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Garrigues has been named ‘Iberian law firm of the year’ by the international publishing house Chambers & Partners. This accolade forms part of the Chambers Global Awards, which are held in high esteem by the global legal community and which recognize the world’s best law firms.

Chambers & Partners highly rated the Firm’s position of strength in the Iberian market with offices in 27 cities across Spain and Portugal, thereby achieving the most far reaching geographical network of any firm in the Iberian Peninsula. At the recent Partners’ Meeting, Garrigues announced its billing figures for professional services, making it the Spanish market leader once again with €258.6 million (a year-on-year increase of 15.9%) and ratified the appointment of 24 new partners (now numbering 230) who join more than 1,900 professionals currently practicing at the firm (the biggest team in the Iberian market).

The specialization of the Garrigues team was another of the key factors influencing the award of the prize. The multidisciplinary nature of Garrigues´ professionals allows the Firm to operate across a wide range of industries such as energy, biotechnology and sports & entertainment. Amongst the deals submitted for consideration this year were the advisory services provided to General Electric on the sale of its world-wide plastics division to the Saudi group SABIC; financing advice given to Cellerix on the launch of two new medicines; involvement as advisor in the spin-off of Portugal Telecom from PT Multimedia; and, the recent tax and legal advice provided to the Formula 1 Driver, Fernando Alonso.

Garrigues’ candidacy was also bolstered by its widespread international expansion, with the Firm now present in six cities across the U.S., Europe, Africa and Asia. Over the last year, the Firm has positioned itself in Central and Eastern Europe with the inauguration of its office in Warsaw and in mid-November will do the same in the powerful British market with the opening of an office in the City of London. Chambers & Partners also took account of the synergies flowing from the Latin American alliance of lawyers, Affinitas, which is promoted by Garrigues and which leaves it ideally placed to offer advice to national and multinational companies on both sides of the Atlantic.

The managing partners of Garrigues, José María Alonso and Miguel Gordillo, who attended the awards ceremony, expressed their pleasure at receiving the award. Miguel Gordillo described it as "recognition of the wonderful work done by all members of staff, both at an Iberian  and at a global level, and an important affirmation of  key values of this Firm such as quality, client  focus, professionalism and a sound business approach." José María Alonso stressed the highly prestigious nature of the award: "Chambers is a world-class reference guide to good professional practice in the legal world and we are therefore particularly happy and grateful to accept this award on behalf of the whole Firm ".

Corporate outreach
Alongside its work in the professional and business arenas, Chambers also valued Garrigues’ commitment to various aspects of civil society through its Centro de Estudios, the Garrigues Foundation and the Garrigues Chair in Global Law at the University of Navarra. From among such work, the guide singled out the publication of the Corporate Social Responsibility report, the first of its kind by a major firm in the Iberian Peninsula and the establishment of the ‘Postgraduate Course in Business Law’ in collaboration with the Harvard University Law School.