Castellarnau expands with three new additions

Castellarnau Abogados Penalistas has expanded its team with three new additions. Javier González Blesa joins the firm as a senior lawyer to strengthen the criminal procedural and economic law areas. José León Alapont joins as of counsel to strengthen the compliance and economic criminal law areas. Joaquim Bages, a criminal lawyer, transitions from his former role as of counsel to fully integrate into the firm as legal operations director.

Blesa, a law graduate from the University of Barcelona (UB) with a Ph.D. in Criminal Law from UAO, also holds a Master’s in International Criminal Law from UGR and a Practical Legal Studies Master’s from ICAB. He has extensive experience in regulatory compliance, general and economic criminal law, and civil liability in courts across Spain, and also teaches as an associate professor of Criminal Law at UAO and as a collaborator at UOC.

Alapont, a graduate in Law and Political Science and Administration with a Ph.D. in Criminal Law from the University of Valencia, is a tenured professor of Criminal Law at the University of Valencia and an expert in criminal compliance, political parties, corporate criminal liability, illegal party financing, trade secrets, and economic criminal law.

Bages, a criminal lawyer, will supervise the technical quality of the firm. He holds a Ph.D. in Law and Political Science, earning an excellent cum laude distinction and an extraordinary doctoral award. He is also a professor of criminal law at the Practical Legal Studies School of the Barcelona Bar Association and at the University of Barcelona.

Step forward

Eloi Castellarnau (pictured) and Sònia Ampolla, managing partners of Castellarnau, emphasize that this is “a significant step forward, marking a new phase in the firm’s consolidation and growth in the current landscape. Our internal restructuring inevitably involves some turnover, but we are delighted with these additions and aspire to become a benchmark in the boutique criminal law market.”