Stephenson Harwood opens Madrid office with 8 partners
Stephenson Harwood has opened its Madrid office with a team of eight partners, led by Juan Oñate as managing partner for Spain. Located at Paseo de la Castellana, 55, the new office has capacity for 45 professionals and marks the firm’s entry into the Spanish market as part of its broader European, Middle East, and Asia strategy.
Office composition and focus areas
The Madrid team brings together complementary expertise spanning corporate and financial transactions, litigation and arbitration, tax, banking and finance, restructuring and insolvency, and real estate. The office’s initial sectoral focus is on private capital and funds, and energy transition and infrastructure.
Alongside Juan Oñate, who heads the restructuring, insolvency, and special situations practice and joins from Pérez-Llorca the founding partner team includes Jesús Almoguera (litigation and arbitration), Carmen Alonso (Corporate/M&A and restructuring), Antonio Caneva (banking and finance), Carlos González (litigation and arbitration), Elena Oñoro (tax), José Ramón Vizcaíno (tax), and Eduardo Vázquez de Prada (litigation and arbitration).
Notably, Jesús Almoguera, Carlos González, and Eduardo Vázquez de Prada join from J Almoguera Abogados, a litigation-focused firm that has been integrated into Stephenson Harwood. Carmen Alonso joins from Latham & Watkins, where she spent more than ten years, while Antonio Caneva comes from Watson Farley & Williams, where he developed his career over the past seven years. José Ramón Vizcaíno also joins from Pérez-Llorca, and Elena Oñoro arrives from the Spanish Ministry of Justice, where she spent more than twelve years, having previously served as a state tax inspector.
The profiles
Juan Oñate specialises in all aspects of restructuring and insolvency, including special situations and distressed investment strategies such as loan-to-own, distressed M&A, and direct lending, representing borrowers, lenders, financial institutions, hedge funds, and private equity funds. He also has extensive experience in complex civil and commercial litigation, having been a restructuring partner at Pérez-Llorca for more than six years.
Jesús Almoguera specialises in arbitration and litigation with broad experience in corporate, financial, restructuring, and insolvency matters, and also acts as arbitrator and counsel in domestic and international disputes across M&A, corporate law, antitrust, capital markets, and finance.
Carmen Alonso has more than eleven years of experience advising on complex restructuring, refinancing, corporate, M&A, and joint venture matters, with a client base that includes private equity funds, credit funds, infrastructure investors, corporates, and financial institutions.
Antonio Caneva specialises in banking and finance law, with a focus on project finance, leveraged and acquisition finance, and private credit, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors, having advised financial institutions, debt funds, financial sponsors, and institutional investors throughout his career.
Carlos González has ten years of experience in dispute resolution, specialising in complex litigation and arbitration as well as corporate, capital markets, finance, restructuring, and insolvency matters.
Elena Oñoro brings more than fifteen years of experience in taxation and international arbitration across both the public and private sectors, with a track record in matters related to renewable energy, taxation, banking, and mining.
José Ramón Vizcaíno has twenty-four years of experience specialising in corporate and international tax, with a strong track record in cross-border M&A transactions, real estate, tax insurance, disputes, private clients, and financing for institutional investors and lenders.
Eduardo Vázquez de Prada has seventeen years of experience in dispute resolution, including arbitration and litigation, and has been involved in some of Spain’s most significant corporate, antitrust, financial, and restructuring disputes.
Stephenson Harwood’s CEO, Eifion Morris, noted that Spain attracts international investment, particularly in technology and energy transition, making it an important market for many of the firm’s clients. The Madrid opening is presented as a natural step in the firm’s international strategy, combining a global platform with a partner-led, locally focused model.
Juan Oñate highlighted that membership of an international firm allows clients in Spain to access global expertise while retaining the personal and local focus they value.
