Top ten White-Collar Crime lawyers in Spain
We present for the first time in Iberian Lawyer the top ten White-Collar Crime lawyers in Spain. To elaborate this classification, we have carried out an investigation in which, apart from the positioning in the practice area, we have mainly taken into account the feedback from colleagues and the participation in the most mediatic White-Collar Crime cases in Spain. The absence of women in this Top Ten is striking. However, there are female names that are beginning to sound very strong, such as María Massó, partner at Baker McKenzie, Helena Prieto González, partner at Garrigues and ONTIER´s partner Berta Aguinaga.
1. Ignacio Ayala – OLIVA-AYALA ABOGADOS
He is co-founding partner, together with Horacio Oliva, of “Oliva-Ayala Abogados”, and current firm´s managing partner. With more than 35 years of professional practice behind him, he is the great Master and reference point in Criminal defence for all Criminal lawyers. Faithful to the school of his teacher Horacio Oliva (Criminal Law professor), he has had outstanding successes in his defences, the latest being related to the Bankia case, in which he defended Rodrigo Rato.
Ayala is one of the most sought-after lawyers for Criminal advice and defence, especially in the business sector, as a result of its extensive experience in the courts and its participation in complex business, judicial and extrajudicial negotiation processes.
The main international legal directories highlight him as one of the best Criminal lawyers in the country, for advising high profile clients on corporate crimes both nationally and internationally.
He has carried out numerous teaching and research tasks as Criminal Law professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and has published various scientific works, mainly in the field of Criminal Law.
2. Jesús Santos – BAKER MACKENZIE
Partner head of Baker McKenzie’s Criminal Litigation department since 2012, and judge on leave of absence since 1985, when he began his career as a public prosecutor. In 1989 he joined the National High Court and was later appointed as Assitant Prosecutor and acting Head Prosecutor. Among the highlights of his long professional career, it is worth mentioning his participation in numerous litigations for socio-economic crimes and his international profile thanks to his functions as a consultant for the United Nations, the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia and his appointment from 2004 to 2011 as Liaison Magistrate with the Republic of Italy. He has also excelled in investigations related to Islamic terrorism, where he was appointed coordinator of the group of specialists of the Prosecutor’s Office on Islamic terrorism in May 2004.
Since joining Baker McKenzie, the Criminal Law department has positioned itself as one of the reference Criminal defence departments, having participated as a lawyer in the main criminal proceedings in the country: Neymar, Gürtel, Defence of the former BBVA president Francisco González and the former president of Banco Popular Emilio Saracho, defence of Michael Fridman, and recently in the Bankia case, where he obtained the acquittal of the auditor Deloitte.
3. Javier Sánchez-Junco – SÁNCHEZ JUNCO ABOGADOS
Managing partner and founder of Sánchez Junco Abogados law firm, and a public prosecutor on leave of absence. Throughout his 20 years of experience in the prosecution career, he has held various posts in the Provincial Courts of Asturias and Madrid, as well as in the Attorney General’s Office and the Supreme Court. One of his most notable professional periods was his five years in the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, where he led the prosecution of Mario Conde and other Banesto directors. A lawyer who is very pragmatic in his procedural strategies, he obtained the acquittal of Javier López Madrid, son-in-law of OHL founder Juan Miguel Villar Mir, who was tried in the Bankia case and investigated in the Lezo case. He is currently leading the defence of King Emeritus Juan Carlos I.
Sánchez-Junco has been highlighted by the main international directories as a highly recommended lawyer in the field of Economic and Business Criminal Law.
He teaches in the Master’s degree in Access to the Legal Profession at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, at ISDE and in the Master’s degree in Economic Criminal Law at KPMG. He has taught Criminal Law at ICADE and Procedural Law at the UNED, as well as in the Master’s degree in Legal Consultancy at the Instituto de Empresa.
4. Luis Jordana de Pozas – CUATRECASAS
Former pubic prosecutor and partner head of Cuatrecasas’ Criminal practice area since 1995, specialising in Criminal proceedings for high-profile economic and business crimes. During his years as a public prosecutor, he led the prosecution of Lola Flores for tax offences and the disappearance of “El Nani”, among other things, and he practised at the Provincial Courts of Alicante, Bilbao and Madrid. During this stage, he created and coordinated a group of prosecutors specialised in economic crime.
From Cuatrecasas’ Criminal department, where he is assisted by Joaquín Burkhalter, he has defended Manuel Castro, former BBVA risk manager in the Villarejo case, and has handled significant cases of tax fraud, where he is a great specialist.
He has directed and participated as a speaker in numerous courses, seminars and conferences on Economic Crime. In 1988 he was awarded the Distinguished First Class Cross of San Raimundo de Peñafort. He has been recognised as a top-level Spanish Criminal lawyer by various international directories in the last two years, in the Corporate Crime practice.
5. Carlos Aguilar – CMS ALBIÑANA & SUÁREZ DE LEZO
Carlos Aguilar heads the Litigation Department of CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo. He has extensive experience in Criminal, Civil, Commercial and Constitutional Law, with numerous arbitration and forensic proceedings before the Provincial Courts, the National Court, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. In recent years his professional activity has primarily focused on Economic Criminal Law.
Carlos has advised and defended numerous individuals and companies in all types of litigation and proceedings. His actions in defence of both personalities and companies in the most important proceedings of Economic Criminal Law in Provincial Courts, National Courts and Supreme Courts in recent years in our country are noteworthy. He has also directed the design and implementation of Criminal Compliance systems in various financial entities, listed companies and state-owned companies.
Throughout his long career, he has acted in the “Gescartera case”; he has managed to obtain the acquittal of Ángel Acebes in the “Bankia case”; he is in charge of the defence of Esperanza Aguirre in the “Punica case”, as well as the defence of several directors of Banco Popular in the “Popular case”.
6. Cristobal Martell – MARTELL ABOGADOS
A reputable Criminal lawyer based in Barcelona. Managing partner of Martell Abogados, a boutique firm currently considered one of the best Criminal law firms in the country. He was a member of the Governing Board of the Barcelona Bar Association and chairman of its Ethics Committee.
In a few years, Martell managed to become a leading lawyer in the field of White-Collar Crime, thanks to his brilliant Criminal defences, full of imagination and good strategic approaches.
It is common to see him involved in cases with media exposure such as “Gürtel”, “ITV”, “Mercurio”, “Nóos”, “Messi” or “Neymar”. His defences against the Puyol family and Gino Pozzo, in his time as owner of the Granada Football Club, both of which are currently under investigation, have been very outstanding.
He combines teaching with the Law practice. In 1986, just after finishing his degree, he began teaching Criminal Law at the Universitat Abat Oliba, where he taught for 18 years.
7. Carlos Gómez Jara – CORPORATE DEFENSE
Founding partner of Corporate Defense. He is considered one of the youngest and most famous Criminal lawyers in the market in such specialised areas as Financial and International Crime. He is an external lawyer for the FROB and the Deposit Guarantee Fund, where he has prosecuted more than 17 proceedings related to crimes of investor fraud, falsification of annual accounts, obtaining a conviction in almost all of them. Together with Jesús Santos, he is defending former president of Banco Popular Emilio Saracho, who is accused of market manipulation.
He was awarded the 40 Under Forty recognition by Iberian Lawyer and the Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar distinction by Columbia University (NY, USA).
European Doctor of Law, LL.M. Columbia University and Criminal Law professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, he teaches and lectures at various universities and centres, and is the author of more than a hundred publications on Economic Criminal Law.
He is a member of the Madrid Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar, and is a member of the Legal Experts Advisory Panel of Fair Trials International.
8. Jaime Alonso – URIA MENÉNDEZ
Partner and head of the Criminal Litigation area at Uría Menéndez, a firm he joined in 2013 from Estudio Jurídico Rodríguez Mourullo, one of the most important Criminal law firms in Spain.
Recognised as a very meticulous lawyer, he stands out for his great rigour of analysis, contemplating all the angles of Criminal defence. He has participated as a defender in some of the most important procedures in the field of White-Collar Crime that have been handled in Spain in the last fifteen years, including highly relevant processes related to tax offences, fraud or corruption. His role in defence of Banco Santander (in the case of the Banco Popular’s IPO) is being highlighted, and he is also in charge of the defence of BBVA in part 9 of the Villarejo case.
As a teacher, he has been a Criminal Law associate lecturer at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid since 1999 and has been a speaker and lecturer on numerous occasions, especially on subjects related to Tax Crime, Money Laundering, Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and Behavioural Analysis of Law.
9. Jose Antonio Choclán – BUFETE CHOCLÁN
José Antonio Choclán is one of the most sought-after lawyers in the Spanish legal market for the defence in Economic Criminal proceedings. He is the director and founder of the Criminal boutique that bears his name since 2004. He is a judge and has served various judicial posts, always in the Criminal field, most recently as a judge of the Criminal chamber of the Spanish National High Court, with extensive experience as an examining magistrate, Criminal judge and hearing magistrate. There, he was a member of the tribunal that issued the sentence in the Banesto case, condemning Mario Conde.
At the head of the firm and thanks to his specialisation in economic crimes, Choclán has participated as a lawyer in some of the most notorious and high-profile court cases of recent years, among others the “Malaya” or “black cards” case of Bankia.
As an expert in tax fraud issues, he has also defended different football players, including Cristiano Ronaldo in his tax fraud trial.
He is currently defending Cristina Cifuentes following her recent indictment in the “Punica” plot.
10. Enrique Molina – RAMÓN Y CAJAL ABOGADOS
Partner and head of the Criminal Procedure department at Ramón y Cajal since 2010, when he joined the firm after several years working independently.
His experience extends to the treatment of all national and international Legal-Criminal issues, derived from his status as a public prosecutor on leave of absence from the High Courts of Justice in Madrid and Barcelona and from the National High Court, where he participated in the main investigations in economic, tax and terrorist crimes.
He is recognised as a lawyer with a great practical sense, offering defensive strategies full of common sense. He has defended several Bankia’s directors who have been acquitted in court, and he also obtained the acquittal of the PP treasurer Carmen Navarro in the famous trial of the Partido Popular’s computers. Throughout his career, he has led other high-profile media trials, such as the one involving part of the “Gürtel” plot. He defends several advisors in the Banco Popular case.
He is recognised by the main international directories as one of the best Criminal lawyers in the country.
WHITE-COLLAR CRIME WOMEN LAWYERS STEPPING UP
As we move forward in this Top Ten, the absence of women is striking, but this has been the result of the research carried out by Iberian Lawyer. We have detected, through these same channels of investigation already mentioned; positioning in the sector, references from colleagues, and media cases handled, women whose names are beginning to ring out strongly, as is the case of María Massó, partner at Baker McKenzie, Helena Prieto González, partner at Garrigues and Berta Aguinaga, partner at ONTIER, among others.
María Massó | BAKER MCKENZIE
María Massó is a partner at Baker McKenzie Madrid. Before joining the firm in 2008, she worked in the Criminal Litigation department of Garrigues. She has substantial experience in the defence or prosecution of tax fraud, misappropriation offences, misappropriation of trust proceeds, misuse of trade secrets, bankruptcies involving criminal negligence or corporate offences. Maria Massó Moreu advises both individuals and companies on issues including corruption, bribery and money laundering. Clients highlight her “outstanding technical level”.
Helena Prieto González | GARRIGUES
Helena Prieto is Criminal Law partner at Garrigues. After working in the M&A department of Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank, she became a public prosecutor in 2004, having worked in the Public Prosecutor’s Offices of Barcelona and Madrid. She was attached to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Road Safety Chamber. In 2008 she joined the General Public Prosecutor’s Office, having been part of the offices of Cándido Conde-Pumpido, Eduardo Torres-Dulce and Consuelo Madrigal. She heads the internal investigations unit within the Criminal Law area, having directed multiple investigations of multinational companies for the clarification of criminal acts of a transnational nature.
Berta Aguinaga | ONTIER
Berta joined ONTIER as a partner in the Economic Criminal department in 2015, after having developed her professional career at Garrigues (2003-2013) and CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo (2014-2015). She specialises in White-Collar Crime and Business Law. Specifically, in crimes against honour, crimes against privacy, crimes against property and the socio-economic order, relating to Intellectual and Industrial Property, the market and consumers, corporate offences, money laundering, crimes against the Treasury, crimes against workers’ rights, against the public administration and justice, against public health and crimes against road safety. With extensive experience in forensic and judicial proceedings before the Courts of Instruction, Criminal Courts, Provincial Courts and National Courts, Berta has intervened in proceedings of public importance.
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