Editor’s notes
Against the backdrop of president Nayib Bukele, who was elected in 2024, and has enacted ‘extraordinary temporary measures,’ through which ‘Salvadoran authorities have restricted and violated fundamental rights,’ according to Amnesty International, improved crime rates have seen El Salvador’s homicide rate fall in successive years. This has driven an increase in foreign investment due to a perceived lower business risk by international investors. Previous years have made new cross-border transactions challenging because of business risk, but increasingly there is an appetite for more investment and more activity from international banks. Most notably, 2024 has seen a boom in the economy. El Salvador’s economy grew 3.40% in the fourth quarter of 2024, receiving a great deal of foreign investment due to the increased security forces and law enforcement in the country.
Added to this is the rise of international and national companies who are interested in investing in technology companies in El Salvador, allowing them to increase cashflow and GDP, as well as an increase in tourism and in the foreign investment and domestic M&A space.
As such, M&A remains a core area of work for firms, as is banking and finance, the latter of which has seen a host of new banking regulation designed to promote foreign investment. El Salvador, as one of the founding members of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is continually active in loan financing. The economic landscape has changed drastically in the country, meaning that all sizes and types of transactions, including an increase in mid-market transactions, are visible. There has particularly been an increase in corporate transactions, with large retailers such as large supermarkets in El Salvador buying each other, and buying stores in Columbia, for example.
The passage of El Salvador’s new AI legislation, introduced in February 2025, designed to integrate artificial intelligence into national development strategies and innovation, has seen a rise in IP work and tax regulation assistance in this sphere.
One of the most significant developments in the Salvadoran legal field is the Intellectual Property Law of El Salvador, which was approved in August 2024 entered into force on February 15, 2025, representing a change in IP practice in the country compared with the previous decade, in that now all trade mark and patent applications can be done online.
The dispute resolution arena has seen an increase in tax administrative litigation, stemming from a continued trend toward aggressive enforcement.
All these substantive changes in legislation and market place conditions are reflected in the rankings.
El Salvador’s legal market remains dominated by historic firms with a large nationwide presence such as Arias, Consortium Legal, and BLP whose workload is spread across multiple practice areas, while other notable operations in the regions include GarciaBodan, noted for its increasing focus on arbitration, Lexincorp, Mayora & Mayora, S.C. and Central Law El Salvador. A growing number of global firms also have a presence in the Salvadoran market, including ECIJA, EY Law Central America (a leader in the tax space) and, more recently, Dentons. Aguilar Castillo Love is noted for its expertise in fintech, and Torres Legal is also an up-and-coming Salvadoran practice in this space. A key addition in the banking and finance sphere was senior associate Roberto Castro to bolster Consortium’s practice. Full-service domestic firm Romero Pineda continues to be a leader in the IP space.