Perception is Reality: The Rise of Legal Marketing in Latin America

Marketing and business development in Latam legal circles have changed beyond all recognition in the last five years.The idea of a marketing department or external marketing and business development consultant was not a common practice even a few years ago. Lawyers have always relied on their prestige and notoriety to gain new clients, via word of mouth, mostly. In fact, in Latam not so very long ago, a law firm engaged in marketing activities was a foreign concept.

No More. In the 2020s, law firms and some in house legal departments understand that marketing tools and business development initiatives are to be welcomed. Inside large and mid-size law firms all across the continent, there is a growing acceptance of the need to have someone in charge of marketing and communications and sometimes even an entire internal department working hand-in-hand with an external advisor dedicated to the task. In smaller firms, a person or a department dedicated solely to marketing and business development is less frequent, however, an external consultant is utilized.

A variety of services

What these external advisors offer law firms can differ significantly from advisor to advisor but most provide a wide range of services spanning branding, positioning, submissions filing, legal directory liaison, community management, SEO, website design, blogs and storytelling – they can even help you generate and manage positive word of mouth (word of mouth marketing). Digital marketing strategies have taken a big leap forward in the 15 months since the pandemic hit, with law firms leaning into digital networking, via LinkedIn, notably. Now more than ever, it is vital lawyers have access to advisors who know how to market their firms.

A cross border business

The better legal marketing and BD agencies have a business model tailored to the regional needs of Latin America. It is common practice to see agencies workout side of their home country to avoid conflicts of interest as they can quickly arise in small markets. If an agency only works in one country, it can’t advise more than one or two law firms with similar practice areas and characteristics, in the same country. That’s why you often get Colombian advisors helping Peruvian firms, Brazilian advisors brought in by Bolivians firms, a Madrid-based agencies advising Mexican firms, and so on.

Where Leaders League comes in

When Leaders League opened its office in Perú five years ago, there were almost no specialist advisors of any kind dedicated to helping local law firms expand and develop. Today, Leaders League has identified more than 30 operating in the Latam region and many others mainly focused on the Brazilian market. We pride ourselves on being able to share information on these experts with you, so you know exactly where to look when it’s time to draw up and implement a winning marketing strategy.

Our aim is to help law firm decipher between these agencies to find what best fits their needs. We will begin evaluating these firms in the coming months so that we can put together Latam’s best and most up to date ranking of legal marketing and BD agencies. You can rely on Leaders League’s research when choosing a marketing partner to bring your firm forward among the competition.

J.S.B 

MARKETING & BD ADVISORS FOR LAWYERS

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^{Edpe Consultant                                    Lorena Borgo                 Peru        2016}

^{Firm Forward                                          Elyssa LeFevre               USA        2014}

^{Gericó Associates                                  Juan Martín Fierro         Colombia  2016}

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^{GibsonPR                                                Charles A. Gibson          Argentina   2019}

^{IKNITO                                                     Fernanda Cornejo           Ecuador     2020}

^{Kerma Partners                                       Leopoldo Hernández      Mexico       2006}

^{KIDD AITKEN LEGAL MARKETING       Jacob Aitken                    UK            2015}

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^{Leega Mkt                                                Fernando Nieto                Brasil        2018}

^{Lets Americas                                          Alexandra Strick              USA          2020}

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^{PhilCox (Sole Practitioner)                      Phil Cox                           USA        2018}

^{Real Comunicación Legal                        Jimena Altuzarra             Chile      2019}

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^{Red De Firmas                                           Ana Milena Camargo      Mexico   2018}

^{Trébol Comunicaciones                           Alejandra Vidal                Chile     2015}

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^{Ximena Urrejola (Sole Practitioner)        Ximena Urrejola                Chile     2019}