Cuatrecasas hires Juan Antonio Xiol as new counsel

Cuatrecasas consolidates its Cassation and Special Appeals Group with the hiring of jurist Juan Antonio Xiol as new counsel. With over 50 years of proven experience, he specializes in civil law and litigation and has held various prominent positions in the judiciary, notably as a judge of the first and third divisions of the Supreme Court and vice president of the Constitutional Court.

With a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Barcelona, Xiol was admitted to the judiciary through public competitive examination in 1972. In 1975, based on his academic merit as best student, he became a judicial-review judge, and in 1982 he served as secretary general of the Spanish Constitutional Court. He has been a Supreme Court judge of the civil division and also the judicial-review division, presiding over its fourth and seventh chambers. He was elected a member of the General Council of the Spanish Judiciary, and subsequently its plenary commission appointed him as president of the civil division of the Supreme Court. He served as a Constitutional Court judge from June 2013 to December 2022. In November 2021, after a partial renewal of the Constitutional Court, the plenary commission appointed him vice president of the court, a position that he held until the end of his term of office in December 2022.

With an extensive and respected professional background, Xiol has also been managing director of relations at the Administration of Justice and is a member of the General Codification Commission. During his career, he has received the Pelayo Award for Jurists of Recognized Standing (2009) and was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort and the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2010).

On joining the firm, Xiol said: “I am joining Cuatrecasas convinced that the best way to complete my career as a jurist is to contribute my know-how and experience to a firm known for top quality when defending the rights of individuals and companies and in strengthening the rule of law nationally and internationally.”

The professional profile and personal qualities of Juan Antonio Xiol are ideal for adding value to the services provided by one of the firm’s main specialty groups, with criteria of efficiency and innovative formulas in line with the standards governing the work of Cuatrecasas. The team of lawyers formed by Álvaro Luna, Fernando Mª Alejandre, Elicia Rodríguez, Nerea Arana, Pepa Aróstegui and Mariona Soler provide comprehensive advisory services specializing in developing, drafting and lodging appeals before the highest-level courts with a procedural approach tailored to the requirements of cassation and extraordinary appeals, in coordination with the firm’s other specialty areas that may be relevant to each case.

Antonio Carreño, coordinating partner of Litigation, remarked: "Juan Antonio is an exceptional jurist. His talent and expertise in resolving cassation appeals from judicial reviews before the Supreme Court, and appeals for the protection of constitutional rights before the Constitutional Court, will be decisive for our Cassation and Special Appeals Group to continue to lead in this practice area and provide our clients with an outstanding service.”