The Legal 500

The firm

Isolas is a leading international law firm with its headquarters in Gibraltar. Established in 1892, it is Gibraltar’s oldest law firm. Truly independent, it offers clients the benefits of commitment, continuity and the close personal interest expected of a long-established firm. Isolas has a reputation for combining expert legal advice with commercial pragmatism. The firm is known to be practical and confident in the advice it gives. It is consistently ranked as one of the leading law firms in the jurisdiction by the major international legal directories. Isolas acts for international clients, including most of the major UK, European and US banks, as well as multinational insurers and reinsurers.

Areas of practice

International banking and finance: the firm is a leading player and has specialist lawyers who deal with all aspects of banking and finance. The firm’s specialist team is led by Christian Hernandez, who is acknowledged as one of the leaders in the jurisdiction. He has recently acted in transactions with a value in excess of £6bn. These have ranged from real estate financing and acquisition, to the acquisition of PLCs and their subsidiaries.

Admiralty and shipping: whilst Gibraltar boasts a large number of law firms, there are very few that have a specialist, highly experienced Admiralty department. Credit to the firm’s experience and expertise in Admiralty matters is the fact that the firm is continuously involved in the majority of shipping disputes in Gibraltar, as well as receiving instructions from many London shipping law firms.

Commercial and litigation: Isolas has developed one of the leading and most successful commercial and trust litigation departments in Gibraltar. The firm’s expertise ranges from (general) commercial litigation, to established specialisation in telecommunications, insurance, banking and financial services, international trade, and private international and EU law. In addition, the firm has established expertise in a very wide range of personal and corporate insolvency issues, including receivership, administration, liquidation, arrangements with creditors and debt recovery in general. The civil aspects of commercial fraud (invariably in an insolvency or insurance context) are also an aspect of work undertaken by the firm, which includes tracing remedies, search and seize orders and freezing injunctions.

Insurance and financial services: the areas of Gibraltar insurance and financial services are highly regulated. The firm considers it to be of paramount importance that applications on behalf of clients are thoroughly and exhaustively prepared. In doing this, the firm will guide clients through all stages of the application process in order to ensure the completeness of the application.

Property: the firm continues to boast one of the largest property departments, currently engaged in a large number of substantial property developments in Gibraltar, on behalf of either developers or financial institutions. These developments alone count for some 800 residential units currently being developed in Gibraltar, and include a wide range of other amenities.

Trusts and company administration: Isolas is closely associated with the Fiduciary Group, one of the largest and leading trust managers in Gibraltar. Increasingly the firm advises clients through its correspondent network on international corporate structure, including trusts and foundations.

Isolas, in association with the Fiduciary Group, boasts a busy and developing funds practice. The creation of the Protected Cell Company and Experienced Investor Fund legislation in particular has made Gibraltar a competitive international funds jurisdiction. In addition to this, the application of the European parent/subsidiary directive enables the jurisdiction to offer unique solutions for private clients and asset managers alike. Isolas is regularly instructed in the creation of a wide variety of funds vehicles and, as a result, the department is in a process of expansion.

Contacts
Albert Isola (partner)
Peter Isola (senior partner)
Christian Rocca (managing partner)
Christian Hernandez (partner)
Elaine Bingham (partner)
Mark Isola (partner)
Elliott Phillips (partner)

Languages
English
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Spanish

Member Advoc

Number of lawyers 21