In Europe, a total of 51 lawyers have been promoted to these professional categories (12 senior counsel and 39 counsel).
Jaime Velázquez, managing partner of Clifford Chance in Spain, comments: “With these promotions, we continue to enhance our best talent, recognising their extraordinary contribution to their respective practice areas through team management and client development. I would like to congratulate all of them in this new stage of their career.”
Senior Counsel
Carme Briera has been working as a lawyer in the Public Law practice area since 1998, a department she has been leading in Barcelona since 2002. She is an expert on all aspects of public law, with a special focus on the regulation of the energy industry, telecommunications and audiovisual sector, infrastructure, public procurement, public goods, environmental law and urban planning, pharmaceutical and gaming regulations, providing advice on a wide variety of transactions, corporate deals and financing as well as administrative litigation and court procedures. She holds a degree in Law (1993) from the Autònoma University of Barcelona and an LLM from the University of Chicago Law School (1996). In 2010 she was awarded the “José Mª Cervelló” Prize. On an academic level, she is a professor of Public Law at the University of Barcelona and gives classes in the Master’s for access to the legal profession organised by ISDE. Chambers & Partners has ranked her in Band 2 for Public Law: Barcelona and Legal 500 as Next Generation Partner in Healthcare and Life Sciences.
Roberto Grau has been working as a lawyer in the tax practice area of Clifford Chance since 2002. He specialises in tax advice on domestic and international capital market operations (mainly bond issues) and securitisation, as well as debt financing and restructuring. His activities also focus on the structuring of collective investment schemes, providing advice to international investment funds and listed companies in M&A deals, as well as venture capital investments in Spain and abroad. He holds a degree in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid (1993) and a diploma in Business Administration from the University of San Pablo CEU (1994). He also holds a master’s degree in taxation from the Arthur Andersen Center for European Studies (1995). He is the author of several publications on the taxation of venture capital operations and foreign investments in Spain. Roberto has been named a Notable Practitioner in Tax by Chambers & Partners and a Leading Individual in the same category by
Legal 500. He is a professor of Corporate Tax in the master’s degree programme at the University of Navarra and gives classes at the Garrigues Study Center.
Senior counsel are recognised experts in their practice areas who have an established track record and extensive experience advising the firm’s clients on their most strategic matters.
Counsel
Juan Cuerva is a lawyer in the Litigation and Intellectual Property practice area of Clifford Chance. He specialises in providing advice on and the protection of intellectual property rights. His activities focus mainly on matters concerning software, applications, platforms, content and, in general, intellectual property and unfair competition issues linked to new technologies. He has extensive experience in multijurisdictional transactions and in court procedures related to such matters. He holds a degree in Law, a postgraduate degree in Civil Law (2005) and a diploma in Advanced Studies (2009) from the University of Barcelona. He teaches at numerous universities and business schools, including the Ramon Llull University (ESADE), the University of Salamanca and the Higher Institute of Law and Economics. He is a co-author of several books and the author of numerous articles in specialised magazines. He has been named a Rising Star since 2019 in the category of IP: Copyrights by Legal 500.
Fernando Escribano has been working as a lawyer in the tax practice area of Clifford Chance since 2014. He specialises in the fiscal analysis of transactions related to the financial, banking, real estate and M&A sectors. He has more than 15 years of experience leading the Tax structuring of M&A, private equity and renewable energy deals, as well as the purchase of non-performing loan (NPL) and real estate (REO) portfolios. He holds a degree in Law, Economics and Business Administration from the Carlos III University of Madrid and has a master’s degree in Tax Consulting from the Institute for Business Studies. He has been named Rising Star in the Tax category by Legal 500.
Leonardo Fernández has been working as a lawyer in the Global Financial Markets practice area of Clifford Chance since 2020. His activities focus primarily on capital markets and domestic and international financial operations, including traditional and synthetic securitisations, structured financing, significant risk transfer transactions (SRT), debt purchase, alternative financing, litigation funding and fund structuring. He has also participated in numerous syndicated financing, refinancing and restructuring deals, advising both lenders and debtors. Leonardo works on a regular basis with investment banks, credit entities, institutional investors, regulated funds, hedge funds, rating agencies and some of the main Spanish listed companies. He is a member of several working groups at the firm and has jointly led advisory services provided in Spain throughout the transition of LIBOR reference rates. He holds a degree in Law and Business Administration from the Carlos III University of Madrid, with an extraordinary award in both degrees and a master’s degree from the IESE Business School.
He is also the author of several publications in his area of specialisation and has been a professor in institutions such as the Complutense University (master’s for access to the legal profession) and the Institute for Market Studies (in-company training in securitisation).
Jorge Martín has been working as a lawyer in the Corporate M&A practice area of Clifford Chance and has more than thirteen years of professional experience. He specialises in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with special focus on advising financial investors. His experience encompasses multiple sectors, including private equity, infrastructure and energy. He was seconded in 2019 to the private equity team of the firm’s London office. He holds a degree in Law and Business Administration from Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE), and in 2021, he became a Solicitor of England and Wales. He is an associate professor of Commercial Law at Carlos III University in Madrid and has been named a Rising Star in Corporate M&A and Private Equity by Legal 500 and as an Associate to Watch in Corporate / M&A by Chambers & Partners.
Jorge Martín-Fernandez has been working as a lawyer in the Employment practice area since 2007 and has been leading the department in Spain since 2022. He has more than 15 years of experience in advising domestic and international companies in employment and Social Security-related matters. His activities mainly focus on senior executive employment contracts, incentive schemes, corporate restructuring and judicial proceedings, modification of employment conditions and terminations, as well as employment-related aspects in M&A deals. He holds a degree in Law and a Diploma in International Relations from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICADE) (2007) and has an Executive Master’s degree in Labor Relations from the Garrigues Study Center (2008). He is an active member of Forelab.
Javier Olábarri has been working as a lawyer in the Corporate / M&A practice area of Clifford Chance since 2010. He specialises in commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and joint ventures, advising both large enterprises and financial investors. He is also an expert on takeover bids (OPAs) and SOCIMIs, providing general commercial advice to listed companies. He holds a double degree in Law and Business Administration from the University of Navarra. He also has an executive master’s degree in Business Law from the Garrigues Study Center. He has teaching experience, among others, at the University of San Pablo CEU and CUNEF.
Samuel Rosas has been working as a lawyer in the Corporate / M&A practice area of Clifford Chance since 2007. His activities focus on advising domestic and international clients on M&A and joint venture deals, contractual and commercial law, complex corporate restructurings and corporate governance. He is actively involved in the development of the Consumer Goods & Retail (CG&R) sector and the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards in Spain. He holds a degree in Law and a diploma in Consumer Affairs from the University of Zaragoza. He also holds a diploma in EU Law and Institutions coordinated by the “Jean Monnet” European chair at the University of Zaragoza. He has a master’s degree in business law from the Institute for Business Studies.
