While today’s news of Latham & Watkins‘ low-key Spanish launch hardly compares to yesterday’s Dewey Orrick scoop, it is encouraging for Latham.
The ambitious US firm does not go in for the splashy Orrick-style launch, so it’s no surprise that the news of its opening hire should leak before Cuatrecasas corporate partner Jose Luis Blanco Ruiz has even put pen to paper.
Latham has made no secret of its desire to launch in Spain. It has lived with the undesirable situation of running its Spanish practice from Brussels for far too long now, but to launch from Barcelona, where Blanco Ruiz is based, would be odd.
But as Blanco Ruiz has yet to sign up, there’s still time for a lucky Madrid partner to claim the $1.5m (£800,000) Latham has on offer.
