Billing at Cuatrecasas increases 1.5% to €270m
Revenues at Iberian law firm Cuatrecasas totalled €270 million in 2016, up 1.5 per cent on the previous year.
The firm’s corporate practice accounted for almost 40 per cent of the total billing, while 31.2 per cent of the revenue was generated by tax-related work. Litigation and arbitration contributed 22.6 per cent, while employment-related matters accounted for 8.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, a firm statement said the firm’s international practice accounted for 20 per cent of the total revenues.
Significant matters handled by the firm in the last year included advising the Seat Volkswagen Audi Group on the incident relating to the issue of nitrogen oxide emissions, advising on CaixaBank’s takeover of BPI and acting for Multitel in relation to the international tender to build Mexico’s shared network, the Mexican government’s largest telecommunications project to date.
In 2016, Cuatrecasas opened an office in Mexico City and formed an alliance with Posse Herrera Ruíz in Colombia.
Senior partner Rafael Fontana said: “2016 has been a year of transformation that has enabled us to view the future optimistically. We are committed to growing internationally, focusing on Europe and Latin America, and to improving our services to offer increased client value and retain talent.” Commenting on the Mexican and Colombian markets, Fontana said 2017 “will be the year to consolidate these two areas and we will continue with our international growth.”
Meanwhile, the firm said its London office, which specialises in finance and securities, had achieved “record figures in business generation”.
The firm – which has a total of 986 lawyers – also said that “in line with its commitment to increasing the presence of women in management positions and governing bodies, it has made 17 appointments in the last three years and, currently, 145 women hold management positions”.
In addition to carrying out a corporate rebranding exercise in the last year, the firm also opened a new office in Barcelona’s 22@ district. The new office – which caters for 700 lawyers and support staff – has 20 meeting rooms, an auditorium with a seating capacity of 200, a restaurant, a café, a gym, a “wellbeing area” and a car park.
The firm also launched Cuatrecasas ACELERA, a startup accelerator program for the legal tech sector. As part of this initiative, Cuatrecasas – in partnership with Telefónica Open Future and Step-One (Barrabés group) – advised and mentored nine innovative projects that are set to receive several rounds of financing to progress their business activities.
