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Overview
Over the past 10 years, the Spanish legal market has witnessed one of its largest growth periods ever, with several large transactions allowing most firms to consistently record double-digit growth rates on their annual billings and number of lawyers. During that period, the high-end transactional market in Spain (mostly revolving around big ticket acquisition finance, large IPOs and high-value private and public M&A) gradually became dominated by six major law firms, which managed to scoop a majority of those highly coveted instructions. While Iberian giants Uría Menéndez, Garrigues and Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira succeeded in consolidating their stronghold as the market’s largest full-service firms (dominating at all levels of the market, not only in Spain, but across the whole of the Iberian Peninsula), Magic Circle firms Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters SL also proved to be highly effective in securing their position as high-end market leaders.
2008, however, has potentially changed much of that. With the global financial crisis, came a substantial shift in the type of work firms have been carrying out. While companies in general have been finding it extremely hard to obtain credit (M&A dropped over 30% and there were no IPOs throughout the whole of 2008), the number of financial restructurings and insolvencies has soared and litigation has also picked up significantly.
Many of those six firms’ most direct competitors have tried to seize the opportunity to turn the odds in their favour. Domestic firms such as Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados, Perez-Llorca, Ramòn y Cajal Abogados, Araoz & Rueda and CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo receive high praise. Barcelona-based firm Roca Junyent also deserves to be mentioned among the market leaders. Likewise, many other international firms with a presence in Spain have managed to consolidate strong local teams, while offering full service advice to most of their clients. The most worthy of note are Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, DLA Piper, Ashurst LLP, Lovells LLP and Bird & Bird (Spain) LLP. SJ Berwin, Jones Day and Simmons & Simmons Mochales & Palacios, despite being much smaller, also field well-respected branches in Spain.
Latham & Watkins LLP, the most recent international firm to arrive in Spain, opened up shop in January 2007. Even though the firm fields a small team, mostly focused on corporate and capital markets, it is ‘ the one to watch’. Latham & Watkins LLP got off to a flying start, advising on a few big-ticket deals, and has recently hired tax expert Jordi Domínguez to head up its newly created tax team. Domínguez was previously a tax partner at Garrigues, where he co-led the firm’s US desk.
The Spanish legal market also boasts a number of highly reputed boutique firms. While Sagardoy Abogados, Member of Ius Laboris is best known for its phenomenal employment capability, Howrey Martínez Lage, S.L. focuses mainly on EU and competition and IP. B Cremades & Asociados is one of the most admired dispute resolution outfits in Spain, particularly in arbitration. Davies Arnold Cooper LLP is best known as fielding a first-class contentious insurance practice, and Albors Galiano Portales, as well as a few other boutiques, stands out for its shipping expertise. IP and TMT are the practice areas where the largest number of leading boutiques may be found, with Ecija Abogados, Elzaburu, Iuris Valls Abogados, Grau & Angulo and Pedro Alemán Abogados, among others, collecting high praise from clients.
The only high profile law firm merger in the market last year, saw litigation boutique Bufete Ramón Hermosilla tie up with up-and-coming corporate firm Gutierrez de la Roza, forming Ramón Hermosilla & Gutiérrez de la Roza.
Bird & Bird (Spain) LLP made two major hires in 2008, with the arrival of EU and competition partner Antonio Creus from DLA Piper and Miguel Rodríguez, previously CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo’ head of IP; DLA Piper saw the arrival of corporate expert Maria Segimon, who had previously been at Spanish engineering and construction company Ferrovial, as the company’s in-house head of corporate; Lovells LLP also hired corporate partner Lucas Osorio from leading developers of transport infrastructure Cintra, where he had been the company’s general counsel; another highly publicised move was Garrigues’ hiring of João Paulo Miranda de Sousa, formerly the Director of General Affairs and External Relations at the European Trademarks Office (OHIM – the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market); Baker & McKenzie saw the departure of two of its partners, with tax expert José Luis Prada having left the firm to set up his own practice, Fornesa, Prada y Fernández Abogados, and real estate specialist Isidro del Moral having joined the Madrid office of up-and-coming Valencian firm Broseta Abogados; Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados also saw the departure of IP partner Luis Fernández-Novoa and his team, who have joined Howrey Martínez Lage, S.L.; finally, Elzaburu also saw IP partner Laura Alonso leave to join Howrey Martínez Lage, S.L..
A few independent Spanish firms have recently established close ties with international firms. Ramòn y Cajal Abogados established an independent correspondent relationship with Mayer Brown International LLP. Both firms established a formalized cooperation, based on common client development and referral arrangements. Rodés & Sala Abogados has also entered into a strategic international alliance with Nabarro, August & Debouzy, GSK Stockmann & Kollegen and Nunziante Magrone.