Barcelona-based Pintó Ruiz & Del Valle, like many law firms, had to reduce headcount when the crisis hit – however, the firm is now benefitting from an increase in sports work, while also growing some of its other, less well-known, practice areas
It comes as no major surprise that a sizeable proportion of the
work done by Pintó Ruiz & Del Valle – a firm based
in the football-mad city of Barcelona – is sport-related.
"Our sport practice has represented FC Barcelona and Real
Madrid in very famous cases and our clients include athletes,
clubs, agents and sports organisations," says the firm's
managing partner Jordi López. He does not reveal the details
of the "famous cases", but it is understood that the firm
has represented major clubs in relation to matters involving
world-renowned players being banned from the game for disciplinary
reasons.
Indeed, sport-related legal advice – which accounts for
around 20 per cent of the firm's revenue – is a rapidly
growing area of business for the firm. López says:
"This practice is expanding significantly, sport is becoming
increasingly regulated and more professional, so clubs need
external help." He adds: "There are not a lot of law
firms working in sport, it [the practice] is growing every year,
though at some point, the growth may stop."
It could be that the rate of growth in the firm's sport-related
business will slow in future, but, as López is keen to point
out, it is "not our main practice". He adds: "Our
firm is a multidisciplinary firm – though our sport practice
is the one the media refer to the most – we, of course,
litigate (all our lawyers are trained and ready to litigate), but
we are also an M&A firm, and we also do tax, labour,
bankruptcy, IP and public-law related work." López also
says the firm has clients in most industry sectors and is
"particularly active in pharma, healthcare, food and beverage,
textile, real estate and venture capital". He adds that the
firm does not publicly disclose its revenue figures. However, it is
understood that its Barcelona office contributes around 75 per cent
of the firm's revenue. The firm also has offices in Madrid and
Palma de Mallorca, as well as a small operation in Alicante. Though
the firm's Madrid office only contributes a relatively small
proportion of the total billing, it is understood to be a
particularly profitable business for the firm, with intellectual
property being among its more notable practices.
Past
errors
López says that, while the firm's aim is to grow a
little – it currently has 40 lawyers, including 12 equity
partners – it is also anxious, like all firms, to avoid
repeating errors made in the past, specifically what he describes
as "uncontrolled growth". The firm had to reduce its
number of lawyers as a result of the crisis, and it was an
experience that the firm does not want to go through again.
"Our work has significantly increased in the last two years,
but we are being prudent with recruitment and with the size of our
teams," he says.
Pintó Ruiz & Del Valle is the result of the 1999 merger
of Bufete Pintó Ruiz and Del Valle Abogados, which were
founded in 1903 and 1910 respectively. The firm has gone through a
number of transitional phases – though López is the
firm's managing partner, he says "the leadership of the
firm is currently exercised by its president, who is José
Juan Pintó Sala, who received this leadership position
around 20 years ago from his father José Juan Pintó
Ruiz, who is still working at the firm at the age of 90".
López became managing partner in January 2015, when he was
appointed for an indefinite term. "In the first two years [of
my time as managing partner], there were no significant alterations
in the way the firm is managed, but we have started implementing
small changes such as electronic documentation management,"
López says.
Bringing clients in
As many managing partners will testify, it can be difficult to make
changes in a law firm, particularly when older lawyers are
affected. López is a relatively young law firm managing
partner, being aged 40, but he views his youth as an advantage.
"There's not such a big gap with the younger lawyers,
young people are different than before and have other interests and
ambitions, and we have to adapt our structures and our way of
working," he says. "We teach the team how to work the
cases, but also how to deal with clients, which is essential for
us, and of course how to bring the clients in."
López says the Barcelona legal market is becoming
increasingly competitive. "It's a small market in
Barcelona, you get the same 20-25 firms on the big transactions and
judicial proceedings," he says. López adds:
"People used to only want to work for big law firms, but
people are not so afraid anymore of leaving a firm and joining a
smaller one, or even starting a new project – people are now
brave and these moves are often good for them and they are not
regretting it." He also says that firms are becoming
increasingly specialised and that firms that only offer general
legal services will "find it difficult to compete".
Politics in Catalonia
The political uncertainty in Catalonia is having little impact on
investors, López argues. "In spite of the instability
in Catalonia, we do not see that the political situation is
impacting on the investment decisions of our clients and it's
not seen as especially detrimental to investors," he says. But
López admits that the situation could potentially change.
"If the situation gets worse, I don't know how investors
will react."
There are currently good opportunities in the real estate market,
López says. "Foreign investors are acquiring buildings
– they're speculating on offices and flats, buying,
refurbishing, selling and renting," he adds. "We are
seeing investors from China, the Middle East and Israel,
especially."
Honesty the best policy
Business development and client retention are among the key tasks
facing the firm. "Our concerns are keeping clients by
providing excellent service, and finding new ones, as well as time
management – we try to be as efficient as possible, clients
increasingly ask us to be more creative with budgets and offer
alternatives, including success fees in some cases," he says.
"However, some clients, especially multinational ones, still
prefer the hourly-rate system." López says the
firm's philosophy is to be always truthful with the client,
even if it means missing out on fees. "We're always honest
with the client, we will tell them not to do something [if we think
it's not in their interests], even if it means we lose the
billing."
Barcelona is home to a significant number of start-ups and
López acknowledges that sometimes the firm is willing to
offer such businesses some help by "applying, in certain
cases, a discount on fees at the initial stage". However, the
firm does not provide legal advice for free. López says:
"If companies ask us to work for nothing, it's a big risk:
if it doesn't work, it's a disaster, we need to cover our
costs."
The firm is not considering a merger with another firm, but
López does not rule it out. "We feel we have a good
size, we have good professionals in many areas, we are not thinking
of a merger, but we would explore it if we had an opportunity
– in the past, we've had offers, but we don't like to
lose identity and control."
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