Abogado Amigo: boutique competing with big companies

“Only offices in Madrid and Barcelona are not capable of increasing their national and international expansion. Companies like ours today have a global vocation of following their customers anywhere in the world”.

first words Jesus P Lopez Pelaz manager Lawyer Friend, a law firm born eleven years ago in Valencia, with a distinct vocation of serving the business world in the technological field and from there offering advice at the commercial, civil or administrative level.

This legal boutique that follows, keeps the distance, made the evolution Another firm like ECIJAFrom a technology law firm to multi-services at the business level, it has its own offices in Spain in Salamanca, Valladolid and Cartagena, with headquarters in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​\u200b\u200bValencia.

this the impact of the pandemic and the need to diversify risks, companies and law firms international expansion as a key element for business development: “The international profession is not exclusive to large firms. Therefore, many companies of other sizes need legal advice to do business”.

“For now, we believe this national presence is sufficient to meet the needs of our customers in our country,” says the firm’s managing partner.

However, international expansion Offices in Milan, London and New York. Abogado Amigo was operating in China, this company’s first international step, to advise Chinese companies on their arrival to Europe in general and Spain in particular, New Delhi, India, and Rome, Italy.

“Things are slow in Chinaboth because of the effects and restrictions of the pandemic, and because of the limitations imposed on foreign investors in this Asian country.”

Looking ahead to the next year, Abogado Amigo is looking forward to opening other offices in the next five years and Other places like Portugalto become an Iberian office, Brussels and Berlin are among other places currently reviewing their practice without needing to be a large firm.

The idea is to remain a legit boutique. responsiveness and flexibility in its dealings with both current and future customers.

“At the service level, we want data protection as a more specialized service to be one of the most consolidated business areas in this scenario in the medium term,” says Pelaz.

This is how he tells us “We believe that it is one of the most important jurisdictions of the future.especially in its relationship with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and also in the creation of databases as well as the use of sensitive data such as medical data big data anyone data mining in health or bank data. These are technologies that can affect changes in the European GDPR”.

Currently, this law firm consists of nearly thirty lawyers serving in and out of our borders. “We operate more like a service firm than a traditional law firm. We do not maintain the traditional office status. We are all self-employed professionals without franchisees like other firms”.

The complex economic conditions in recent years have made the deep globalization of our trading system clearer than ever before.

Therefore, a Law Firm with a profession of service and excellence as a Fellow Attorney must grow to provide a credible response to its clients’ international needs.

“The opening of these three new offices of the firm is the result of months of work,” said Abogado Amigo Law Firm Director. Jesus P. Lopez Pelaz.

This young Valencian lawyer stepped into the world of Law with this law firm after his law education. After taking competitive exams for the judiciary, he earned an MBA in Business Administration and Management and Information Society Management.

“I immediately realized that I needed to complete my education in business and technology. In fact, the office was born to face our customers’ technological problems by providing special services in this technological field”, Pelaz recalls.

Another way to be a lawyer

The founding of this legal boutique sought to “take another approach towards providing services as a law firm. I think there is a gap for new technologies and what that entails. There was a movement to create technology companies in Valencia at that time and that’s how we started serving these companies”.

According to him, “our strategic growth plan 2020-2025The opening of new offices is crucial to strengthen the digital and Legaltech services on which our efforts are already focused. Being more digital requires us to be more international”.

In a time of crisis and uncertainty like the present, Bufete Abogado Amigo is encouraged to strengthen its power. international services to more effectively accompany your customers wherever they need them.

The firm’s commitment is to strengthen the service offered in Italy with the opening of an office. New headquarters in Milan and the relocation of its headquarters in Rome to an exceptional location in the historic center of the city, next to the Forum of Trajan.

On the other hand, expansion is taking place with entry into the Anglo-Saxon market, with the establishment of permanent centers in both New York and London.

“It is clear that the internationalization process is open to any company, whatever its size”, which would overlap in this market with large law firms such as Garrigues, Uría Menéndez, Perez-Llorca or Gómez-Acebo & Pombo.

According to him, “this is how we approach it: the naturalness of following our customers wherever they do business. In fact, we are aware that in order to do business in places like London and New York, you need to have offices there because otherwise it is difficult for us to provide that service.”

In this way, Bufete Abogado Amigo will present services focused on the establishment and management of companiesimport, export and contracting both in the United States of America, the world’s leading economic power, and in Great Britain, one of the main forums of international jurisdiction.

In the UK example, in mid-2016 Abogado Amigo founded the Brexit Desk, a London-based group of lawyers specialized to advise companies that may renegotiate their operations. In many cases, there has been the idea that they can go back to doing business in our country.

As such, this legal advice once had three pillars. One focused on international operations, led by lawyer Ana Isabel Herrero, the other focused on taxation and the business model led by economist Fernando Castelló, and the third includes so-called business organizational chart planning, legal compliance, led by lawyer Jose Manuel. serrano

New international challenges

This expansion also adds new professionals to the Abogado Amigo family, which is responsible for managing studies in the United States, Great Britain and Italy.

To manage the firm’s operations in Italy, Abogado Amigo, Fabio MagessiHe is one of several leading lawyers in New Technologies Law in Italy and a professor at the Universitá La Sapienza in Rome.

Fabio has developed his career with special emphasis on digital space, gaming, betting and software development. He is also an investor in many technology companies in Italy.

In an effort to attract the attention of the law firm in the United States, the Spanish firm acquired an Italian lawyer. Luca Marco Giraldin as the visible head of the firm. Luca holds a Diploma in International Business Management from the Università Bocconi and a Masters in Internationalization from the École de Management de Lyon.

He has worked as a Director and Consultant for international companies and has developed international strategies for various international company groups in Europe, North America and Asia.

“This is a place where there is a lot of competition at the business level. However, having Giraldin, a lawyer with experience in the US and also with a remarkable network, is essential to move in a city as complex as New York to develop a substantial portfolio of services,” Pelaz says.

In particular, we are trying to offer Spanish businessmen to “establish a company in Delaware, Miami and Utah for real estate investment, accounting management, as well as other legal issues demanded by these companies that realize their international expansion”.

On the other hand, to direct the work of its lawyers in England, the firm, Lorenzo Macchi.

Lawrence He holds a Law degree with a specialization in Law of the Sea from the Università di Pisa and a Masters Degree in Law of the Sea and International Trade from Southampton.

He did different studies in the field of Anglo-Saxon Law at the Law Society of England and Wales in London. Considering his international career, he has extensive experience in International Law and provides legal support to many of his clients in Law of the Sea and the Sea.

In choosing these professionals who manage different work teams, Lopez Pelaz “They are our companions in this company’s internationalization process. Their tremendous empathy for the customer, their dedication to solving emerging problems, and a tireless pursuit of professional excellence are proud to have them as companions”.