Cuatrecasas launches Restructuring, Insolvency and Special Situations specialty practice

Cuatrecasas has formed a specialty practice to provide comprehensive legal advice on restructuring, insolvency and special situations. The constant level of activity in recent years together, with the huge growth expected in this area in the coming months, has been decisive in fostering the creation of this specialty group. In the first stage, this global and multidisciplinary team will have its operational hub in the Barcelona, Madrid and London offices. The group is made up of over 30 lawyers—including 11 partners and 1 counsel—and is coordinated by the London office managing partner, Ignacio Buil.

The team’s objective is to strengthen the position of Cuatrecasas in the restructuring market by offering highly specialized advisory services for creditors, debtors, management teams and shareholders, in the area of restructuring transactions, the sale of production units, and general insolvency proceedings. This practice will also develop the special situations area, which has generated enormous interest among investors in recent years and seen significant market development. The practice focuses on the needs of investment fund managers, traditional and investment banking, and large companies. For the coordinating partner of the Restructuring, Insolvency and Special Situations Practice, Ignacio Buil, this specialty group represents, “a strong commitment to consolidating Cuatrecasas as a benchmark law firm in the restructuring and insolvency practice. It puts us in an excellent position to deal with upcoming legal and market changes, all of which is aimed at offering our clients the best specialist advisory services.”

Admission of new partner

The announcement of the new specialty practice coincides with the admission of lawyer Patricia Álvarez Alonso as a new partner. Álvarez has joined the team to strengthen the Restructuring, Insolvency and Special Situations Practice from the Madrid office. She has over 15 years’ experience in national and international finance and restructuring transactions, including acquisition, corporate and project financing, advising both the funders—financial institutions, debt funds and direct lending funds—and the sponsors and borrowing companies. In recent years, she has participated in some of the most important restructuring transactions on the market, advising both creditor institutions and companies, enabling her to gain extensive knowledge of the restructuring mechanisms most extensively used in the Spanish and international markets.

The admission of Patricia Álvarez coincides with the arrival of the commercial law professor at Complutense University of Madrid, Javier Megías López, as senior knowledge lawyer in the Knowledge and Innovation Group. Megías is a renowned researcher in insolvency law and company law, particularly regarding corporate governance.