Colombia has become the natural second step (after Mexico) for Spanish firms with Latin American ambitions. Brazil, although attractive due to its size, imposes regulatory and operational barriers that make it less viable as a first destination. In terms of scale, legal sophistication and strategic location, Colombia appears to be the ideal choice. But precisely for this reason, all the firms that have already landed are beginning to step on each other’s toes. It is no longer enough to arrive. It is necessary to justify the operation, demonstrate its profitability, sustain it over time and do so without losing internal cohesion. In the meantime, top-tier firms are gaining space by freeing themselves from a competitor with whom they used to share international references.
The challenge facing Pérez-Llorca in Colombia (and in the region) is not minor. When an international integration is announced, the press release usually focuses on the expected benefits: scale, synergies, brand projection. But when the real operation begins, the complexity of the challenge becomes evident.
Integration requires homogenizing structures, compensation, processes, internal culture and business vision. It requires that leaderships coexist, that incentives are harmonized and that partners, within their differences, find a place within a logic that they no longer fully control. None of this is trivial, and even less so when what is being integrated is not one office, but two partnerships, two institutional trajectories and two different ways of understanding the legal business. In this type of process, it is not a matter of reconciling visions, but of aligning with an already defined strategy. It is the international firm that imposes the pace, the operating model and the decision-making architecture. For the local firm, this implies a profound adaptation exercise, not only technical, but also identity-related.
When an international firm starts scoping to integrate a local firm, what matters is not how many offices or lawyers it has, nor its market visibility or position in rankings. What matters is its ability to build strategically on a common platform. In this sense, the integration of Pérez-Llorca with Gómez-Pinzón is not a one-off decision or a fortuitous opportunity, but the logical result of an international strategy that has been in place for years. This move represents one more coherent and deliberate step in a plan to consolidate a legal platform with an Ibero-American vocation and global projection.
One of the most underestimated factors in this type of movement is cultural compatibility. Firms operate not just on organizational charts, but on shared principles: how they lead, how they decide, how they recognize merit and how they manage talent. Without an underlying culture that allows synchrony, even the best-designed projects can stagnate in internal dynamics that fragment and erode.
As if this identity challenge were not enough, there is another immediate challenge: the market that really demands highly complex cross-border legal services in Colombia is small. And it is, moreover, the same group of clients targeted by all the firms that have deployed regional structures from Madrid. Uría, Cuatrecasas, Garrigues, ECIJA, Ontier… all with an active presence in the region. In addition to this, there is the arrival of global firms, some with their own offices, others with dedicated desks. The space for differentiation has narrowed and competition has intensified.
This context increases the pressure on all operational dimensions. Expected profitability demands real efficiency: unified processes, investment in technology, leaner structures and better quality of service. The economies of scale that justify these integrations must translate into results for clients and clear opportunities for lawyers. If that does not happen, the integration narrative loses legitimacy.
The risk is no small one. When the client base is limited and the firms that pursue them are many, there is an internal pressure to grow fast, incorporate lateral partners, open new areas, capture markets… without necessarily having a proportional demand. And that is where many integrations are strained from within. Because they were designed for a potential reality, not for a concrete demand.
Pérez-Llorca’s challenge is not in having entered Colombia with a good ally, but in building from there an operation that does not limit itself to competing for the same mandates that everyone else is pursuing. The real value lies in doing things differently, with more quality, more efficiency and a clearer long-term vision than the rest. This competition (properly understood) can strengthen the market, raise standards and tighten compensation structures. But for that to happen, the strategy must be realistic, executable and shared.
Antonio Gómez Montoya
Black.Swan Consultoría