DAC wins partner-client package from Landwell

Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC) has hired Landwell corporate and construction partner Javier De Dios for its Madrid office and won Compaq as a client in the process.
De Dios's hire signals a change in strategy for DAC's insurance specialist practice in Madrid. De Dios said: "The Spanish market for legal services is not as big as yours [in the UK] and the clients do not want such a specialised service. DAC is well known in insurance, but clients want different services from the same firm."
London-based partner David Hertzell said: "People in Spain expect a much more general level of legal advice from their law firms than they do in the UK, where the insurance market is much more developed."
De Dios brings with him all of Compaq's Spanish corporate work from Landwell. He has worked with Compaq since the company was incorporated in Spain. De Dios joined Landwell three years ago when his firm, Estudio Legal in Madrid, was taken over by the accountancy-tied firm.

		"People in Spain expect more general legal advice from their law firms than they do in the UK, where the insurance market is much more developed" Javier De Dios, DAC

"At Estudio Legal, we incorporated Compaq in Spain and gave them our services. I was even on the board of Compaq for five years," said De Dios.
Compaq's Spanish financial director Alejo Puljuras said: "Landwell now does nothing for us in Spain, although I am not sure who we use for employment or litigation work. Javier does all our corporate work in Spain. Where Javier goes, we go. Similarly, we used to use Landwell for tax, as another Estudio Legal lawyer was there. The tax lawyer has now left Landwell, so we use him at his new firm. We have known the Estudio Legal lawyers for so many years that the name of the firm they are at is peanuts to us, " said Pujalras.
He added: "Presently they will have a few ongoing matters from some time ago, but these are peanuts, we don't use Landwell in Spain anymore."