Barcelona annual report
one, and will also be affected by
Andersen Tax & Legal, says
technology. Everything will be
that, in the next ten to 15
faster, consumers and clients will
years, “everything will be
technological”. He
adds: “How will
Law firms need to be
the legal industry
more
proactive and move
change because of
to other types of business,
the technological
revolution? Silicon
there should be more say
Valley and China is
for junior lawyers.
deciding the future.
How do we follow
Santiago Doce
up what they are
Deloitte Legal
doing? We will soon
be living in a world
go directly to artificial intelligence
of cities, not states or regions.”
for most of their legal services,
Faus says that five of the six
the question is how will machines
leading technological cities in the
replace lawyers?” Faus argues
world are in the US, Europe and
that, in future, there will only
Asia and consequently, “we aim
be very large global law firms
to serve those cities”. He adds that
or very small, but high-quality,
lawyers have to be curious about
boutique firms.
new technological industries: “We
have to be humble, we have to
Purely local is unsustainable
talk their language – legal services
Around one-third to one-half
are not better, nor different,
of the income of the revenue of
nor special, it is just another
law firms in Barcelona comes
economic industry, like any other
“
parts of Spain. “However, it can
be difficult to find good people to
serve such clients.”
Ramon Faus, partner at
What are currently the biggest opportunities for law
firms in the Barcelona market?
“Catalan companies have reinforced their efforts to expand
globally and, in order to continue being relevant for them, law
firms will have to be able to follow them around the world
as their trusted advisers while their transactions become
increasingly transnational. Apart from that, the evolving Catalan
business ecosystem offers further opportunities for law firms
in Barcelona as, along with traditionally strong industries like
pharma, food and beverage, automotive and chemical products,
other sectors like e-commerce and biotech are emerging and
having an increasingly prominent role.” Antonio Herrera,
partner, Uría Menéndez
“Businesses in the hospital sector are expanding and this
has created lots of corporate and M&A work for lawyers.”
Montserrat Llopart, Barcelona managing partner, Baker
McKenzie
“The substantial increase in transactions as a consequence of
the reactivation of the local economy – that is, local companies
acquiring entities in other countries, and foreign groups,
especially private equity, acquiring companies in Spain. Also,
the impact of the legislative changes for implementing the
base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) package – specifically,
in relation to limitation on interest deductions, country-by-
country reporting, transfer pricing rules and hybrid instruments
treatment, for example.” José Luis Prada, Barcelona managing
partner, EY Abogados
www.iberianlawyer.com
”
“The transactions market is quite active, although the
completion rate for potential deals is not always as high
as desired. Areas of particular interest have recently been:
premium real estate, private equity investments, the energy
sector, IT and start-ups. Another area of current growth for law
firms is legal compliance programmes.” Alex Carbonell, partner,
Gómez-Acebo & Pombo
“The Catalan economy is going strong now for a fourth
consecutive year. We see interest building up in varied sectors
– the city of Barcelona is attracting an increasing number of
expatriates, despite the rise in residential prices, and this influx
is likely to keep on increasing in future years. Technology,
particularly in relation to IT and biotech, is also a strong area.
Finally, transactional work is likely to increase as a consequence
of low interest rates and the favourable economic environment.”
Gabriel Nadal, Barcelona managing partner, Ecija
“An increase in foreign and domestic investment in mid-market
businesses in the technology, industrial and hospitality sectors
have opened new paths for M&A activity. Since 2014, there have
been a lot of international and institutional investors coming
to Spain and that has really brought confidence back into the
market. Moreover, the real estate sector has grown considerably
in the last six months, to the extent some are talking about a
new bubble. Prices have increased by around 18 per cent in the
last year, but Barcelona is still a bargain compared with other
large European cities such as Paris or London.” David Avilés,
founding partner, DS Ovslaw
March / April 2017 • IBERIAN LAWYER • 41
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