About

Described by sources as ‘an outstanding lawyer with a high personal commitment and exceptional technical and people management skills’, ‘a very proactive and efficient lawyer’, ‘a problem solver’ and ‘a key reference in the GC Spanish market’, Santiago Sainz de Baranda heads the corporate legal team of Urbaser Group, an environmental services company and subsidiary of Grupo ACS. A veteran in-house lawyer, he has been in the business for nearly three decades. Sainz de Baranda started his in-house career in 1986 at the Spanish public-service broadcaster RTVE Group, and later joined e-Media Group/MEDIATRANS as head of the legal department. He served for many years within the legal department of Dragados Sevricios, as deputy director, before finally joining Urbaser in 2004. In his current role he has taken wide reaching initiatives, along with his strong team, to get the legal department to its current level of high efficiency. ‘We carried out the task of systematising the department, building updated databases and network programs with the rest of the company. Lawyer tasks have been specialised but always focused on the different activities of the business group, adding more flexibility to the department when taking part in the day-to-day business development’ says Sainz de Baranda. ‘However, the biggest achievement is that we have met our goal to have lawyers take a direct and parallel role in the different business areas of the company; in this regard our activity has gone further than mere legal advice and we are currently part of the decision making’ he says proudly.