IBERIAN LAWYER 40 under Forty 2011 - Gold Abogados · Iberian Lawyer is proud to present the 40 under Forty 2011 Awards in association with UNICEF. Each year many corporations partner

40 under Forty Awards 2011 • www.iberianlawyer.com

40 under Forty 2011

September 22, Barcelonawww.iberianlawyer.com

IBERIAN LAWYER

• 40 under Forty Awards 2011 www.iberianlawyer.com


40 under forty awards 2011

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Rewarding ExcellenceIberia’s Top Lawyers Under 40

As the Awards Jury of the Iberian Lawyer 40 under Forty Awards 2011, we are pleased to welcome you to the Awards Ceremony, where we are once again recognising the achievement of the new generation

helping to shape the future of the Iberian legal profession.

Quality has been the sole criterion for judging candidates, however, the aim has been to recognise more than just legal excellence. Many of the winners are already playing a significant leadership role within their organisation and making a useful contribution to the wider society in which we live.

The Awards are open to lawyers from any jurisdiction working on Iberian-related matters either within Spain and Portugal or anywhere around the world – under 40 – working within business, law firms, education or public service.

We are very grateful to all of the lawyers who participated – there were over 200 nominations in total – including the clients and colleagues who nominated candidates and the managing partners and law firm business professionals who assisted their submissions.

As you will see on the following pages, all 40 winners have already achieved exceptional results and we look forward to hearing and following their continued future success.

Timetable19:00 - Welcome Drinks20:00 - Awards Ceremony21:00 - Gala Reception

VenueJuan Carlos I HotelAvinguda Diagonal 661-671 08028 BarcelonaTel: +34 933 644 040 www.hrjuancarlos.com

Iberian Lawyer is proud to present the 40 under Forty 2011 Awards in association with UNICEF.

Each year many corporations partner with UNICEF to make a difference in the lives of children. There are many smart ways to shape a high and long-term impact partnership.

Iberian Lawyer and UNICEF España have created a mutually beneficial alliance to spread UNICEF´s voice to thousands of stakeholders.

This support is essential to facilitate UNICEF projects development in order to make the world safer and healthier for children.

IBERIAN LAWYER



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Antonio Alves •General Counsel, Portucel Soporcel Group

Scott Appleton •Editor, Iberian Lawyer

Consuelo Barbé •Director of Securities Market & Corporate Governance, Telefónica

Luís Barreto Xavier •Head of LLM Programmes, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa

Enric Bartlett •Dean, ESADE Law School

Marta Campomanes •Head of Legal, Pernod Ricard

Marta Casas •Head of Legal, Abertis

Iñigo Cisneros •General Counsel, Gamesa

Peter Cornell •Partner, Metric Capital

Maria da Cunha •General Counsel, British Airways

José María de Areilza •Dean, IE Law School

José María de Paz •Head of Legal, AGBAR

Gonzalo Fernández-Atela •Chief Administration Officer, RBC Dexia Investor Services

Antonio García •Head of Legal & Regulatory, Jazztel

Olga García •Head of Legal – London, Banco Santander

Luís Brito Goes •General Counsel, José de Mello

Leopoldo González-Echenique •Head of Legal, NH Hoteles

Antonio Hernández-Gil •Dean, Madrid Bar Association

Beat Hess •Past General Counsel and Member of the Group Executive Committee, Royal Dutch Shell

Tomás López Fernebrand •Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Amadeus

Mónica López-Monís •General Secretary, Banesto

João Lourenço •General Counsel, Millennium BCP

Silvia Madrid •Head of Legal for Spain and Portugal, The Royal Bank of Scotland

Sandra Martín •Legal Director, INDRA

Rui Mayer •General Counsel, GALP Energia

Tiago Melo •Company Secretary, Brisa

Concepción Molina Blázquez •Dean, Universidad Pontificia de Comillas - ICADE

Jesús Moreno Vivas •Company Secretary, Correos

Marina Paradela García •Head of Legal, CEPSA Exploration and Production

Juan Pardo •Senior Vice President, Legal & Compliance, Sol Meliá

Ana Pina Cabral •Company Secretary, Millennium BCP

Juan Riego Vila •General Counsel, Carrefour Spain

John Rigau •Vice President and General Counsel, PepsiCo Western Europe

Francisco Sebastian •Legal Affairs Director, Aeroportos de Portugal

Joaquín Valenzuela •Head of Legal and Compliance Iberia & South American Region, Allianz

Josep Maria Vilajosana •Dean, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Law Faculty

Pedro Yúfera •Dean, Barcelona Bar Association

Awards Jury 2011

• 40 under Forty Awards 2011 www.iberianlawyer.com4


40 under Forty Awards 2011 • www.iberianlawyer.com 5


The Winners

40 under Forty Awards

Outstanding Achievement Awards

María Hernández,• Tyco Santiago Hurtado,• Ministry of Justice

Fundación Lex Nova; Award for Outstanding Social Contribution

Carlos Gil, • SJ Berwin Tiago Duarte, • PLMJ

Awards

Adriana de Buerba,• Pérez-LlorcaAlex Pujol, • GarriguesAndrés Campaña,• IberdrolaAndrew Ward,• Cuatrecasas Gonçalves PereiraÁngel Pérez Pardo,• Uría MenéndezAnna Viladàs, • Roca JunyentAntonio Alcolea,• Pérez-LlorcaAntonio Baena,• Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira António Moura Portugal, • ABBCCarlos Saiz, • EcijaCatarina Pinto, • Vieira de AlmeidaEduardo Abad, • Garrigues Ferrán Escayola,• GarriguesFrancisco Ramírez, • ING DirectFrancisco Soler, • GarriguesFrancisco Javier García Sanz,• Uría MenéndezGema de la Calle, • MavensIgnacio Temiño,• Abril AbogadosIsrael Gómez Caro,• GOLDJaime Fernández, • Fornesa Prada & FernándezJavier Fernández Samaniego,• Bird & BirdJavier Menor,• DeloitteJordi Domínguez, • Latham & WatkinsJosé Fernández-Rañada, • GarriguesJosé Antonio de la Calle,• Baker & McKenzieJosep Maria Gascón,• SOLVAYJuan Ferré,• PLUTAKai Christian Fischer,• Cuatrecasas Gonçalves PereiraMaría González Ordóñez, • GoogleÓscar García Maceiras, • Banco PastorPablo Darna,• Hospital Clínic de BarcelonaPablo González-Espejo, • Uría MenéndezPaula Gomes Freire, • Vieira de AlmeidaRubén Ferrer, • Gómez-Acebo & PomboTomás Pessanha, • PLMJVirginia Beltramini,• Oesía Networks



Santiago HurtadoMinistry of Justice Santiago’s desire to qualify as an Abogado del Estado was driven initially by his wish to become a generalist lawyer, he says. A decision that led him to senior positions with the Regional Madrid Government, the President’s Cabinet Office and as a Secretary General at the Ministry of Justice, and to ultimately become a leading authority on public law.

“I didn’t see a practice area in which I particularly

wanted to specialise and although it was not perhaps the easiest option, the opportunity to become a lawyer with the Public Administration stood out as an obvious route.”

Since passing the notoriously difficult qualifying “Oposiciones” his career trajectory has however been at full speed. “I have been fortunate to have been chosen for a number of roles, some of which were new, but all of which have presented complex challenges and often high level negotiation and representations,” he says.

Among the challenges he has helped overcome have included the refinancing of Madrid’s high profile, and ongoing, motorway expansion project and the restructuring of the broadcaster RTVE into a new public entity; and while with the Ministry of Justice, the implementation of new pro-arbitration and mediation legislation, changes to domestic corporate and company and insolvency regulation, and the legal development of the “Ley de Acceso” which has had a significant impact on the way lawyers now qualify in Spain.

At the Ministry of Justice he oversaw a team of 75 and was responsible for legal relations with the Secretary of State and Cabinet Office. Alongside the practicalities of enacting the Government’s aims Santiago nonetheless strongly believes in the importance of transparency in public decision-making and the legislative process.

“What is obviously important is to ensure the legality of Government decisions and that the processes employed comply with the competences of each Ministry, but we also saw the need to modernise the Government Legal Service itself.”

Overcoming political hurdles may have been his life for the past decade but outside of work he has overcome significant challenges too; a champion skier he is also a committed mountaineer and having already conquered Europe’s highest peaks is now looking towards the Himalayas.

María HernándezTyco InternationalAs Corporate Ombudsman and Head of Compliance Education for global giant Tyco, María’s remit extends across the globe and feeds directly into the Board of Directors. Diversity and internationalism are the key elements that stand out from her career to date and which are most evident in her current role, she says.

“It was important for Tyco to appoint a non-US citizen to demonstrate the

international make-up of the organisation, and as an operational unit it was important that we ‘escape’ the CEO chain to ensure independence and so report direct to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.”

A graduate of CEU San Pablo Madrid, Universidad Complutense with a postgraduate degree from La Sorbonne, María began her career with Nortel as a member of the firm’s HR Leadership Programme relocating to the UK, Argentina and Italy, before taking up the Paris-based role of European Employment Counsel with responsibility across 15 countries. After two years she was promoted to Head of Legal for Southern Europe, encompassing Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus.

After nine years with Nortel she decided however on a change, taking a two year sabbatical including working as a legal adviser with the Spanish Commission for Asylum Seekers. “Aside from giving a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction, the role enabled me to develop as an advocate, making petitions and arguing claims for immunity before the Spanish courts,” she says.

María returned to commercial practice, as Head of Legal for Southern Europe and Middle East at Tyco International, recruiting lawyers in Spain, Italy and Dubai to build a new legal team. She also played a key role in establishing an innovative model for outsourcing legal services, which saw Eversheds emerge as the company’s sole European adviser.

Four years later María was promoted to be Tyco International’s Corporate Ombudsman, and relocated to the Princeton, New Jersey, headquarters. More recently she has been appointed Head of Global Compliance Education.

“The Ombudsman role is unique, but as an office we handle around 800 cases annually and draw on the expertise of the company’s Audit, HR, Internal Investigation and EHS functions. What is important for Tyco is not only to have robust corporate governance guidelines but also to act within them.”

Outstanding Achievement AwardsThe Awards Jury may decide to present an Outstanding Achievement Award in the circumstances that they feel that one or more candidates is truly exceptional. In this case, they would like to recognise the following two winners:



Award for Outstanding Social Contribution

Carlos GilSJ Berwin As a Partner and Head of the Labour and Social Security Law Practice at SJ Berwin in Spain, Carlos leads the employment team as well as having oversight of the firm’s HR, training and development programmes.

For more than 15 years he has also been involved in University academics as a Professor of Labour and Social Security Law at Universidad Pontificia de

Comillas (ICADE), as well as at various international business schools including ESCP School and IE Law School.

He is a member of the SJ Berwin International Diversity Committee but has also always worked with Non-Governmental Organisations, he says. “It is important that as lawyers we use the skills and experiences we acquire not only for the benefit of our clients but for society as a whole.”

The past year has also seen him take the lead in a pro bono project that has itself prompted changes to Spain’s employment and social security legislation.

Carlos has been involved with the Mujer Familia y Trabajo Foundation in a project aimed at helping to reconcile family and work commitments for parents of children with cancer and other serious illnesses. It has meant working not only with the Foundation but also with the Ministry of Labour and the Secretary of State for Social Security, to create a new social security benefit.

“The project required technical analysis from a legal, medical and social security viewpoint on its viability. With the goal being to design a new benefit that compensates the time parents are required to reduce their working hours, and salary, to care for their sick child.”

Such a process has meant having to ascertain not only the scope of the illnesses covered, but also what the maximum and minimum reduction of working hours should be, whether the right should be vested in only one or both parents, and when the right ends.

The new benefit was finally introduced in January 2011, creating what is in effect a remunerated leave of absence, requiring changes to both Spain’s Labour Law and Workers’ Statute, he explains. “And now we have the prospect of further changes being introduced that reflect other aspects of the Foundation’s work.”

Tiago DuartePLMJ Considered one of PLMJ’s brightest young Public and Administrative Law lawyers, Tiago Duarte was elected Partner in 2008 and is now Deputy Head of the firm’s Public Law – Projects department.

“In areas such as administrative and public law it is crucial to be able to take a full view of the issues at stake and who are the interested parties. And if you are to build a

successful strategy, particularly where there is litigation or arbitration, to fully understand the impact on a client’s own business.”

His practice to date has focused on complex infrastructure contracts, public-private partnerships and procurement issues. In light of the ongoing economic pressures facing Portugal, and the Government’s desire to renegotiate many public contracts, these are areas that are more than ever seeing financial and legal scrutiny.

He also sits as an arbitrator and acts as counsel in national and international arbitrations.

“One particularly significant deal, which perhaps reflects the new Portuguese reality, was our representation of the Ascendi Group in the renegotiation of road concessions valued at €3.5bn involving the conversion of the existing shadow toll arrangements to real electronic tolls.”

But alongside his public law practice Tiago is also considered a prominent academic authority. A graduate of the Law Faculty of the Universidade de Lisboa, he holds a PhD in Public Law and is a Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law – regularly elected “best Professor” by students.

A former Legal Adviser to the Portuguese Ministers’ Council and Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State for the Economy, he is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge (Lauterpacht Centre for International Law and Wolfson College) where he is undertaking research on Investment Protection Arbitration and Public Contracts.

“As well as having a significant impact on the way business looks at the investment potential of a country, public and administrative law has a real impact on people’s every day lives – in this sense it also offers a mechanism to question both the ways in which Government decisions are made and the outcomes of the policies they propose.”

Aside from the Awards, Fundación Lex Nova would like to highlight the social contribution of lawyers. They have selected the following 40 under Forty winners to receive a special mention and will be ma-kingafinancialcontributiontotheirchosencharities:



Winners

Andrew Ward, Cuatrecasas Gonçalves PereiraAndrew is a UK-qualified Barrister, who during his career has practised in the UK, Belgium and Spain. After initially qualifying in London he joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels before moving to Cuatrecasas in Madrid in 2002. He was made a Partner at the firm in 2009 at which time he led the office’s EU and Competition practice.

In recent years he has featured prominently in a number of high profile antitrust cases, including last years representing Telefónica and Prisa through the latter’s restructuring and investigations by both the European and domestic regulatory authorities. Andrew is an active member of the Spanish Association for the Defence of Competition, and is a Visiting Professor in Competition Law at McGeorge School of Law in the US, at ESADE, San Pablo CEU and Universidad Carlos III.

Ángel Pérez Pardo, Uría Menéndez A litigation and arbitration specialist, Ángel is one of the firm’s youngest-ever Partners – elevated to the partnership ranks at only 32. His practice is focused on contractual liability and corporate litigation. He counts Acciona,

Iberdrola and Banco Santander among his most high profile recent clients. Educated at the University of Navarra, where he continues to teach, and Columbia Business School, he also practised with Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York.

Ángel has responsibility for the firm’s litigation knowledge management systems, is among the firm’s junior lawyer mentors and has responsibility for recruitment. He is a co-ordinator of the Club Español del Arbitraje’s CEA-40 group, and of a Fundación Profesor Uría programme aimed at helping children and immigrants and is involved in the

Community Law School Programme.

Anna Viladàs, Roca JunyentAnna leads the eight-lawyer Intellectual Property

Group at Roca Junyent. A contracts specialist, her focus in recent years has been towards advertising

and media law and she counts major international media companies as well as the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation as clients.

A graduate of the University of Barcelona and University of Chicago Law School, her career began in Madrid before moving on to work in Paris and Stockholm before ultimately joining Roca Junyent in Barcelona.

She was promoted to Partner in 2006, having previously been Head of the firm’s Recruitment Committee, and is now a member of the firm’s seven-partner Executive Committee. She also advises two mental health charities, among others, on a pro bono basis.

Adriana de Buerba, Pérez-Llorca Regarded as one of the key figures behind Spain’s anti-money laundering rules, Adriana is the Head of the White Collar Crime Group at Pérez-Llorca which she joined in 2008 after a decade as a Public Prosecutor. Within the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office her focus was on combating tax evasion, financial fraud and organised crime. She was also a Prosecutor in the Immigration Office where she co-ordinated a network encompassing Spain’s 52 provinces.

On joining Pérez-Llorca, Adriana established the firm’s White Collar Crime practice which now encompasses seven lawyers and was promoted to Partner at the start of 2011. Her practice focus is now towards advising multinational companies with regard to criminal proceedings or fraud and financial investigations and compliance.

Alex Pujol, GarriguesOne of Garrigues’ youngest-ever Partners, Alex leads a team of over 70 lawyers encompassing corporate, commercial, regulatory and M&A issues, including a dedicated team of 15 private equity lawyers.

Alex joined Garrigues in 1997 and has particular oversight of the Barcelona Private Equity practice advising on fund formation and transactions for major banks, funds, individuals and public entities. He is also tasked with corporate and commercial recruitment in Barcelona. A Postgraduate of both Oxford and Harvard Universities, Alex is also a lecturer at the Entrepreneurship Institute and Business Angels Academy at ESADE

Andrés Campaña, IberdrolaAs Legal Director of the Energy Management and Retail Division of Iberdrola, Andrés has played a lead role in a number of the company’s most high profile contract and long-term gas supply negotiations and in resolving arbitrations and disputes with regulators and public authorities; as well as advising on changing tariff regimes and Spain’s energy liberalisation process.

He began his career with Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira in the Public Law department before joining Iberdrola, first as Legal Director of the company’s Gas Division. He now oversees a team of nine lawyers servicing over 1,000 internal clients across Spain, Continental Europe and the UK and US.



Winners

Carlos Saiz Peña, Ecija As the Head of Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) at Madrid-based Ecija since 2003, Carlos has led an expanding team in what has been a rapidly evolving, and now one of the most in-demand, areas of practice.

“IT issues affect all aspects of companies’

business, but clients are no longer willing to simply react to regulatory or sector change they want to pre-empt it, in the way they do business and structure their companies.”

Having joined the firm from university, Carlos has spent his entire career in the IT and data protection arenas. During this time, he has acted as lead counsel to private companies and public administrations on outsourcing, compliance and data protection audits.

He is Vice President and a co-Founder of ISMS Forum Spain, a non-profit organisation intended to raise awareness on the importance of IT Security across public and private organisations, and is Deputy Director of Spain’s Data Protection Institute, a think tank of both national and international experts. Reflecting the dramatic evolution of the IT sector, he is also now a Member of the Spanish Board of Directors of the Cloud

Security Alliance, an international body aimed at promoting best practice within cloud computing.

“Technological development is a primary way of promoting economic growth and

progress in society. New technologies however propose challenges that imply not only new legal

issues, but also a change of habits, corporate culture and corporate organisation model. At Ecija, understanding and living the technology enables us to know better the business and needs of our clients to provide the right

service.”As well as leading a team of 30 lawyers and consultants, Carlos has also taken

the lead in developing a number of the firm’s “off the shelf” and online products aimed at simplifying the way companies manage compliance and risk issues. “Ecija’s strong presence in the

TMT sectors (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) enable us to continue

working in a very active market, as much from the point of view of the new regulation, as by the new technologies and new business models that are emerging,” he says.

Antonio Alcolea, Pérez-LlorcaHaving qualified as an Abogado del Estado in 2003 Antonio has played a lead role as Head of a number of Spain’s public legal services departments. Prior to entering private practice in 2010, he was a State Advocate to the Head of the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, as well as co-ordinator of legal services for the Spanish State Advocate’s Office for the Economic and Social Council.

He was previously Head of the State Agency for the Evaluation of Public Policies and Quality of Services, a first among Spanish public agencies and a model that has since been adopted many times over. At Pérez-Llorca he co-leads a team of ten junior and senior lawyers.

Antonio Baena, Cuatrecasas Gonçalves PereiraOne of Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira’s brightest young corporate talents, Antonio has played a prominent role in a number of Spain’s largest and most high profile public transactions in recent years including now, advising on the privatisation of Spain’s airports operator AENA.

Having initially begun his career as an investment banker, in London and New York before joining Cuatrecasas, his practice focus is towards M&A, private equity and corporate finance. He has day-to-day responsibility for 40 lawyers in the corporate group in Madrid. Outside of the firm he is a frequent commentator on corporate matters and Professor at ESADE, ICADE and CEU, among other universities.

António Moura Portugal, ABBCA Founding Partner of ABBC, António is now co-Managing Partner of the 40-lawyer seven-partner firm. He is recognised as one of Portugal’s leading tax lawyers and the leading aviation lawyer. He co-leads the firm’s Tax Group and is Head of the six-lawyer Aviation Group, with a client list that includes the major European and US airlines which he has represented before the domestic and European courts.

António is also now on the steering committee of ABBC/DLA since it became DLA Piper’s Portuguese Focus Firm earlier this year. A frequent writer and commentator on legal issues, he has been an Associate Law Professor at the University of Lisbon since 1997. A successful athlete, he was a national youth champion in both basketball and swimming.



Winners

Catarina Pinto, Vieira de AlmeidaCatarina established and now leads the firm’s Public Procurement Group and co-Leads the Public Law Group. Considered one of Vieira de Almeida’s brightest young lawyers she holds responsibility for managing relations with many of its largest clients in the energy, postal, road and transport sectors.

She has featured prominently among many of the firm’s most high profile projects and PPP transactions, including the €1,5bn expansion of Portugal’s High Speed Rail network; regarded as the high water mark of the 2008/2010 Portuguese infrastructure boom. She holds a Masters in EC Law from the College of Europe and is a postgraduate of King´s College London.

Eduardo Abad, GarriguesEduardo is considered a rising star for Spanish tax issues and has played a key role in developing a number of new “product” initiatives at the firm in response to changing domestic and international regulation. He directs the 25-lawyer Tax Finance Group at Garrigues and helped create and now leads the 30-lawyer Financial Sector Tax Group.

In recent years he has featured as a lead tax adviser in a number of the firm’s most significant M&A, capital markets and financial products transactions, having developed specific expertise in the insurance sector in which respect he counts most of the major European players as clients. He leads tax recruitment and is a Professor of tax law at a number of Spanish institutions.

Ferran Escayola, GarriguesAs Managing Partner of the firm’s New York office, Ferran is the face of Garrigues and the key relationship lawyer in the world’s largest legal market.

A corporate and cross-border M&A and private equity specialist, Ferran spent a year as a Foreign Associate with Skadden Arps in New York before returning to Spain to co-lead Garrigues’ US desk. In the last five years, he has advised over 40 M&A transactions as lead or Spanish counsel. He was promoted to Partner in 2009 and took charge of the firm’s US operations in 2010.

Alongside private client work, he also advises Spanish governmental, social and cultural institutions in the US and is Vice President of the Cervantes Institute Advisory Board in New York.

Israel Gómez-Caro, GOLDIn a relatively short period of time, Israel has emerged as one of the rising stars of Spain’s project finance sector and has helped lead the emergence of a new wave of corporate law firms.

The global financial downturn has proved

challenging for many businesses but has nonetheless provided opportunities for law firms able to react to the changing client demand. Such an environment has proved an opportune time for the launch of Madrid boutique GOLD Abogados, of which he is a Founding Partner.

“Since the onset of the crisis we have seen clients placing much greater emphasis not only on getting the

best advice at the right price, but also to ensure that it relates to their own business and industry sector norms.”

His own firm’s focus reflects that of its three Founding Partners: EU and competition law,

dispute resolution and Israel’s own area of expertise project finance. He began his career at Madrid finance boutique Castro Sueiro & Varela before joining the Finance

and Projects Group at DLA Piper Madrid where his practice moved towards the energy and

infrastructure sectors. In 2008, along with two fellow DLA Senior Associates, he nonetheless left the firm to

launch GOLD.“Our size has proved no barrier to attracting some

of the largest finance and industry companies as clients, in fact in many instances it has proved to be a positive factor – they have the confidence that

we are committed to be ‘their’ law firm.” Among his banking, energy and infrastructure

clients are BBVA, La Caixa, Banco Sabadell, Banesto, Bankia, WestLB, Abengoa, Isolux Corsan

and Fotowatio. He admits that there remains much to do in consolidating the firm’s activities but having established GOLD all three Founding Partners remain hugely committed to deepening both their legal and industry expertise further.

“Looking forward, in what will likely continue to be difficult times, our collective goal remains to position our boutique as an innovative, strong and credible alternative to the major players in the Spanish market in project finance, competition and litigation – no easy task given that these are all areas in which the largest firms have traditionally dominated.”



Winners

Jordi Domínguez, Latham & WatkinsIt was an interest in economics and a questioning of his desire to follow through with his law studies that led Jordi towards his specialisation in tax, he says, and which is now an area of practice he leads at Latham & Watkins in Spain and

where he is Deputy Office Managing Partner. “I found the economics part of my law degree by far

the most interesting and was encouraged to understand the role tax plays in influencing not only finance structures but also corporate structures.”

Having focused on the area first with Arthur Andersen including through its merger with Garrigues, and where he practised for almost 15 years in total, and subsequently at Latham & Watkins, he sees two major ways of developing a tax practice.

“One is to play the reactive and support role, with tax as one of many factors in a corporate or transactional strategy. The other way is to see it as core to what a business wants to do – how and where it structures itself and the role it plays in driving a group’s entire financial strategy. The latter is obviously much harder and demands that you fully understand what it is your clients want to do, but it is how I prefer to see things.”

His style of practice has also clearly been influenced by Anglo-Saxon approaches, he believes. “I began my career with Arthur Andersen, which in my opinion heavily influenced the way Garrigues operated as a services business, and have had considerable interaction with US law firms where tax is seen as a stand-alone department with its own client development strategies.”

Jordi co-led the US desk at Garrigues and spent three years in the New York office. The firm is where he developed his core practice and management skills, he says. He joined Latham in 2009 and alongside his other practice and management roles sits on the firm’s

Global Finance Committee.

“Garrigues is a tremendous firm and where

I was already retained to support the founding Latham team on tax issues and so the

move was a very easy one. The opportunity to create a new department and build a new firm was too good to ignore.”

Francisco Javier Ramírez, ING Direct As the Head of Legal and a Vice President (VP) of ING Direct, Francisco oversees the provision of legal advice to all departments of the bank, to the Board and CEO. His VP remit extends to the development of the bank’s business strategy and he acts as Secretary to a number of bank subsidiaries.

A graduate of Zaragoza University, IE Law and Business Schools, Centro de Estudios Financieros and McGeorge School of Law, Francisco began his legal career with Ernst & Young before joining the Corporate Department at Garrigues. He left that firm after four years to take up the position of Head of Legal at ING Direct where he now leads a team of six. Earlier this year he was appointed to the five-member ING Leadership School Committee, in charge of developing a leadership culture within the organisation.

Francisco Soler, Garrigues Francisco launched and continues to act as Managing Partner of Garrigues’ China practice. He relocated to Shanghai in 2005 where he now oversees a team of 25 European and Chinese professionals – the largest local practice of any Spanish firm. Garrigues is recognised as among the most prominent continental European firms in the market, where his clients have included Spanish, Portuguese and other European and US companies on Chinese investments, as well as Chinese businesses expanding to Europe and Latin America.

Since 2006 Francisco has been Vice-Chairman of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in China and is a member of the cross-cultural Spain-China Forum and regularly teaches China business issues at universities including IE Law School, IESE Business School and ICADE.

Francisco Javier García Sanz, Uría MenéndezA rising star in the firm’s Public Law and Litigation Group, Francisco has featured prominently as an adviser to clients as the global financial crisis has unfolded, including Banco Santander in relation to claims arising from the Madoff fraud, in which regard he co-ordinated proceedings in Spain, Switzerland and US.

Francisco was seconded to the firm’s UK “best friend” Slaughter and May early in his career and promoted to Partner in 2005, aged 33. He has management responsibility for the 150-lawyer Public Law, Litigation and Antitrust Group, co-leads a team of 20 dedicated litigation and arbitration lawyers, and is a member of the firm’s Quality Committee and Screening Committee. Utilising his disputes expertise, Francisco is also a junior football league referee.



Gema de la Calle, Mavens Gema is regarded as among the new generation of leading Spanish tax lawyers and a rising star at one of Madrid’s new wave of corporate and commercial law firms.

She began her career at Clifford Chance before joining Rodés & Sala where she was appointed Head of Tax, and was a founding member of Mavens which launched in 2008 – she was promoted to Partner in 2010 and the firm has tripled in size since its formation.

A specialist in corporate taxation, she leads a team of six tax lawyers and economists, with her clients encompassing Spanish and multinational companies and high net worth individuals in real estate transactions, family business, transfer pricing and tax litigation. Gema completed her first degree at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid under a Scholarship from the Ministry of Education before completing a Masters in Taxation, while working throughout the course.

Ignacio Temiño, Abril AbogadosAs a co-Founder and Managing Partner of intellectual property (IP) specialists Abril Abogados, Ignacio leads one of Spain’s fastest growing intellectual property and technology boutiques. The firm launched in 2001 with two lawyers and now counts over 40 across five offices.

His own practice focuses on contentious IP issues, for which he is regarded among the market leaders, and in which regard he has advised Spanish and multinational before the European and domestic courts, as well as leading the development of the firm’s New technologies and Data protection and Entertainment Law practices. Ignacio also heads the firm’s pro bono activities in Spain and Africa.

Jaime Fernández, Fornesa Prada & Fernández At the age of 35, Jaime has already helped found two law firms and practised at one of Spain’s largest firms. He began his career in the litigation department of Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira which he left to become Head of Litigation at start-up firm Rodés & Sala. Four years later he helped found Barcelona’s Fornesa Prada & Fernandez where he is Head of Commercial Litigation with a client list including major domestic and international companies in commercial, intellectual property and insolvency disputes.

A graduate of Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Universitat de Barcelona, Jaime is a recognised sportsman, having played with, trained and then managed basketball teams. He also acted as a basketball league referee for almost a decade.

Winners

Javier Fernández-Samaniego, Bird & BirdConsidered among the leaders of the new generation of Spanish corporate and commercial lawyers, Javier became one of Spain’s youngest Managing Partners when he was chosen by Bird & Bird to lead the firm’s launch in Madrid in 2005 aged 34. Since launching the office with just two lawyers it has grown to over 50 and become a reference in areas such as IT, intellectual property and EU and competition law.

Javier’s own background is in IT and communication issues and he was also among the pioneers of data protection as a distinct area of legal specialism in Spain, having led the practices at his previous firms Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira and Linklaters.

Javier Menor Pérez, Deloitte Abogados y Asesores Tributarios Javier moved on from a successful career at Garrigues to take over as Managing Director of the Catalonia, Aragón and Balearics practice of Deloitte which he has helped build up to over 60 lawyers. A stand out competition specialist in his own right, he also leads the firm’s national EU & Competition Practice and has been elevated to the firm’s Management and Strategy Committee.

A graduate of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Harvard Law School he began his private practice

career in 1998 with Garrigues, which he left for Deloitte in 2008. Since his arrival

he has overseen the restructuring and reinforcing of the team as well as the opening of new lines of practice including real estate and IT, and the launch of a new office in Palma de Mallorca.

José Antonio de la Calle, Baker & McKenzieAs Head of EU and Competition at Baker & McKenzie in Spain, José has this past year alone acted in many of the most high profile issues arising out of the restructuring and recapitalisation of the country’s savings banks (cajas) before both the domestic and European authorities.

A graduate of San Pablo CEU University, Université Libre de Bruxelles and the University of California School of Law, he has practised with Baker & McKenzie in Spain and the UK and spent time as an in-house lawyer with Cable & Wireless. He is a Founding Member and Deputy Chairman of the Club Internacional de Abogados Corporativos (International Club for Corporate Lawyers) and a frequent author and lecturer on competition issues.



Winners

María González Ordóñez, GoogleMaría’s career has been shaped by always looking to push new boundaries but her achievements at work, even as Google’s Head of Legal for Spain, Portugal and Israel, have always to be placed in context, she insists.

“While I am very proud of all the things I have attained, the work challenges I’ve faced are nothing compared to being a mother of three children under six!”

Throughout her career she has however consistently tried to push herself beyond her own “comfort zones”, she says. “This began with what some at the time suggested was an unorthodox move, from Uría Menéndez where I had qualified as a lawyer and built a domestic IP practice, to leave Spain altogether and in effect start again.”

The decision proved positive, María graduated with a Masters in IP and International Law from Columbia University, qualified at the New York Bar and was recruited as an Associate by US firm O’Melveny & Myers. “This was undoubtedly a first push, but which then led me to London and to qualify as a UK solicitor,” she says.

Her interest in IP and technology issues and desire to seek new challenges led her to subsequently take up a position as only the second in-house lawyer with the then start-up company Skype in London. “That decision shaped me into the lawyer I am today, I had to provide solutions to all sorts of new legal challenges in an efficient, timely and business-oriented manner.”

She nonetheless left the company and an expanding legal team to join another “disruptive” technology company, Google, as Head of Legal for Spain and Portugal. As the lead, and first, Iberian lawyer she has since helped guide it through a number of complex Spanish and pan-European legal and regulatory challenges, and added Israel to her list of responsibilities.

“Leadership in an organisation like Google takes on a far larger scope than offering mere in-house advice

– we have to work with stakeholders and even the regulators to understand the impact of

the technologies we are developing.”Again she is keen however to

emphasise the group effort involved in such processes. “We have to work collaboratively. Without the right level

of support in the office and beyond, we inevitably place limits on what we can achieve.”

José Fernández-Rañada, GarriguesAs Head of the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological Group at Garrigues in Madrid, José leads a team of lawyers representing many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in Spain and beyond. A corporate lawyer, he has played a significant role in many of the sector’s largest M&A and private equity deals and is an adviser to a number of industry and national industry bodies.

A graduate of ICADE and Université Libre de Bruxelles, José began his career in-house before joining Garrigues. A frequent lecturer at ESADE and Centro Estudios Garrigues, he is also an adviser to Fundación Wolters Kluwer España’s “Know Your Rights” Programme and the Spanish Food Bank Federation and is involved with The Spanish Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation.

Josep Maria Gascón, SolvayJosep is one of Solvay’s leading tax lawyers with dual pan-European responsibility. His role at the global chemical and plastics group encompasses that of International Tax Manager at the company’s European headquarters in Belgium as well as the Head of Tax for Spain and Portugal. He advises Solvay on cross-border acquisition and disputes and VAT matters globally.

He has led the redesign of Solvay’s tax services processes, encompassing the Group’s 106 subsidiary companies and over 5,000 annual returns, the creation of a Shared Services Centre in Brazil and the possibility of a second in Portugal. He is a member of Solvay’s Finance Management Committee in Spain. A frequent author and lecturer on tax issues he is also a published poet and an accomplished classical musician.

Juan Ferré, PLUTAAs the Managing Partner of the Spanish office of pan-European restructuring and insolvency firm PLUTA, Juan has been involved in over 150 proceedings and acted as the insolvency administrator or arbitrator in some of Spain’s largest bankruptcies. He launched the firm in Spain in Barcelona in 2006 and in 2009 opened the second Madrid branch.

He now sits on the 27-office firm’s Board of Directors overseeing operations in Spain, Germany and Italy. A graduate of the University of Barcelona and IESE Business School, he is a regular commentator on international insolvency issues and co-ordinates the Master in Insolvency Law of the Universidad San Pablo-CEU in Madrid.



14

Winners

Kai Christian Fischer, Cuatrecasas Gonçalves PereiraAs Founder and Head of the German Desk of Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira, Kai co-ordinates a team of 35 lawyers across Spain, Portugal and elsewhere. A corporate and commercial lawyer, he was promoted to Partner in 2009 and continues to lead many of the firm’s German client transactions in Iberia, across Europe and in Latin America.

A graduate of Germany’s Universidad de Würzburg, Kai began his career in Germany but relocated to Spain and joined Cuatrecasas in 2001. He is also on the Executive Board of the German-Spanish Chamber of Commerce and is Vice President of the Fundación Goethe, an initiative by a number of German businesses in Spain to promote cross-cultural development.

Óscar García Maceiras, Banco PastorAs General Secretary and Head of Legal at Banco Pastor, one of Spain’s largest publicly-listed and oldest banks, Óscar oversees a multidisciplinary team of 40 advising on all of the group’s commercial, corporate, regulatory and legal compliance needs.

A graduate of the Universidad de A Coruña, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela and IESE-Universidad de Navarra, and a qualified Abogado del Estado, Óscar began his legal career with the Government Legal Service in Galicia, including playing a lead advisory role in the actions surrounding the 2002 Prestige oil spill off of Spain’s northwest coast. He joined the bank in 2005 and since 2007 has been Secretary General. He is a frequent commentator on regulatory and legal issues and is currently undertaking a further Masters in Politics and Democracy.

Pablo Darna, Hospital Clínic de BarcelonaPablo has overseen the growth and transformation of the legal function at Hospital Clínic. As Secretary General and General Counsel he has dramatically changed the way in which the Hospital uses external legal counsel and how they pay, he has increased the number of in-house lawyers and introduced the use of innovative fixed contract and “on-demand” personnel, as well as helping to create a distinct Procurement Department.

A graduate of ESADE, and now Chairman of its Alumni Association, Pablo began his career with Uría Menéndez before moving in-house and ultimately joining Hospital Clínic in 2008 where his remit was to create a legal department. He is also Chairman of the Under 35s section of the Circulo Ecuestre in Barcelona.

Tomás Pessanha, PLMJAs the Managing Partner of the Oporto office of PLMJ, Tomás has led the firm’s expansion in the north of Portugal.

The growth of the office has been the result of a balanced mixture of both foreign and Portuguese clients, having particularly

benefited from the increased expansion ambitions of the latter, he says.

“Since opening we have seen an increasingly large number of local companies looking to expand both nationally and internationally, in part to hedge against any local drop in activity but also simply to capitalise on growth in other markets in which they already have operations.”

A corporate and litigation specialist, Tomás counts several high profile national and international companies as clients in areas of activity as varied as banking, oil and gas, construction, IT and venture capital/private equity and has represented many others in acquisitions and disputes, including arbitrations, in markets such as Brazil and Angola. He began his career with José Maria Calheiros & Associados before moving to PMBGR - Pena Machete Botelho Moniz Nobre Guedes Ruiz and finally PLMJ in 2001.

Fundamentally his core focus remains towards Oporto having opened the PLMJ office in 2002, aged only 30. As Managing Partner he oversees a team of 20 lawyers including the integration in 2010 of a spin-off of local firm Cavaleiro Brandão Pinheiro Torres Cabral Sousa e Silva e

Associados to create what is now a full-service practice and among PLMJ’s most profitable operations, he says.

“What has proved crucial has been to understand the local business reality, both

for clients already active in the region and for international businesses that want to be here.

You have to be able to look at matters from a commercial perspective and to offer effective and objective advice even in the face of perhaps very challenging situations.”

PLMJ is now established as among the leading firms in the Oporto market.

Tomás also sits on the firm’s Business Development and International Relations Committees and acts as co-Head of PLMJ’s network of national partnerships (Parcerias Nacionais PLMJ).

“The network enables us to reach out to other regions in Portugal where we have client interests but where it is not viable to have a stand-alone operation – it gives us truly national coverage,” he says.



Winners

Rubén Ferrer, Gómez-Acebo &

PomboRubén is Gómez-Acebo & Pombo´s youngest Corporate Partner but

as a transactional and M&A lawyer he has led

many of the firm’s most high profile deals in recent years in the banking,

private equity and tobacco sectors. He practised with Cravath Swaine

& Moore as foreign associate between 2007-08 and was

promoted to Partner two years ahead of his firm’s standard career progression track.

He has co-responsibility for career development among the 30 associates in the Corporate Group, as well as overseeing budgets, realisation and utilisation. He also helped design the firm’s training course for junior associates and is a

Member of the Recruitment and Professional Career Committee.

Virginia Beltramini, Oesía Networks

As a lawyer, Virginia has throughout her career played a key role in helping companies negotiate difficult times and seize new opportunities. As Head of Legal at the telecoms group Oesía Networks she has helped in its refinancing, restructuring and expansion into Latin America, and also sits on the company’s Executive Committee.

Having begun her career with Ernst & Young Abogados in Madrid and subsequently New York, she moved to become Head of Corporate at real estate group Grupo Lar, and subsequently Head of Corporate at leading Spanish real estate company Metrovacesa, where she managed relations with the Spanish Securities Regulator (CNMV) – both positions undertaken during periods of tremendous difficulty for the real estate sector in Spain.

Pablo González-Espejo, Uría MenéndezPredominantly a transactional and telecoms specialist, Pablo was entrusted with launching the São Paulo office of Uría Menéndez aged only 28 and promoted to Partner at 32. He led the firm’s practice in Brazil, which grew to 12 lawyers, working in tandem with local “best friend” firm Dias Carneiro Advogados and was one of the first foreign lawyers to be registered with the Brazilian Bar Association as a foreign consultant.

He has played a leading role in the liberalisation of Spain’s telecoms sector and the expansion of international communications and broadcast players, including advising on the IPOs of both Telecinco and the regulatory approval of La Sexta, as well as helping establish the firm’s Sports Law Practice. He now leads the firm’s 30-lawyers TMT and Life Science Practice Group and sits on the Recruitment and Appointments Committee.

Paula Gomes Freire, Vieira de AlmeidaAs Portugal’s finance community has weathered the storms of the global financial crisis, Paula has played a key role in the refinancing and restructuring of a number of Portugal’s Banks, including advising on Portugal’s first European Medium Term Note (EMTN) Programme, as well as the issue of securitisation notes and bonds by the Portuguese state.

Paula co-Heads Vieira de Almeida’s 18-lawyer Structured Finance and Securitisation Group and has helped secure the firm’s position as the market leader in securitisation and bond transactions. Paula is a Graduate of Harvard Law School, established the firm’s secondment programme with Clifford Chance and is a Member of the firm’s Pro Bono Executive Committee.



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