Cuatrecasas

Firm overview: Cuatrecasas is a well-established international law firm in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Through a highly specialized legal teams with extensive knowledge and experience, the firm advises on all areas of business law, offering a sectoral approach and focus on all types of business. It helps clients with the most demanding matters wherever they are based.

In 2023, Cuatrecasas was recognized as the “Most Innovative Law Firm in Continental Europe” by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers, and in 2022, it was considered the "European and Iberian Firm of the Year" by The Lawyer.

Main areas of practice

• • Antitrust and competition
  • Banking and finance
  • Business and human rights
  • Capital markets
  • Corporate and M&A
  • Corporate governance and compliance
  • Energy and infrastructure
  • Litigation and arbitration
  • Employment
  • Intellectual property and data protection
  • Life sciences and healthcare
  • Private client and wealth management
  • Private equity and venture capital
  • Public law
  • Real estate and town planning
  • Restructuring, insolvency and special situations
  • Sports and entertainment
  • Tax
  • Technologies and digital media
  • White-collar crime and investigations

Clients and 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. Last year in Portugal, the firm advised the German-listed private equity fund Mutares on the acquisition of a 71.7% stake in power gear manufacturer Efacec; advised Onex Renewables on the sale of five wind farms in Portugal to Finerge (€551m); advised Auchan on the acquisition of the Portuguese retail business of DIA / Minipreço (€155m); advised Fnac Darty on the acquisition of Media Market Portugal; advised Hotel Investment Partners (Blackstone) on the acquisition of Cascade Resort (€50m). The firm also represented Daimler in its legal victory with the Court of Justice of the European Union in the truck cartel follow-on damages litigation. Additionally, it is advising European Investment Bank on the financing for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the Hospital de Lisboa Oriental, the biggest public project of the last decade in Portugal.

Responsible business: The firm incorporates environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria in the service provision and internal management. The firm includes integrity and transparency in its main values. EcoVadis awarded us the Gold Medal rating for 2023.

Cuatrecasas promotes flexible working, efficiency and a work-family balance. Also, through training, pilot programs and policies, the firm has approved measures aimed at removing obstacles to the promotion of female talent and leadership. Its Pro Bono Program contributes to rule of law and to access to justice.

Knowledge and innovation: Cuatrecasas promotes an innovation culture applied to the legal activity, which combines training, procedures and technological resources to enhance efficiency. Together with the founders of Harvey AI—the software based on OpenAI and GPT-4—the firm has launched Cuatrecasas Legal Expert AI (CELIA), a tool that will help them with the drafting of legal documents and legal information searches.

Also, Cuatrecasas was the first law firm to create a startup accelerator in Europe and Latin America, Cuatrecasas Acelera—now in its seventh edition—and to set up an investment vehicle specializing in legaltech startups.

Global capabilities

• • Spain and Portugal: Cuatrecasas is a leading law firm in the Iberian market. A 900-strong team of lawyers in 13 cities in Spain and over 220 in the two major cities in Portugal advise large multinationals, financial institutions and international funds present on the Iberian Peninsula on an ongoing basis and have extensive experience in all types of investment transactions.
  • Latin America: The firm presence in the region is structured and coordinated from the Bogotá, Mexico City, Lima and Santiago offices, where we have over 250 professionals. Thanks to over 20 years of experience in Latin America, it can also provide the coverage needed for all interregional or cross-border transactions, as well as for matters that require efficient coordination among various jurisdictions.
  • Asia: The firm advises on investments in China and other countries in the region through our offices in Shanghai and Beijing, and through its China Desk, which consists of Iberian and Chinese lawyers from different offices who assist Chinese clients investing abroad.
  • London, Brussels and New York: Through a team of lawyers in London, Cuatrecasas advises multinationals, financial institutions, investors and a wide range of funds on their transactions in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. The firm is also based in Brussels, where it advises on matters regarding the European Union. The New York office acts as a bridge to Latin America and maintains a close relationship with local teams. This ensures global coverage in North America and Latin America, enabling Cuatrecasas to play a key role in advising international investors in the region.
  • European network: In continental Europe, Cuatrecasas built a strong non-exclusive network with leading law firms in their domestic markets (Chiomenti in Italy, Gide in France and Gleiss Lutz in Germany) that enables it to provide clients with a fully integrated service in complex cross-border transactions, international projects and litigation.
  • Africa: Cuatrecasas has two local teams in Africa: Casablanca (Morocco) and Luanda (Angola). In Morocco, it collaborates with the French law firm Gide, and in Angola, it collaborates with a leading local law firm. Cuatrecasas has accumulated experience over the many years being active in Africa, particularly in the Portuguese-speaking countries and the countries of North Africa.

Chairman: Rafael Fontana
Managing partner: Javier Fontcuberta
Number of partners: 275
Number of lawyers: 1,300

Languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian