Spanish law firm ECIJA has brought on board firms in Brazil and Ecuador as it seeks to position itself as a bridge connecting Europe to Latin America and Asia.

The integrations of Brazilian firm CTA and Ecuadorian firm González Peñaherrera & Asociados Abogado expand ECIJA's coverage in the Americas to 12 countries, including the United States and Puerto Rico, while adding 25 partners and more than 100 professionals. The deals also strengthen the full-service firm's position in a key practice area: energy and natural resources.

"This new milestone responds to ECIJA's expansion plan, which includes the incorporation of practice areas, territories and professionals," said Hugo Écija, founder and executive president of ECIJA.

The announcement comes just months after the Madrid-based firm's January revelation that it would absorb Mexico's Chacón & Rodríguez to become, it said, the largest Spanish law firm in Latin America. Also, last year, ECIJA signed a strategic alliance with Beijing-based Grandall Law Firm, one of the five biggest law firms in China.

The latest integrations in South America come with offices in the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, plus Quito and Guayaquil in Ecuador. ECIJA now has offices in 16 cities across Latin America.

ECIJA's entry into Brazil—Latin America's biggest economy—marks a shift from years of servicing clients there via collaborations with different local firms.

Marcos Andre Vinhas Catão, managing partner of ECIJA in Brazil, said the Spanish firm has established a beachhead in the country of 210 million people ahead of anticipated growth of foreign investment by Europeans in Brazil's oil and gas sector.

CTA's main practice areas are commercial, labor and tax, with expertise in industries such as oil and gas, telecommunications, transportation and logistics. ECIJA said it plans to open new practices and expand into additional sectors in Brazil over the next two years.

In Ecuador, meanwhile, GP&A focuses on mergers and acquisitions, tax, labor, competition and regulatory matters. Founding partner Gonzalo González says roughly 150 Spanish companies are currently invested in Ecuador, and that the country presents a great opportunity to invest in renewable energies, new technologies, cybersecurity and data protection—in addition to hydrocarbons, the mainstay of the Ecuadorian economy.

González said the difficulties related to the COVID-19 epidemic have awakened a need for greater foreign investment in Ecuador. The oil-exporting country has sought to defer sovereign debt payments during the global health and economic crisis.

Worldwide, ECIJA now has 119 partners and more than 600 lawyers spread across 26 offices in 14 countries. ECIJA is known globally for its expertise in technology, data privacy and intellectual property.