Editorial May/Jun 09
por parte de algunos
despachos (siendo Clifford
Chance el primero en
anunciar que su socio,
Jaime de San Román de
Madrid, renunciaba) ha
sorprendido ver el
aterrizaje en la capital de
Herbert Smith y Dewey
LeBoeuf. Ambos
despachos le han dado un
voto de confianza al
mercado español en un
momento difÃcil. Parece
que la creciente actividad
internacional de las
empresas ibéricas sigue
haciendo de Madrid un
foco de oportunidades de
negocio.
Se percibe también un
grado de confianza tras
suavizarse ciertos efectos
de la crisis, y algunos
despachos se aventuran
ya a hablar de
recuperación. Sin embargo
las opiniones respecto a
cuando notaremos la
recuperación siguen
variando en función del
punto al que cada uno
haya llegado.
No two individuals view the same picture in the same
way. Some see their cup as half full, others half empty.
The very mixed picture of current winners and losers
in the Iberian legal market is, over the next few
months, perhaps set to become even more polarised.
Against a background of downsizing by some
firms – with Clifford Chance the first to confirm cuts
with the announcement that its Madrid Senior
Partner, Jaime de San Román, is stepping down – the
landing in Madrid of Herbert Smith and Dewey
LeBoeuf has surprised some.
Both firms have given a vote of confidence to the
Iberian legal market at a difficult time. The increasing
international activity of Iberian companies makes a
Madrid office a 'must have'.
The emerging opportunities coincide with a new
look for Iberian Lawyer as we enter our fourth year
with readership having expanded to over 9,000
lawyers around the world. We have adapted the
publication’s content to reflect the changing legal
market – a larger news section with more detailed
reporting on current market developments and a
greater coverage of in-house legal developments.
This issue focuses on Projects and Infrastructure
plus Energy and Renewables. These sectors face the
same issue – finance and access to it. Spanish and
Portuguese businesses have been successful because
they offer a combined package – product plus finance
plus structure to implement it.
We heard at a recent Iberian Lawyer breakfast from
one of President Obama's closest advisors of
emerging opportunities from the US Government’s
Stimulus Plan. Iberian companies are well positioned
to benefit but have however to present investment
plans with an emphasis on what they can do for
America and not what America can do for them.
Despite the current opportunities, a deeper
structural change in the legal profession seems
inevitable in the mid to longer-term. Richard
Susskind's message in this issue is that law firms have
to embrace change and explore new ways of working
with clients. A view strongly endorsed by one client
in this issue, Mark Willis-Jones at Armstrong World
Industries in Barcelona.
As the immediate effects of the credit crunch seem
to be easing, it is tempting now for some firms to start
talking in terms of recovery and not crisis. Although
how long recovery will take depends from where
exactly you are viewing the situation.
