2022 Iberian Lawyer Forty under 40 winners announced
The winners of the Iberian Lawyer 2022 Forty under 40 awards were announced at the ceremony gala held on Thursday 06 at the Meliá Princesa in Madrid
The award ceremony gathered numerous representatives of prestigious law firms of Spain and Portugal to recognise the most promising young lawyers and teams in the Iberian market. The awards were an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the top 40 lawyers and teams under 40 years of age, who will lead the legal profession in the future and deserve to be recognised for their work and dedication in their respective practices.
TEAM OF THE YEAR
VdA
The 70% of the lawyers of the firm is under 40, many of them have been crucial in several deals in most of the practice areas. It’s fair to say that the firm can be placed in the top positions in the market, represented by professionals that stand out despite their young age, who gained the appreciation from the biggest companies in the market.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR
Nuno Gundar da Cruz – Morais Leitão
The last 12 months, have been an outstanding period for the lawyer. He was nominated equity partner in November 2021, and he has been involved in some of the most exciting and challenging matters related to Insolvency & Restructuring, both regarding transactional deals and insolvency related litigation.
MARKET LEADER
Rosa Espín – Ambar Partners
The lawyer is CEO and co-founder of Ambar Partners, she is leading one of the most disruptive Project in the Legal Sector in Spain and Continental Europe. The professional holds an influential position between lawyers active on the Iberian Market.
TEAM OF THE YEAR ARBITRATION
Morais Leitão
More the 60% of the professionals are under 40 years old. The lawyers, despite their young age, stood out in the practice obtaining credibility and appreciation from the market, handling complicated matters.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR ARBITRATION
Carmen Alonso – Baker McKenzie
The lawyer provided legal advice and defense of one of the largest gas & energy company in Spain, during a complex operation of arbitration.
TEAM OF THE YEAR BANKING & FINANCE
White & Case
The team is formed mostly by under 40 professionals, they advised one of the most important Spanish multinationals financial services company, on a credit agreement deal that involved several international companies.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR BANKING & FINANCE
Luis Belart Siguero – Dentons
He has personally led transactions valued in more than 6 billion Euros; he advises national and international entities on financing transactions, including renewable energy project finance.
TEAM OF THE YEAR CAPITAL MARKETS (DEBT AND EQUITY)
Allen & Overy
The Capital Markets practice of the firm comprises a group of experienced lawyers capable of advising on the full spectrum of debt, equity and structured finance related capital markets work. Most of the team is under 40 years old.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR CAPITAL MARKETS (DEBT AND EQUITY)
Irian Saleta Martínez – Ashurst
The professional was named partner in May 2021, and she is the head of the global markets team in Spain. The lawyer has a wide expertise in dealing with major stakes in listed companies with a focus in the analysis under the transparency and anti-market abuse regulations.
TEAM OF THE YEAR ENERGY
Watson Farley & Williams
The law firm is one of the most relevant in the energy fields. The team is formed mostly by under forty professionals, they worked on a very important deal regarding energy and renewable.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR ENERGY
Bernardo Cunha Ferreira – CMS Portugal
He has a strong experience in renewable energy and environmental matters, he is very active in numerous M&A transactions regarding energy projects. Impressive recent highlights include one of the largest and most important deal taking place in Portugal regarding solar projects.
TEAM OF THE YEAR EU & COMPETITION
Uría Menéndez
Over the past year the EU & Competition department has been involved in the most significant competition cases in the country. The quality of the service, the global recognition of its work, and the significant number of new clients acquired in the last year, is clear evidence of the team’s position in the market.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR EU & COMPETITION
Leyre Prieto – TELLES
The lawyer leads EU and Competition team having a long professional career in the field. She provides legal consulting to companies on several kinds of matters, such us competition restrictive practices, abuse of dominant position and abuse of economic dependency.
TEAM OF THE YEAR FINTECH
Sérvulo & Associados
The team has been active on the payments system solutions, regulatory gap analysis, ESG matters and crypto currency emerging topics. The team also assisted Fintech players in a broad range of issues, ranging from setup and day-to-day activities to complex regulatory issues.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR FINTECH
Joana Mota Agostinho – Cuatrecasas
Since the professional became partner, she has implemented new areas of expertise, such as new technologies. The lawyer is responsible of the growth both of the team and the business.
TEAM OF THE YEAR INFRASTRUCTURE & CONSTRUCTIONS
Pérez-Llorca
The law firm is recognised by market commentators, clients, and peers to be one of the Spanish legal teams to have a consolidated infrastructure and constructions team. They have a long track record of providing comprehensive advice all over Spain, covering all kinds of matters and types of clients with a sophisticated approach.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR INFRASTRUCTURE & CONSTRUCTIONS
Jorge Perujo Fariña – ONTIER
In February 2021 the lawyer was appointed co-Head of the Corporate and M&A area of the Madrid office. The professional consolidated a team formed by young and ambitious lawyers, focused on advising global companies, many of them in the infrastructure sector or involved in construction projects.
TEAM OF THE YEAR INSOLVENCY & RESTRUCTURING
PRA – Raposo, Sá Miranda & Associados
Most of the lawyers of the team are under 40 years old. The department is specialized in extrajudicial and judicial negotiation, in mass or individual litigation, as well in monitoring financial restructuring and insolvency.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR INSOLVENCY & RESTRUCTURING
Francisco Javier Royo Coll – Simmons & Simmons
The lawyer has been advising a trading company on several operations in a short period of time, he led the negotiation with the counterparty. According to the market opinion, he is very responsive with a problem-solving approach.
TEAM OF THE YEAR INSURANCE
PRA – Raposo, Sá Miranda & Associados
Almost the 70% of the team is formed by under 40 years lawyers. The team has been involved in important matters in which they were able to provide to their clients a quick extrajudicial resolution of claims.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR INSURANCE
Margarida Ferraz de Oliveira – PLMJ
The lawyer coordinated the insurance team in a very important matter regarding a multinational company, she was responsible for all the contacts with the client regarding insurance policies.
TEAM OF THE YEAR IP & TMT
ECIJA
Most of the lawyers of the team are under 40 years old. The team stand out in the practice for its credibility in the market, assisting the enterprises in several fields such as TMT and cybersecurity.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR IP & TMT
João Peixe – Vasconcelos Arruda & Associados
The lawyer is an excellent professional with a solid knowledge and experience in all areas of IP law, especially in trademarks, designs, and copyright. He supports daily high-profile clients from various sectors, from food, fashion, media and entertainment to IT and software companies.
TEAM OF THE YEAR LABOUR
Ceca Magán Abogados
The 65% of the team is formed by under forty professionals. During the last year the labour practice continued to improve. It is the firm of choice for main international law firms who refer their employment matters to them.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR LABOUR
Alejandro Gil Murillo – MAIO Legal
The lawyer has been appointed partner and head of the labour practice in February 2022. Despite his young age the lawyer has proven his ability in managing complicated labour matters, such as trade unions negotiations.
TEAM OF THE YEAR LIFE SCIENCES & PHARMA
Eversheds Sutherland
Having a team composed mostly by under 40, the firm is one of the leaders of the practice. They have advised both multinational organizations and new business projects, in all stages of the development of their programmes.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR LIFE SCIENCES & PHARMA
Diana Abegão Pinto – SRS Advogados
She is 100% dedicated to and focused on the Life Sciences practice area. Her industry expertise includes regulatory matters related to medicinal products, food for medicinal purposes, food supplements, cosmetics, health products and biocides.
TEAM OF THE YEAR LITIGATION
PLMJ
The litigation department of the firm is one of the leaders in the Portuguese market. The team has an outstanding track record and consistently deals with the largest, most high profile and most complex disputes in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR LITIGATION
Pedro Pires Fernandes – VdA
The lawyer is among the most promising lawyers of the practice, he has been involved in countless complex disputes within a wide variety of sectors, both before national courts and arbitral tribunals, working alongside and against some of the best Portuguese and other foreign practitioners.
TEAM OF THE YEAR M&A
Pérez-Llorca
The corporate department has advised high profile clients such as large international funds, professional investors, and large listed companies on transactions that require sophisticated and high-quality advice. They have been in charge of the design very complex and reported deals on the market.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR M&A
Pablo Fernández Cortijo – Gómez-Acebo & Pombo
The lawyer is the youngest partner at the firm, and he has consolidated his position as one of the most active Private Equity and M&A lawyers, not only at the firm, but also at a Spanish level. He leaded and coordinated the team in very important transactions.
TEAM OF THE YEAR PRIVATE EQUITY
King & Wood Mallesons
Since January 2021, the quality of the private equity department reflected to the volume of funds advised and their total value. The team led more than 20 structuring of funds with a total value that exceeds 7 billion.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR PRIVATE EQUITY
Pablo García Oliván – Squire Patton Boggs
The professional is a Legal Director in the Corporate, M&A and Private Equity department of the Madrid office, he stands out in this practice for the market feedbacks about his work, which was often crucial in the matters he leaded.
TEAM OF THE YEAR PUBLIC LAW
Abreu Advogados
The professionals of this practice stand out for their capacity in the field, they focused their work on legal support to companies and public entities in matters related to breach of public procurement contracts, and regulatory matters.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR PUBLIC LAW
João Filipe Graça – SRS Advogados
The lawyer and the team followed one of the most recent and complex public procurement procedures in Portugal. In the last 12 months the law firm advised on several relevant and complex matters.
TEAM OF THE YEAR REAL ESTATE
CCA Law Firm
Almost the totality of the team is composed by under 40 professionals, in the last year the team remarkably increased, attracting more business to the firm, reaching a considerable growth also in the revenues.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR REAL ESTATE
Angel Maestro Marti – DLA Piper
The professional is the legal director of the practice, he has wide experience in all types of real estate transactions (from complex investment structures deals to issues with a more local component); the lawyer has participated in some of the most relevant transactions in recent years in Spain.
TEAM OF THE YEAR STARTUP
FILS Legal
The totality of the team is formed by under 40 professionals, the law firm itself is very young and promising. The start-up team worked on several deals; they have participated in the negotiations of a native digital brand very popular in Spain.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR STARTUP
Carlota Sancho – Ambar Partners
The lawyer advised more than 200 startups since 2017, and during the last 12 months she has been a legal advisor for tech companies and startups in all the aspects of their business, including finance rounds, corporate structure, SPA´s, advertising, employment, and litigation.
TEAM OF THE YEAR TAX
Abreu Advogados
The tax team is formed by promising young lawyers which, despite the age, already achieved a relevant professional profile because of the numerous and important operations followed. The law firm advised enterprises in several fields, from tax controversy operations to crypto assets.
PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR TAX
María García Chanzá – Romá Bohorques Tax & Legal
The lawyer is responsible, for a sizeable part, of Valencia office client portfolio; she is also tasked with the expansion of the tax client portfolio across Spain.
TEAM OF THE YEAR WHITE COLLAR CRIME
Ayuela Jiménez
The Criminal Law department is mostly composed by under 40 professionals, they have taken part in several of the most mediatic cases in the National Court of Spain, defending executives and important companies.
LAWYER OF THE YEAR WHITE COLLAR CRIME
Eloi Castellarnau Fort – Castellarnau
The professional is partner of the firm, he led the white-collar crime team representing a very well-known professional sport club in a very delicate trial.
BEST PRACTICE CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS
Ambar Partners
In the last 12 months, the Law firm obtained outstanding results regarding corporate transactions; the team is formed by several young lawyers, who, despite the age, were able to make the difference in the fields being crucial in several matters.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Teresa Madeira Afonso – PLMJ
The lawyer is one of firm’s youngest partners and she is therefore a role model for junior lawyers. Over the past 12 months the professional stood out for her involvement in major private equity and corporate M&A transactions and for her role as the driving force behind a cross-practice team dedicated to the agro-industrial sector.
RISING STAR
Morad Maanan Tieb – Whitewell Legal
The lawyer is specialized in corporate M&A, as proven also by the relevant deals he worked on during the last year. Despite the age, he participated to very important transactions, providing legal assistance to companies active in different fields.
