WHITE-COLLAR CRIME
Lopezmarques has a dedicated White-Collar Crime practice focused on legal representation in matters of particular complexity and significance, in which personal and corporate liabilities are at stake. When management decisions, corporate transactions or business strategies lead to the opening of criminal proceedings, the consequences may immediately affect the personal freedom of directors, officers and shareholders, the organisation’s reputation and the continuity of its operations. This is a field whose technical and procedural demands are such that only a handful of law firms in Spain undertake it with proven competence in proceedings of the highest complexity and exposure.
The practice is supported by a first-rate team with decades of experience in criminal proceedings related to the business and corporate world, and with a particularly solid perspective drawn from an extensive judicial career, in addition to legal representation both as private prosecution and as defence counsel in a wide range of cases. That dual experience —from the standpoint of the parties and from direct knowledge of the inner workings of the courts— provides an understanding of criminal proceedings that is exceptionally difficult to replicate.
WHERE CRIMINAL RISK MEETS BUSINESS REALITY
The work of the practice is defined by technical rigour and strategic focus, combined with close procedural monitoring across every stage of the proceedings —investigation, intermediate phase, trial and enforcement— and the discretion that these cases demand. Each matter requires the analysis of corporate structures, financial flows, commercial transactions and accounting records with the same rigour applied to the construction of the legal argument, while anticipating at every stage the possible scenarios and their implications for the client. The team has assumed and continues to assume legal representation in proceedings before courts throughout Spain, at all levels, with a proven track record in conducting white-collar criminal litigation of the highest complexity.
The practice also addresses matters that extend beyond criminal procedural law, such as preventive guidance and compliance advisory, or support in corporate decision-making that by its nature may call for the anticipation of criminal risk scenarios. Many of the most significant matters in this field do not begin in a courtroom but in a business decision that requires the identification of criminal exposure before it crystallises into formal proceedings. The ability to support the client in making informed decisions is an essential part of the firm’s involvement.
A TEAM FORGED IN JUDICIAL PRACTICE
A hallmark of the firm is the effective coordination between its Commercial Law teams, in both their corporate and litigation dimensions, and its Criminal Law team, which makes it possible to approach each matter with a comprehensive understanding of the client’s corporate and operational reality. Decisions taken in the criminal sphere have repercussions in the corporate arena, and actions in the commercial domain shape the position in criminal proceedings. Addressing such cases without that integrated perspective means working with an incomplete understanding of the dispute. The practice assumes legal representation in proceedings relating to, among others, corporate offences, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation, complex fraud, bribery and corruption, punishable insolvency, tax offences and money laundering, as well as any situation in which a company, its directors, officers or shareholders may be affected.
The practice is led by Luis Martínez de Salinas, a member of the Spanish judiciary since 1983, whose career is distinguished by his service as presiding judge of several investigating courts and as a member of the Criminal Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional for over a decade (1997–2007). He was the reporting judge in the Botín case (2005) and has served as an expert for the European Union on judicial cooperation and anti-money laundering.
