Successful first edition of the Inkietos Awards in Madrid  

May 30, 2024

The first edition of the Inkietos Awards was successfully held this week in Madrid, in a well-attended event that took place in the auditorium of the Madrid headquarters of Banco Santander with the aim of rewarding and celebrating innovation in Spanish law firms.

Inkietos, the leading think tank for corporate law in Spain, awarded prizes for Social Impact, Transformational Management, and Courageous Trajectory. 

The event began with a round table entitled ‘Partners of management areas in law firms: exception or evolution?’, which was moderated by Pedro del Rosal Segura, journalist, communications expert and member of Inkietos. Participants included Paloma Rubalcaba, Managing Partner of KPMG; Ramón Palacial, Managing Partner of EY Law; and Cristina Santos, Director of Human Resources at GA_P. During the discussion, the transformation of the role of the managing partner in law firms in Spain was addressed, emphasising the importance of professionalising this position and the growing tendency of firms to entrust management to a leader more similar to a CEO than to a practising lawyer.

The Social Impact Award went to the Pro Bono Spain Foundation, whose director and co-founder, Leire Larracoichea, received the award. 

The Transformational Management Award went to Cuatrecasas, EY Law, KPMG Spain and Pérez-Llorca, all firms that have chosen to appoint managing partners from management areas.

The awards were collected by representatives of the winning firms, who underlined the importance of strategic management in the success and evolution of law firms in recent years; Javier Fontcuberta, managing partner of Cuatrecasas; Ramón Palacial, managing partner of EY Law; Alberto Estrelles, managing partner of KPMG Abogados; and Julio Lujambio, executive managing partner and member of the board of Pérez-Llorca. Lujambio reminded those present that Pérez-Llorca was one of the first firms to successfully introduce the role of Corporate Development Director under Constanza Vergara Jaakkola, whose management has been fundamental to the great success and transformative evolution of Pérez-Llorca in recent years.

Carlos García-León, Managing Partner of Legal Reputation and member of Inkietos, presented the Courageous Career Award to Antonio Garrigues Walker, celebrating the leadership of Garrigues´ Honorary Partner  and mentioning that he was always a visionary, among other things for having been the architect of the introduction in Spain of the partnership structure and management model of Anglo-Saxon firms during the second half of the 20th Century.

About Inkietos

Inkietos is an association created as an observatory, a space for reflection and debate on the evolution of legal services in Spain. In contrast to the traditional nature of the legal sector, its aim is to actively contribute to the transformation with a disruptive mindset backed by the experience and collective intelligence of its members.

Inkietos is formed by a group of around twenty management professionals in the legal business field, occupying senior roles in major law firms, legal consultancies, publishing and journalistic groups, consulting firms and universities. 

inkietos.org