Iberian Lawyer July August 2013 Special Focus Latin America July 2017 | Page 5

Special focus: Latin America
& Herrera is the Dominican
member of Lex Mundi, the global
network of independent law
firms, while intellectual property
boutique Bufete Messina & Lugo
IP offers trademark registration in
all the Caribbean countries through
its membership of the Intellectual
Property Caribbean Association
(IPCA).
Cutting costs
In Costa Rica, where several pan-
regional law firms have originated,
Facio & Cañas is planning to
expand to other countries in
Central America within five years,
according to managing partner
Sergio Solera. Previously, the
firm, which is a member of Lex
Mundi, had shunned regional
expansion, but Solera says the need
to modernise and expand as well
as search for more efficiency and
cost reductions is a key challenge
for law firms. Batalla says his firm
has plans to strengthen its presence
in the DR-CAFTA region within
the next five years, adding that
addressing this issue is one of the
key challenges facing Costa Rican
law firms.
Meanwhile, a number of pan-
regional law firms have originated
in Nicaragua: namely García &
Bodán which later expanded
to El Salvador, Honduras and
Which of the countries in the
DR-CAFTA region oīers the best
growth ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƟĞƐ for law ĮƌŵƐ͍
Costa Rica 40%
ŽŵŝŶŝĐĂŶ Republic 24%
'ƵĂƚĞŵĂla 18%
Nicaragua 18%
The Latin American Lawyer surveyed law firm partners and in-house counsel located in, or with
business interests in, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, as well as the
Dominican Republic.
firms with a view to potentially
Guatemala; and Consortium Legal,
joining forces. Law firms in other
which included Nicaragua-based
jurisdictions have “shown interest
Taboada & Asociados among
in becoming members of our firm
its founding members. Gerardo
so this is something that we are
Hernández, a partner based in the
Managua office
of Consortium
Legal, says that
Employment-related
Nicaragua has
become more
arbitration is an emerging
attractive to
trends that will drive growth
investors due to
at law firms.
the harmonisation
of local laws with
Mauricio Salas
those elsewhere
BLP
and the fostering
of a more
investor-friendly
environment. This
has had the effect
certainly evaluating – we are not
of attracting regional and global
closed to expanding our practice
law firms, he adds.
to other countries,” says one firm
insider.
Increasing competition
Meanwhile, García & Bodán
The desire of law firms to
– which currently has offices in
strengthen their presence across
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras
the DR-CAFTA region is evidenced
and Nicaragua – is planning to
by the fact that Consortium Legal
step up the competition with its
is fielding enquiries from law
“
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July / August 2017 • IBERIAN LAWYER • 43
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