Bufete Choclán

Managing Partner: José Antonio Choclán Montalvo
Number of lawyers: 9
Languages: English, French, Spanish

Firm Overview:
Bufete Choclán is a leading law firm in the practice of criminal law, litigation, the resolution of the most varied kinds of disputes and conflicts and negotiation. Founded in 2004 the firm is managed by Jose Antonio Choclán Montalvo, judge of the Spanish National High Court on voluntary leave and Doctor of Criminal Law. Throughout its history, the firm has excelled with renowned success in the most complex and demanding cases of great social significance. Personalized attention, high specialisation and technical quality of every area and professional and, of course, its results, attests the firm as a reference in the legal market. Ambition for legal excellence, satisfaction for pioneer doctrine and scientific creation and an avant-garde legal training are deeply held values for every professional on the firm. Bufete Choclán has its headquarters in Madrid, providing comprehensive service in Spain and internationally through an extensive network of collaborations.

Main Areas of Practice:
■ Criminal Law
■ Corporate Defence and Compliance
■  International Procedural Law
■ Reports, Legal Opinions and Memorandums
■ Tax Law
■ Entertainment Law

Criminal Law:
Criminal defence of the client may consist in exercising criminal legal actions or, on the other side, defending against them. The client’s case is undertaken on every procedural instance before every court, offering extensive experience on appeals to the Supreme Court and petitions for constitutional redress before the Constitutional Court. Our practice ordinarily coincides with criminal matters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Specialized Economic Crimes Division.
Among other matters, the firm offers highly specialized advice in the following:
- Money laundering and related conducts
- Tax, public aids and social security crimes
- Fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement and other property crimes
- Criminal bankruptcy
- Price-fixing in public tenders and auctions
- Criminal liability of consultants and auditors
- Crimes against workers’ rights
- Land planning and environmental crimes
- Intellectual and industrial property crimes
- Crimes related to the market and consumers
- Stock crimes and financial fraud
- Crimes of corruption in international commercial transactions
- Crimes of corruption in business
- Crimes of corruption in sport and bets
- Bribery of public officials
- Obstruction of justice crimes
- Crimes of defamation: libel and slander
- Disclosure of professional, commercial o business secrets
- Infiltration crimes
- Forgeries

Corporate Defence and Compliance:
The criminal defence of a legal entity and its directors is a fundamental concern in the new conception of criminal law. The assessment of criminal risks, analysis of financial operations and the issuance of opinions on the prevention of criminal actions are indispensable tasks for the adequate management of a company. The preventive defence against corporate criminal liability is one of the newest and more important aspects to consider given the current criminal policy.
Among other services, the firm offers:
- Risk assessment and prevention
- Corporate defence in criminal procedures and investigations
- Analysis of financial transactions
- Design of criminal compliance programmes
- Prevention and detection of criminal acts
- Whistleblowing channels
- Internal investigations
- Corporate compliance structures

International Procedural Law:
Bufete Choclán has extensive experience in extradition proceedings, European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) and in the transfer of criminal proceedings among jurisdictions, derived from the firm’s managing partner background as a Judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Spanish National High Court, specialized body in charge of addressing these types of international proceedings in Spain.

Reports, Legal Opinions and Memorandums:
The managing partner has significant professional experience in the preparation of reports and the issuance of legal opinions resulting from having held the position of Director of Studies and Reports of the General Council of the Judiciary. The academic and practical training and experience of the firm’s professionals in matters related to the criminal jurisdiction further confirms them as experts in criminal law for providing these services in all kinds of criminal matters.

Tax Law:
The firm has renowned prestige on the resolution of the most serious and complex tax law cases and investigations involving natural persons and all forms of corporations. The firm provides services in all instances of the case, from prevention and commencement of public investigations to criminal and administrative proceedings, assessing every detail in each case to provide the best possible solution for the client.
Among other tax law services, the firm offers the following:
- Tax compliance, risk assessment and prevention
- Management of public investigations against the client
- Administrative tax proceedings
- Criminal tax proceedings
- Deals and negotiations with the tax authorities
- Tax regularizations

Entertainment Law:
Bufete Choclán has been a reference in litigation since its origins, given the firm’s history of success on a wide variety of contentious matters and the experience of its lawyers in court. The firm has successfully represented a large number of celebrities, athletes, artists and businessmen on the entertainment industry. The firm also provides legal advice in contractual matters and the legal protection of intellectual property.
Among other matters, the firm provides services on the following:
- Copyright infringement proceedings
- Image, publicity rights and privacy law litigation
- Tax proceedings involving image rights
- Match-fixing and other forms of corruption in sport
- Betting and gambling frauds
- Contract negotiation, drafting and review
- Transfer, assignment, and exploitation of image rights

Clients:
Bufete Choclán has a strict policy of non-disclosure of its client’s names. The firm has elected to keep this information confidential, notwithstanding any public information or coverage from media outlets that may be found published.