Litigation and Arbitration
Along with Commercial Law, Litigation is one of the pillars of our Firm’s practice.
With a strong and varied track record, our Litigation team advises in lawsuits and arbitration cases involving a wide range of different matters.
However, the Litigation department is not confined to corporate disputes, and the practice in fact covers a broad range of issues, including contractual liability and tort claims, termination, and matters relating to the enforceability, interpretation and performance of contracts of all kinds.
We have a wealth of experience gained in our commercial and corporate practice in actions and disputes between partners, management liability, challenges to corporate resolutions and litigation related with the acquisition or sale of investments.
Our practice is driven by the pursuit of our clients’ interests, and we are therefore always open to arrangements and comprise as a means of ending legal proceedings subject to appropriate guarantees. By negotiating the best possible settlement for a client involved in legal proceedings without sacrificing key claims, we are able to achieve considerable savings in terms of court time and legal costs.
Commercial Law
Commercial Law is one of our Firm’s key practice areas, together with Litigation.
We accompany our clients in the ups and downs of their businesses, advising on matters of Commercial Law, growth strategies, financial matters, corporate transactions (mergers, acquisitions and others), alliances and joint ventures, and on all matters concerning the stock markets and corporate governance.
It is our philosophy that the best legal action is the action that never needs to be taken. We protect our clients from possible disputes by planning corporate and family structures to fit the development and growth of firms and assets. This means negotiating and perfecting shareholder and family arrangements, as well as agreements with the whole array of stakeholders concerned in any business.
However, conflict is sometimes inevitable, and we are always ready to assist our clients in the pre-litigation phase, helping to manage potential conflicts between partners and situations involving management liability.
Financing and Banking
We actively engage in the design and execution of refinancing and restructuring transactions. We can count on a deep understanding of the means to access financing and on favoring a flexible approach to adapt the legal strategy to the business and financial needs of each company, with particular experience in the field of energy and renewables.
Our team proven track record in commercial and litigation practice linked to the restoration of any loss, or the risk deriving from it, allow us to support the management teams with:
- Technical solvency – proven experience, rigour and in-depth knowledge of the credit and debt market and regulation.
- Independence – prioritizing their interests in order to firmly defend their positions.
- An efficient cost scheme to provide effective, honest and committed solutions to the business objectives.
The current social and economic background have generated financial tensions and refinancing needs in companies operating in all sectors, with a direct impact on the demand for legal advice and transactional support seeking to ensure the continuity of businesses in the short and medium term as well as the protection of assets and interests.
Insolvency
Our Firm is active in complex insolvency processes. We act both on behalf of debtors, helping to restructure debt and relaunch the business as fast as possible, and on behalf of creditors, seeking to secure their claims to fullest possible extent and to safeguard their interests throughout insolvency proceedings.
The defence of clients’ interests in cases of insolvency, which have unfortunately become increasingly common in recent years, means providing preventive legal and financial advice in the first place, to ensure adequate handling of pre-insolvency situations in order to stave off actual bankruptcy. It also demands a detailed knowledge of the latest legislative and judicial developments, which are in constant flux, and great tact to defend a client’s legal interests, whether debtor or creditor, in what is always a delicate business situation and often a personal crisis, while finely honed negotiating skills are essential to secure the best outcomes in debt restructuring and refinancing processes.
Criminal Law
The complexity of the cases taken on by the Firm and their clearly multi-jurisdictional nature have gradually created a major practice area concerned with the defence of clients interests in criminal proceedings.
Our criminal law practice focuses mainly on the commercial and corporate area, advising clients on the matters concerned in a whole range of corporate and financial offences.
The practice also extends to wrongdoing affecting non-corporate assets, social security and tax fraud, planning and environmental offences, and crimes of a personal nature.
Tax & Estate Planning
The Tax & Estate Planning Area examines the fiscal effect that unavoidably comes along with every legal or economic action.
Tax and estate planning advice comprises tax compliance for companies and personal or family wealth, the reduction of fiscal impact in corporate transactions, the representation and legal counsel in tax proceedings and pre-emptive fiscal counseling to major contributors, be them natural persons or entities.
The area is not limited to risk detection or the offering of tax alternatives or solutions; it also includes a quest for new formulas and a sustained doctrinal research, as well as Court representation where tax authorities might hold different interpretations, which contributes to the development of Jurisprudence.
Our customized wealth treatment practice derives from our professional soundness and the clear commitment to defend the sacred principles of tax justice and legal certainty.
Public Law
Our Firm provides advice on Public Law in all issues and industries in which Government is involved either as regulator or party, and our services cover a broad range of administrative proceedings and disputes, including official sanctions.
Our experience extends to expropriation proceedings, industrial and intellectual property matters, money laundering and exchange controls, administrative claims and tax demands and assessments, and audit, control, accounting responsibility and litigation in the Spanish Court of Auditors.
Finally, we have proven expertise in regulated industries like energy, telecommunications, health and drugs, in relation to publicly owned assets like ports, airports, railways, water, and mineral and forestry resources, and in specific practice areas like town planning and environmental regulation.
We have a dynamic practice in the area of public contracting at both the domestic and international levels, addressing all of the phases and contingencies involved in tender processes, performance, amendment and termination of contracts and concessions, and financial rebalancing processes.
Competition and EU Law
We have extensive experience providing preventive advisory services in the area of restrictive practices, in particular as regards self-assessment of agreements, alliances and potentially anti-competitive market positions, and preparatory training of partners, executives and employees in firms exposed to potential competition-related contingencies. Where the Spanish or EU authorities may open investigation or sanctions proceedings, we provide legal advice on all relevant matters throughout the process from the inception of the inspection or dawn raid through to administrative proceedings and disputes, and analysis of the possibilities offered by clemency programmes.
The advisory services provided in the area of Competition and EU Law also include legal counsel in proceedings in the Spanish and EU courts concerning private enforcement of Competition Law rules, State aid, and demands for the enforcement of regulations in other jurisdictions.
Sports & Entertainment
The Sports & Entertainment department provides all-round advise on legal matters arising in the areas of sports, events and audiovisual entertainment.
Our mission is to advise the agents involved in these markets (professional sportspeople, artists, clubs, sponsors, sports bodies and clubs, and events organizers, including both public and private entities) on the challenges and opportunities involved in their professional and business activities, giving legal shape to new contractual initiatives, and limiting or removing possible legal or financial inefficiencies and asymmetries.
Advisory services cover all relevant areas, including in particular Commercial, Tax, Procedural, Criminal and Administrative Law.
The Sports & Entertainment practice is formed by a small but varied team of leading professionals in their respective fields. Their different approaches and expertise enrich the process and guarantee success.