Marval O’Farrell Mairal – Leading Law Firm in Argentina and Latin America
About Us
Marval O’Farrell Mairal is the largest law firm in Argentina and a benchmark in Latin America, recognized for its excellence, innovation, and ability to handle highly complex legal matters.
With over 100 years of experience, more than 300 lawyers, and an unparalleled track record advising leading global companies, we provide sophisticated legal counsel to domestic and international clients, with a unique ability to respond quickly and effectively without compromising service quality.
Practice Areas
Marval offers comprehensive coverage across all branches of business law and international legal advisory services.
Each team is led by partners and highly experienced experts, assembled according to the goals and needs of each client.
Firm Profile
Founded in 1923, Marval O'Farrell Mairal is the largest law firm in Argentina and one of the leading firms in Latin America. With over 100 years of history, we provide sophisticated advice to domestic and international clients.
We are Argentina's leading law firm with more than 300 lawyers who have extensive experience in highly demanding matters and complex international transactions. This experience and strength allow us to react quickly and participate simultaneously in large, complex, and demanding negotiations without compromising the quality of our service.
Marval O'Farrell Mairal has a strong focus on cutting-edge corporate and financial transactions and also has the largest litigation and arbitration practice in the country. Furthermore, our Intellectual Property Department is a leader in its field. We also lead other practice areas, including tax, fintech, labor law, competition law, energy and natural resources, compliance, anti-corruption and investigations, public and administrative law, insurance and reinsurance, telecommunications, media and technology, and real estate and construction.
All our working groups are led by highly experienced partners and experts and are formed according to our clients' objectives.
Our history
The firm's beginnings date back to 1923, during the early years of the second Radical government. At that time, the renowned Sáenz Peña Law, which established universal, secret, and compulsory voting, had been in existence for over 10 years. In this context, brothers Juan and Enrique de Marval came together and created what would later become the largest law firm in Argentina. However, it initially emerged as an agency specializing in industrial and intellectual property matters.
In its early years, Estudio Marval weathered local and international crises, such as the stock market crash of 1929, the outbreak of World War II, and multiple changes of government in the country. Fifteen years after its founding, and thanks to the arrival of Jorge E. O'Farrell in 1938, the firm debuted a new name: Marval & O'Farrell. His arrival led to the creation of the firm's legal department, which allowed for the expansion of its practice areas. In particular, Jorge E. O'Farrell focused on the areas of business law, with special emphasis on general commercial law, tax law, and industrial property law.
The incorporation of the legal department, coupled with the ability of the firm's members to communicate fluently with their client portfolio in English, French, and German, consolidated the firm's international recognition and its position as one of the most prestigious in the country and the region. The expansion was such that, in 1962, it had to move from the iconic Shell building at 788 Roque Sáenz Peña Avenue to the building at 887 Carlos Pellegrini Street.
In 1989, Marval & O'Farrell became a founding member of LexMundi, the world's most important international network of independent law firms, which provides legal advice globally.
In 1991, the firm obtained its current name, with the incorporation of Dr. Héctor A. Mairal. It was thus renamed Marval O'Farrell Mairal.
Its relationship with international firms has grown stronger over the years. Marval O'Farrell Mairal has maintained and continues to maintain close relationships with leading law firms in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
Five years after Héctor Mairal joined the firm, it left its offices on Carlos Pellegrini Street and moved to 928 Leandro N. Alem Avenue. The growth of Marval O'Farrell Mairal inspired the creation of a successful Young Professionals program in 1997, which has trained more than 500 young lawyers and remains in place today. In 2001, it became an active member of the Pro Bono and Public Interest Commission of the Buenos Aires Bar Association.
Since its inception, the firm has managed to overcome the country's greatest historical adversities. After the 2001 crisis, its team grew by approximately 150% and, by 2007, it expanded its headquarters to the building at Reconquista 823. Marval O'Farrell Mairal maintained its offices on Alem and Reconquista streets for 10 years. Finally, in 2016, it returned to a single head office. This is located at 882 Alem Street, in the heart of Buenos Aires.
In 2017, Marval O'Farrell Mairal reinforced its cultural values and support for the arts by launching MarvalArt, a temporary art exhibition to showcase the work of these artists. This initiative is closely related to the Pro Bono area, as a significant percentage of the sales of the works goes to sponsor one of the NGOs that the firm regularly advises.
Marval O’Farrell Mairal has grown considerably in recent years and currently has more than 300 professionals. It offers a wide range of legal services to local and foreign commercial and investment banks, leading local and multinational companies, public sector clients, and international credit agencies.
Marval is Argentina's most awarded law firm. In addition to being recognized by Chambers & Partners as the best law firm in the country on twelve occasions and for the last seven consecutive years, the firm has received numerous other awards, including the Who's Who Legal award, the Managing IP Law Firm of the Year award, and several Latin Lawyer Deal of the Year awards, among others.
It has also been recognized as one of the best employers in the country on numerous occasions by Apertura magazine.
Marval O'Farrell Mairal is a leader in generating value-added knowledge for clients and leaders in the legal world, with an extensive ecosystem of digital channels that are constantly innovating and leading the way.
Since 2020 and with the acceleration of digital transformation, it has developed Marval Live Talks, a live legal streaming channel where its experts present and analyze high-impact topics in the legal world.
In 2021, it also launched Marval Legal Voice, a podcast channel now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, where we share exclusive content on trending topics that are key to decision-making in the legal and corporate spheres.
In 2022, to bring all this content together in an integrated way, it launched MarvalApp, Argentina's first legal app, which allows users to download documents, read specialized articles, and learn about industry news and alerts.
In 2025, we launched Marval Legal Sessions, a series of video podcasts in which our experts address current legal issues. The series offers in-depth analysis and discussions on the most relevant legal implications for companies and professionals in the sector.
Marval O'Farrell Mairal is also a clear leader in organizing prestigious business conferences, notably the Marval International Summit on Compliance, Anti-Corruption, and Investigations, which, with more than eight editions, is now a regional benchmark event that brings together international specialists to discuss trends in compliance. In the area of labor law, he also organizes the Marval Annual Human Resources Conference (MAHRC), a forum that in its two editions has addressed the challenges of the world of work and human capital; and the Marval Legal Forecast, a business conference that, with more than three editions, offers an analysis of the economic, legal, and political perspectives that will define the country's immediate future.