History

Expansion throughout Spain and transformation into a global law firm across all practice areas With Pedro Cuatrecasas as chair and, from 1980, with Emilio Cuatrecasas Figueras as managing partner, the firm expands. It sets up in Spain’s capital cities; it continues with its Iberian focus with its progressive association with the Portuguese firm Gonçalves Pereira, Castelo Branco & Associados, and with its European focus by opening an office in Brussels. It transforms into a law firm offering services in all areas of business law and its growth is exponential: it becomes the second most important Spanish law firm in terms of billing volume and number of lawyers (increasing from 5 to 600 lawyers).

International expansion and consolidation on the Iberian Peninsula Under the presidency of Emilio Cuatrecasas (third generation), the firm embarks on an important international expansion process, establishing itself in 11 countries and opening 25 offices, including offices in London, New York and Shanghai. It completes its Iberian expansion with two mergers: a merger with the Portuguese firm Gonçalves Pereira, Castelo Branco & Associados and a merger with the Andalusian firm Olivencia-Ballester.

Becoming institutionalized and focusing on Latin America With Rafael Fontana as senior partner and Jorge Badía as executive managing partner, the firm—with over 1200 lawyers and operating in 13 countries on 4 continents—becomes institutionalized and promotes the professionalization of all its management areas. During this stage, it creates a European Network with leading firms in Germany (Gleiss Lutz), Italy (Chiomenti) and France (Gide Loyrette Nouel), and firmly commits to expansion in the Latin American market: it opens own offices in Bogotá, Mexico City, Lima and Santiago de Chile.