A positive balance

At the end of any year it is always tempting to make a balance. It is better if there are positive results. During 2009 Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal deservedly won several awards and acknowledgments from the legal community and clients.

For the fourth consecutive year Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal has been named “IP Law Firm of the Year for Argentina” by Managing Intellectual Property ("MIP"), a leading publication in the field of Intellectual Property. The MIP Awards were presented on March 31, 2009 in London at a ceremony attended by leading IP professionals from around the world.

For the fourth consecutive year also, Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal has been awarded "Argentina 's Law Firm of the Year 2009" by Who's Who Legal. According to nominations granted by clients and peers, Who's Who Legal highlighted the world's 70 leading law firms of over 2,000 listed in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2009 that have the required depth and breadth of talent to be featured there. Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal has forty one listings in eighteen different practice areas and can boast more featured lawyers than any other firm in Argentina.

Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal has also been awarded with the “Gold Award Best Argentine Law Firm of the Year 2009” by International Legal Alliance . The awards ceremony was held in Paris on June 18, 2009.

Finally, Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal has been awarded the "Chambers Latin America Awards for Excellence 2009 - Argentina Law Firm of the Year" by Chambers and Partners, the prestigious British publishers, at the inaugural Chambers Latin America Awards. Chambers is known worldwide for its law firm rankings, which it has been producing for almost two decades. The Chambers awards are a benchmark not only for European law firms but for those in America, Asia and the rest of the world. The award was presented in Miami, USA, on  November 4, 2009.

We would also like to highlight and are very grateful for the recommendations and nominations of peers and clients resulting from the surveys performed by specialized publications

Based on them, Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal was included for the sixth time running in the "GCR 100", a selection of the 100 leading antitrust practitioners around the world by Global Competition Review. Likewise, in the article on leading firms in antitrust practice published by Latin Lawyer magazine, February 2009 issue, Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal is described as an elite firm as it "was recommended by its peers more than any other firm, owing to the quality of its specialists and its 'rack record on competition law-related matters".

Also, for thirteen years running Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal has been ranked first in Patents and Trademarks/Copyright categories in the annual survey made by the leading magazine Managing Intellectual Property among recognized IP professionals.

In connection with the tax area, Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal “remains one of the market’s most prominent tax advisers with observers describing its activities during the last 12 months as both aggressive and proactive in comparison with other firms”, as published by International Tax Review, World Tax 2009.

Most renowned international lawyers’ guides have agreed to rank Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal as the Argentine leading law firm in almost all areas of practice. In this connection we refer to the following publications: Chambers Latin America/ edition 2010; IFLR 1000/edition 2010; Latin Lawyer 250/edition 2009; PLC Which lawyer?/Yearbook 2009; Who’s Who Legal/edition 2009; among others.

Locally, Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal was elected the Argentine law firm of the year for the fifth consecutive time, according to the ranking of Apertura magazine resulting from a survey conducted among lawyers and published in its August 2009 edition.

Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal’s commitment to clients and the community is to improve its efforts each year in order to deserve the honor to be the best Argentine law firm again, guided by the words and conduct of Jorge E O’Farrell (1915-2000), one of the Firm’s founders:

“A law firm is a social entity that has particular aspects. Whatever its institutional organization is, it has something spiritual, that ordinarily cannot be found in associations or corporations. A law firm must have a soul, which is the aggregate of hopes, eagerness, efforts, affliction and passion of its members, and based on honesty, unconditional loyalty among its members and with the firm and its clients; on friendship and solidarity created among its members by frequent relationships and in the participation of every member in successful events and sometimes in sadness too. These values also include good relationships with clients and peers, and reciprocal esteem among law firms.

All these create prestige, tradition and a reputation for trustworthiness, seriousness and capability, elements that will make the firm move on, like a big ship, to a higher destiny, which can include, if those principles are maintained, many generations. This is what I desire, as one of the first founders of this institution”.