12 stories of Iberian Lawyer

With only a couple of weeks to go until the end of this first year of life of the new Iberian Lawyer magazine, we have selected the 12 articles that we believe have stood out the most during 2019

Last April the all-new Iberian Lawyer magazine was launched into the market, with the aim to change the game with regard to media coverage of the Spanish and Portuguese legal markets. For this new era, the magazine became monthly, digital and free, all to breathe new life into what is our fundamental passion: high quality, insightful journalism. For this special end-of-year issue, we have selected 12 articles from all those published during 2019, which we believe reflect very well the new spirit of the magazine. With all of them we wanted to continue consolidating our presence within the legal profession, trying to open a space for debate, listening to and expressing all the points of view of the true protagonists of the Iberian legal community, the lawyers.

1. “LIVING A NIGHTMARE”

N.83 • APRIL 2019 Cyberattacks are a very dangerous reality for law firms. Last January, Portugal´s largest firm, PLMJ, witnessed how its systems were hacked and information was published on the “Mercado de Benfica” blog. The large volume of confidential information handled by firms makes them a very attractive target for hackers. In this article we discuss various measures that can help law firms minimize risks.

2. “LOVE IS IN THE AIR”

N.84 • MAY 2019 This piece of research conducted by Iberian Lawyer showed that one in four lawyers at firms in Spain and Portugal have had a relationship with a colleague who works in their office. While such relationships can make those involved happier and more motivated, things can turn sour and some law firms are developing policies to minimize the damage that can be caused by these relationships.

3. “LIVING A LIE”

N.84 • MAY 2019 Some LGBTI lawyers do not feel they can be themselves when in the office, but, increasingly, law firms are realising that they need to take action on this issue. However, despite these tales of the discomfort and misery some of the profession’s dinosaurs inflict on their LGBTI colleagues, the good news is that, increasingly, law firms are saying “enough is enough” and are taking steps to address this issue.

4. “ALL EYES ON LISBON”

N.84 • MAY 2019 Whether it is because international investors and funds have their sights fixed on Portuguese assets, or because Portugal is the gateway to potentially lucrative Portuguesespeaking markets in Latin America or Africa, the reality is that more and more foreign firms are heading for Lisbon.

5. “IBERIAN LAWYER TOP 100 SPAIN”

N.85 • JUNE 2019 Garrigues, Cuatrecasas and Uría Menéndez were the market leaders in 2018, but in this first research of its kind, in which Iberian Lawyer reveals the top 100 law firms in Spain by revenue – the study shows that the vast majority of the country’s law firms grew their revenue during the last year, partly due to increased international expansion.

6. “PAY CHECK”

N.86 • JULY 2019 Leading Spanish law firms are disrupting the legal sector by accepting payment in cryptocurrency for the services they provide – advocates claim that blockchain will ensure there will be more integrity in the provision of legal services and mean clients are billed more fairly.

7. “IBERIAN LAWYER TOP 30 PORTUGAL”

N.86 • JULY 2019 Portuguese law firms have traditionally been notoriously secretive about how much money they make. In an unprecedented piece of research, in this issue of Iberian Lawyer we published a list of the Top 30 law firms in Portugal by revenue, as well as details about the top performing firms in terms of revenue per partner and revenue per lawyer.

8. “AIMING HIGH”

N.87 • SEPTEMBER 2019 Alejandro Touriño, speaks loud and clear about his firm’s strategy for the coming years: becoming the top Spanish and Portuguese-speaking firms and one of the five most important firms in the country. While this could be seen as a risky strategy, Touriño told Iberian Lawyer that “size matters” in an increasingly competitive market. (Since the publication of this article the number of partners at Ecija has increased from 84 to 88)

9. “PASSING THE BATON”

N.87 • SEPTEMBER 2019 At the end of this year, one of PLMJ´s founding partners José Miguel Júdice will leave the firm he founded more than 40 years ago after making an acquaintance in a Portuguese prison cell. In this article he talks to Iberian Lawyer about his new career as an arbitrator as well as about the story behind the rise of PLMJ, Portugal’s biggest law firm.

10. “IBERIAN LAWYER´S 50 LAWYERS OF THE YEAR IN SPAIN”

N.88 • OCTOBER 2019 For the first time ever, we conducted an analysis of the leading lawyers working in private practice in Spain over the last 12 months, taking in account a number of criteria, which included: their ability as rainmakers to generate substantial amounts of business; their level of specialism; their leadership qualities, their reputation among clients and their profile in the market, among others.

11. “PULLING POWER”

N.88 • OCTOBER 2019 It’s no secret that Abreu Advogados has become one of the most attractive proposals for lawyers in Portugal. Proof of this is that it was the Iberian law firm that made the most lateral hires in 2019: seven at partner level. As Athayde explains in this article, the firm seeks to build an institution that can be smoothly handed over to the next generation of lawyers.

12. “ECO-WARRIORS?

N.89 • NOVEMBER 2019 The cries of climate emergency are intensifying. There is increasing pressure on all organisations to ensure that their activities are environmentally friendly. In this article we analyse the measures that have already been implemented by large law firms in Portugal in this sense and the benefits that being more ecofriendly has brought them.

Juan fernandez

SHARE