Cuatrecasas

Chairman: Rafael Fontana
Managing Partner: Jorge BadÍa
Number of partners: 204
Number of lawyers: 797
Languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

Firm Overview:
Specialising in all areas of business law, Cuatrecasas is present in 12 countries, with a strong focus on Spain, Portugal and Latin America. With a multidisciplinary and diverse team of over 1,000 lawyers, the firm applies a sectoral approach, covering all types of business and combining maximum technical expertise with business vision.

Main Areas of Practice:
Arbitration
Capital Markets
Competition & EU
Corporate & Commercial
Corporate Compliance
Crime
Data Protection
Environment
Finance
Financial Regulatory
Infrastructure & PPP
Intellectual & Industrial Property
Labour & Employment
Litigation
Mediation
Mergers & Acquisitions
Private Client & Wealth Management
Public Restructuring & Insolvency
Tax
Town Planning
Industry Groups

Clients & Experience:
Cuatrecasas has a solid track-record working with leading companies, advising them on their day-to-day activity and on major transactions and well-known litigation proceedings. Some examples from last year include Taiyo Nippon Sanso’s €5 billion acquisition of the Praxair’s European business; El Corte Inglés’s €3.65 billion debt refinancing; the Saeta Yield €2.45 billion takeover bid proposed by Terraform Power; Kosmos’s $3 billion partnership with the ITF to transform Davis Cup; AIMCo’s €1.4 billion acquisition of Eolia; and LetterOne’s €926 million acquisition of a 25% stake in DIA. Also, the firm is representing the international consortium in the international arbitration related to the project to build Line 2 of the Lima subway.

Awards:
In 2018, Cuatrecasas was recognised as the most innovative law firm in Europe (outside the UK), being ranked 10th among the most innovative firms in Europe, the first firm from a non-English speaking country in the ranking. The firm also received two awards in the ‘Strategy & changing behaviours’ and ‘Collaboration’ categories.

Innovation, Knowledge & Collaboration:
Cuatrecasas lawyers work with a new approach to client service, combining collective knowledge with innovation and the latest technologies. It has a knowledge and innovation group made up of a multidisciplinary team of academics, lawyers and technologists specialising in research and development. This enables the firm to manage its resources and collective knowledge more efficiently; promote ongoing improvement of its internal processes; and guarantee the provision of efficient, innovative and top-quality advice to its clients. The firm uses artificial intelligence programs, and has created collaboration platforms with clients to share documents and procedures, and to enable them to follow up on their cases. It advocates remote access and open work spaces that foster accessibility and transparency, and optimise synergies. Cuatrecasas was the first European law firm to create a startup accelerator. Three editions later, the firm has worked on over 20 different projects and has established the first specialist investment vehicle in legaltech startups.

International Work:
Cuatrecasas has a strong presence throughout the Iberian Peninsula, a network of 27 offices in 12 countries, and extensive experience in all types of cross-border advice. The firm combines local expertise with its shared global resources, to guarantee expert, personal advice that is tailored to the needs of each client and each case. The firm offers legal services through an extensive network of integrated offices (16 in Spain and Portugal and 11 international), five international desks (Asia, France, Germanic countries, Latin America and the Middle East) and over 20 country-specific groups, as well as through its cooperation with other leading law firms with which the firm maintains institutional relationships and work regularly.

Latin America:
The firm covers a large part of the Latin American market from its offices in Mexico City and São Paulo, a strategic alliance in Colombia with the leading local firm Posse Herrera Ruiz, and a large team of lawyers with extensive expertise in the area’s main jurisdictions.

London & New York:
Cuatrecasas has offices in London and New York acting as liaison for clients based in the UK and North America who have interests, mainly in Iberia and Latin America. The firm’s lawyers can lead any transaction from the London and New York offices, in the client’s time zone and market, and team up with the required experts in the rest of jurisdictions to offer round-the-clock service.

Asia:
The firm advises on investments in China and other countries in the region through our offices in Shanghai and Beijing, and through the China Desk, a group of Iberian and Chinese lawyers from different offices who assist Chinese clients investing in Iberia, Latin America and Africa.

European Network:
In continental Europe, the firm has consolidated the strong non-exclusive network with leading law firms in their domestic markets (Gide in France, Chiomenti in Italy and Gleiss Lutz in Germany) that allows them to provide clients seamless, integrated service on complex cross border projects.

Africa:
The offices in Morocco, Angola and Mozambique work in partnership with local partners, to assist foreign investors in Africa, especially in Portuguesespeaking countries, as well as African investors targeting projects abroad. The firm has a large group of lawyers with extensive knowledge of the legal systems, cultures and business trends of the main regions of Africa.