territories and 27 offices.
ECIJA begins 2021 following the path of growth traced in previous years, through the arrival in a new market in Latin America, the thirteenth of the Firm in the Americas. Through the integration of ELZEN Abogados, ECIJA opens operations in Argentina, reinforcing its leadership as the Latin American law firm with the largest presence in Latin America, with 27 offices in 16 countries, reaching 136 partners and exceeding 670 professionals globally.
The new ECIJA team in Argentina, which will operate from 2 March 2021 under the ECIJA brand, will add 7 new partners and 30 professionals to the Firm’s global structure and will be led by Cristian Elbert, Octavio Zenarruza, Santiago Viglierchio, Federico Villarino, Ángeles Bernachea, Diego Martinotti and Cecilia Amieva, new partners of ECIJA. ECIJA’s new office in Argentina is a multidisciplinary law firm with a long professional career, which stands out for its advice to Argentine and foreign clients in international transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, labour law, litigation, finance, startup and venture capital, technology law, media and telecommunications, intellectual property, compliance, as well as in the energy, sports and insurance sectors, among others. The Firm stands out for its strong international character, which leads it to advise clients on cross-border transactions on a recurring basis.
As stated by Alejandro Touriño, Managing Partner of ECIJA: “Our eyes are on Latin America. Argentina has been on our roadmap for some time and we feel that this is now, hand in hand with ELZEN, our opportunity to enter a key market for our clients and to focus together on a future landing in Uruguay. It is also the first move of this magnitude that we have undertaken entirely virtually, as we are unable to undertake international travel. The pandemic has not slowed down our growth vocation and, far from that, it invites us to reinvent ourselves in our way of growing and improving”.
Cristian Elbert, Managing Partner of ECIJA Argentina, said: “Both firms share not only business vision and excellence in client service, but we also have common values and principles, such as commitment to diversity, meritocracy in our structures and a polycentric spirit. With this integration, we aspire to make a quantitative and qualitative leap in our services, integrating ourselves into a horizontal firm structure, where local autonomy prevails as a value”.
ECIJA, one of the fastest growing Spanish firms in recent years, has added a total of 13 firms to its structure in the last two years, 4 of them during 2020, entering Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador and strengthening its teams in Guatemala. According to Touriño, the integration of ELZEN Abogados is an important step in the Firm’s internationalisation strategy and this is the first of others to come this year: “We are aware that there are still relevant markets to be covered and, therefore, in 2021 we expect to announce new movements of the Firm in the American market”.
About ECIJA
ECIJA, with more than 20 years of experience, is in the Top 10 of the best firms in Spain, according to the prestigious rankings of Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 and has established itself in the first place as a full service law firm. It has been recognised by The Lawyer as the best TMT firm in Europe and by the Financial Times as one of the ten most innovative firms on the continent. Its relevance in the Spanish market has been recognised by Expansión and Forbes, which have recognised it as the best firm in Digital Economy in Spain. ECIJA has a team of 136 partners and more than 670 professionals globally, distributed in countries such as Spain, Portugal, United States, Chile, Honduras, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina.
About ECIJA Argentina
ECIJA’s new office in Argentina was established in 2005 as a full-service law firm for national and international corporate and private clients, offering services in the practice areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, labour law, litigation, start-up and venture capital, intellectual property, technology, media and telecommunications law, as well as in the energy, real estate, finance and insurance sectors. Based on the values of integrity and consistency, the Argentine firm is characterised by a German and European Desk.
