Methodology

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in the LatinLawyer 250 is accurate and up-to-date, and that the analysis reflects the current state of the legal market in each country covered. For over seven years now we have been polling legal practitioners operating in Latin America and their clients; on-the-ground research involving some 1,000 visits to law firms and face-to-face interviews with clients has been conducted in all 17 Latin American countries covered, as well as in the United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and the UK, while thousands of questionnaires have been returned by corporate counsel who receive a complimentary copy of the printed directory for assisting in this research. All in all, we believe that more research has gone into this survey than has ever been done on the Latin American legal market.

Our overriding aim was to identify those firms whose services would be of benefit to international clients, and we have therefore only included firms with an established international client base, sufficient resources to respond rapidly in complex transactions, an awareness of the requirements of international clients and the language skills—primarily in English—necessary for effective communication with international clients. In each country featured the criterion for selection was the same: acknowledged excellence in providing legal service to international clients in one or more areas. In some countries only a handful of firms satisfied this test; in others the legal market was much more fragmented, with more boutique specialists.

On the basis of this research, we have felt able to select the firms included in this survey and highlight their key areas of expertise. Numbers of lawyers and partners have been provided and verified by the firms themselves – we asked all firms to furnish us with a list of individual lawyers to back up the numbers they supplied, and any resulting discrepancies must be laid at their door.

Finally, it is important to point out that in accordance with Law Business Research’s established policy, inclusion in this publication is based solely on recommendation by fellow legal professionals and clients and on careful scrutiny of current client lists. No firm has been able to secure a place in the LatinLawyer 250 by any other means, nor to affect its editorial content.