Letter from Iberia – Despite global meltdown, local lawyers remain upbeat

For most, May 2019 will feel like a lifetime ago, and Iberia is little different. When Legal Business last visited its legal market, the major talking point was the impact of highly-regarded dealmaker Juan Picón’s move from DLA Piper to Latham & Watkins the year before.

Less than 12 months later on 14 March 2020, the Spanish government imposed a national lockdown in response to the Covid-19 crisis. On 29 March, it was announced that, beginning the following day, all non-essential workers were ordered to remain at home for the next 14 days. It quickly became the case that Spain became one of Europe’s worst-affected countries, being the second country after Russia to record half a million cases of the disease.