Rafael Fontana is new Cuatrecasas honorary chair
Cuatrecasas has named Rafael Fontana honorary chair, acknowledging a career of more than 40 years at the firm, 22 of them leading its management team. The announcement was made during the partners’ meeting. Fontana now joins Emilio Cuatrecasas, who has held the title of honorary chair since 2016.
At the same gathering, the firm also confirmed the appointments of Íñigo Bengoechea as a tax partner in Spain and Carolina Menichetti as an M&A real estate partner in Chile.
Rafael Fontana
Fontana joined the firm in 1983 and has been a key figure and one of the main drivers behind Cuatrecasas’s strategic transformation. He led its organizational and technological modernization; promoted its international expansion, managing the opening of offices in Mexico (2016), Peru (2019), Chile (2020) and Colombia (2021); and forged alliances with leading firms in Germany (Gleiss Lutz), Italy (Chiomenti) and France (Gide Loyrette Nouel).
He has also stood out for his drive for legal innovation with initiatives like Cuatrecasas Acelera and for his social commitment linked to projects promoting access to justice and youth development. As vice chair of the Cuatrecasas Foundation, he is actively involved in Spanish business and social circles, as a member of boards of directors, associations and institutions, and of the boards of trustees of various foundations.
His career has been recognized with the Grand Cross of the Order of San Raimundo de Peñafort, awarded by the Spanish government; the Aptíssimi Award for business law in the professional career category; and the Inkietos Award for transformative leadership.
Last appointments
Last April, the firm appointed Javier Fontcuberta managing partner and CEO, and is now continuing with the succession processes for its governing bodies announced at that time. On December 31, Fontana will conclude his time as Cuatrecasas’s senior partner and in the new year, Luis Pérez de Ayala (partner and current vice chair) will take over the role and duties that Fontana has been performing until now.
