Garrigues names new chiefs in bumper year
Spain’s largest law firm Garrigues has revealed the names of its new joint managing partners just as it expects to break the e300m (£259.9m) revenue barrier for the first time.
Fernando Vives and Ricardo Gómez-Barreda will take up the reins at the start of the new financial year on 1 September for a four-year term.
Garrigues, which reported a e296.8m turnover for 2007-08 (TheLawyer.com, 8 July) and has around 2,600 employees, is predicting revenue in excess of e330m for 2008-09.
Both of the new managing partners have been with the firm for more than 20 years and run national departments. Vives joined in 1986 and is coordinator of corporate/commercial, while Gómez-Barreda joined in 1982 and runs the tax group.
Garrigues’ policy of having two managing partners is a legacy of the former tie-up with Andersen Legal.
Current managing partners José María Alonso and Miguel Gordillo took on the roles in 2000, when Garrigues-Andersen was a e98m firm with 700 employees. Two years later the duo had to deal with the collapse of Andersen Legal following Enron’s downfall.
Under their leadership the firm expanded its international coverage, launching in Bucharest, Casablanca, Shanghai and Warsaw.
Alonso is thought to be eyeing an ongoing role working on Garrigues’ international strategy, although this has not been confirmed.
