- Chairman: José Luis López Sánchez
- Managing Partners: Cesar Albiñana, Rafael Suárez de Lezo
- Number of partners: 21
- Number of lawyers: 79
Firm Overview:
The firm was founded in 1927 by Antonio Melchor de las Heras. It was structured as a partnership in 1958. With 100 lawyers and professionals, CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo offers comprehensive, fullservice, legal and tax advice to large and mid-sized companies doing business in Spain and abroad. The firm advises large and mid-sized corporations in Spain, as well as multinational companies from the US, the UK and continental Europe, covering a wide range of industry sectors.
Main Areas of Practice:
Corporate:
The firm provides legal advice to Spanish companies and to subsidiaries of multinationals in their daily work; this ranges from advising on strictly corporate matters to drafting and negotiating contracts relating to distribution, franchise, agency and supply, as well as reviewing tax structures and tax planning.
Securities Market:
The firm has advised many of the largest Spanish state and private companies on their offering of equity in the international markets, namely on the NewYork Stock Exchange, as well as foreign companies wanting to be listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange. The firm represents both issuing companies and underwriters in public or private offerings, debt financing and private equity issues.
Banking & Financing:
The firm’s financing experience varies from advising on very complex leveraged lease financing transactions of aeroplanes or vessels to the granting of syndicated multi-currency loans for both borrowers and lenders.
Mergers & Acquisitions:
The firm’s vast experience covers transactions involving small private acquisitions as well as cross-border takeovers of listed companies.
Litigation & Arbitration:
The firm’s Litigation Department has extensive experience in arbitration proceedings and a wide variety of commercial and civil litigation matters.
Taxation:
The firm’s Tax Practice is mainly focused on corporate and international tax planning, particularly connected to foreign investors,merger and acquisitions and reorganisation of corporations.
Labour Law:
The firm handles all questions regarding Spanish labour and employment law.
EU & Competition Law:
The firm handles all kinds of competition issues, including antitrust,merger control and unfair competition practices, representing its clients before the Spanish authorities and the European Commission.
Regulatory:
The firm provides full advice on a range of regulatory issues (telecoms, energy,media) and represents its clients before the NRAs.
Insolvency:
The firm has an active and diverse practice in the area of corporate reorganisation and bankruptcy, and has been involved in many of the latest and most complex bankruptcy cases in Spain.
Public Law:
The firm provides in-depth legal advice on all matters regarding administrative law.
Media, IP & Intellectual Property:
The firm provides top quality legal advice and representation of clients in the fields of entertainment information technologies and the management, enhancement and protection of intellectual and industrial property rights.
Real Estate:
The firm offers outstanding legal services and a great deal of experience advising and representing clients and handles large scale real estate deals involving the extensive review of property and construction law.
Civil Law, Urban Development & Environmental:
The firm advises clients in the following fields: land acquisitions; complex land contributions; sale and lease-back operations; acquisitions, sale or lease of commercial property; real estate guarantees, due diligence, contracts and public estate grants. The practice also handles many Joint Venture agreements and urban contracts, land appraisals, etc.
Clients:
The firm’s client base includes large and mid-sized companies, banks, public and supranational institutions active in Spain and/or conducting cross-border business.
CMS:
CMS lawyers immerse themselves in their clients’ business.This enables them to deliver the most effective legal and tax solutions. Both leading domestic and major global corporations work with CMS’ 2,800 lawyers across 54 offices in Europe, Russia, China, North Africa and South America. Clients select CMS because it has the most extensive footprint in Europe of any firm. CMS provides local and industry sector insight, global project management and its specialist teams work hard to add value to their projects, wherever they are taking place. Established in 1999,CMS today comprises ten member firms, all experienced in their local jurisdictions. This expertise means that clients receive high-quality advice in the local context. CMS member firms are: CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni (Italy); CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo, S.L.P. (Spain); CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre (France); CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (UK); CMS DeBacker (Belgium); CMS Derks Star Busmann (Netherlands); CMS von Erlach Henrici Ltd (Switzerland); CMS Hasche Sigle (Germany); CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz RechtsanwälteGmbH (Austria) and CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut (Portugal).
CMS offices (and associated offices): Aberdeen, Algiers, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Beijing, Belgrade, Berlin, Bratislava, Bristol, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Casablanca, Cologne, Dresden, Dubai, Duesseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Kyiv, Leipzig, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Luxembourg, Lyon, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sarajevo, Seville, Shanghai, Sofia, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tirana, Utrecht, Vienna, Warsaw, Zagreb and Zurich.