Ecija opens in Argentina
Ecija has begun 2021 with the integration of Elzen Abogados in Argentina
The Spanish law firm has begun 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 starts 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 focus on 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.
Alejandro Touriño, managing partner of Ecija highlighted “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, expressed his satisfaction with the firm’s integration into ECIJA, saying: “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 internationalization 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”, he said.
