White & Case has launched its first office in Spain, recruiting Latham & Watkins’ Spanish corporate head Juan Manuel de Remedios to joint lead its new Madrid office as an executive partner.
The Spanish launch comes as the firm concentrates on strengthening its global footprint to take advantage of Spain’s strong links to Latin America.
White & Case Spanish practice head Michael Doran, who is based in London, said the Madrid launch ‘provides our clients with local knowledge coupled with access to our global network’.
Alongside de Remedios, Latham counsel Yoko Takagi will join as a local partner of White & Case, alongside a team of associates.
De Remedios is dual-qualified in Spain and New York and will focus on advising US and Spanish clients on corporate, finance and capital markets transactions, as well as restructuring work. Prior to Latham he was Latin America head of legal at Spanish bank Santander.
‘It had to be the right time and the right team to enter the Spanish market.’
Oliver Brettle, White & Case
The Spanish appointments follow a string of lateral hires for White & Case, most recently in Paris where the firm recruited a three-partner capital markets team from Linklaters. The firm also rehired corporate partner Daniel Dufner from Linklaters, who re-joined the firm’s New York M&A practice in February and had previously been a partner in the same team at White & Case between 2004 and 2009.
Oliver Brettle, the firm’s London managing partner said the move into Madrid was in recognition of the importance of Spain’s economy, which is the 13th largest in the world and the fourth largest in the eurozone.
He said: ‘It’s been a long-held ambition to open an office in Spain and we’ve been patient to ensure we establish an office that is commensurate with the needs of our clients – it had to be the right time and the right team to enter the Spanish market. We now have that right fit.’
He added: ‘Having an office in Madrid enables the firm to grow its M&A and capital markets practice with connections to or from Spain while serving global markets including Europe and Latin America.’