Santiago Hurtado and Javier Royo launch IpseLaw in Madrid
Santiago Hurtado and Javier Royo have launched IpseLaw, a Madrid-based firm focused on advising financial institutions and companies facing complex, high-stakes situations. The firm specializes in restructuring and insolvency, litigation, and recurring corporate advisory work.
IpseLaw departs from the traditional fee structure based on billable hours and team size, opting instead for a model centered on senior strategic judgment supported by artificial intelligence. According to the firm, “most clients require personalized advice grounded in proven experience and available at the moment decisions must be made, rather than large teams deployed by the hour”. The firm argues that “both hourly billing and the management of conflicts of interest between partners common at larger firms divert attention from the sole objective that justifies legal practice: the value delivered to the client”.
The firm’s name combines the Latin “ipse” with the English “law,” which the founders read as “the law in person” or “the practice of law itself”.
IpseLaw organizes its practice around three areas: special situations, covering financial and corporate restructuring, restructuring plans and judicial approval, standstill agreements, interim financing, investor entry and insolvency proceedings; recurring corporate advisory, covering ongoing commercial law, corporate governance, board secretarial work, M&A and contracting; and litigation, covering disputes arising from restructuring, insolvency and corporate conflicts. The firm advises financial institutions in restructurings and insolvencies, as well as companies facing complex decisions, corporate disputes and corporate transactions, with continued advisory work aimed at anticipating risks before a situation becomes critical.
The role of AI
The founders frame generative artificial intelligence as a tool that expands the range of alternatives examined in any given matter, broadening the analysis without replacing the lawyer’s experienced judgment. Santiago Hurtado, founding partner, said: “The market is fragmented and it’s worth distinguishing between clients and operations. There are operations that, due to their size, require mobilizing large teams, but the client, whatever its size or the type of operation, always needs senior strategic judgment before structure. Our training allows us to sustain that judgment from a direct relationship with the client and its decision-making bodies, looking into their real needs to offer alternatives built on proven experience. Artificial intelligence frees us from low-value work and gives us back time for what really matters, the client and the solution to their problem.”
Javier Royo, founding partner, added: “Artificial intelligence does not replace judgment, it tests it. Previously, exploring each alternative in depth required weeks of work by several lawyers; today we can do it in hours and with more depth, reviewing dozens of possible paths and discarding them consciously and reasonably before recommending the right one. The difference is not in the tool but in what we do with it. Clients are sophisticated and demanding, which requires us to explain the process behind choosing the best alternative and provide detailed reasons for what is proposed.”
Background of the founders
Santiago Hurtado is a state attorney on leave of absence and has served as technical secretary general at the Spanish Ministry of Justice. He is a professor of commercial law at Universidad Complutense de Madrid and received the “Outstanding Achievement Forty under 40” award from Iberian Lawyer in 2011.
Javier Royo focuses his practice on restructuring and insolvency, advising both debtors and creditor financial institutions. He was named Lawyer of the Year, Insolvency & Restructuring at the Iberian Lawyer Forty under 40 Awards 2022.
