200 professionals from the legal sector filled the capacity of the Legal Marcom 2022 Gala held at the WiZink Center in Madrid

The Legal Marcom Awards are back with great success. Almost four years later, and with a pandemic in between, the Wizink Center in Madrid has hosted the return of these awards organised by Gericó Associates.

The 200 people who attended the Legal Marcom Gala experienced an exciting event in which excellence and innovation in the legal sector in Spain and Latin America were recognised.

Attendees included representatives from Baker McKenzie, Banco Santander, Bullard Falla Ezcurra +, Caixabank, Ceca Magán, Chapman Wilches, Cintra, Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo Abogados, Cuatrecasas, Danone, Deloitte Legal, DLA Piper, Elzaburu, Ferrovial, Garrigues, Grant Thornton, Grupo Secuoya, Hogan Lovells, Indra, Iterlegis, IO-EPIK, Japan Tobacco International, Linares Abogados, Mahou-San Miguel, Mercedes Benz, OMP Abogados, Ontier, Pérez-Llorca, Pinsent Masons, Repsol, RocaJunyent, Sacyr, Siemens, Signium, Simmons & Simmons, Uber, Velae Legal Group and Wolters Kluwer.

The Legal Marcom Awards, in the words of Marc Gericó, managing partner at Gericó Associates, “are an enriching meeting point for the legal sector. The differentiation of these awards lies in an exceptional jury made up of general counsel and legal journalists who decide the winners by studying the nominations with absolute independence through debate, consensus and in front of a notary”.

Among the members of the jury, Ana Prado, general counsel of Mercedes-Benz Spain, highlighted “the great initiative and good health of the sector, in which it is noticeable that the digitalisation of processes and new technologies are already part of the day-to-day work of legal professionals. It has been very difficult to decide because there are many very good candidates”.

For his part, Fernando Díaz Barco, member of the jury and director of Legal Consultancy at Sacyr, added that the Legal Marcom Awards “are already a benchmark in the legal world”. Regarding the deliberation of the jury, he said that “it has been a magnificent experience to have these colleagues with whom we have debated the nominations and to present the awards with the greatest possible honesty. It has been a very enriching experience”.

In this edition, the jury awarded 28 prizes in twelve categories for Spain and Latin America. Among the winners were Uría Menéndez (firm with the best reputation in Spain), Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU&Uría (firm with the best reputation in Latin America), Pilar Menor, global co-chair employment – senior partner at DLA Piper Spain (lawyer with the best reputation in Spain), José Luis Suárez, managing partner at Gómez-Pinzón Abogados (lawyer with the best reputation in Latin America) and Jorge Badía, CEO at Cuatrecasas, who passed away in July this year, received the honorary prize for his professional career posthumously, which was received on his behalf by Rafael Fontana, executive chairman at Cuatrecasas.

The awards ceremony was preceded by two high-level panel discussions, with the participation of Constanza Vergara, partner at Pérez-Llorca; Pilar Menor, global co-chair Employment and senior partner at DLA Piper Spain; Joan Roca, executive chairman at RocaJunyent and Pedro Rodero, managing partner at Ontier who, moderated by Marc Gericó, managing partner at Gericó Associates, debated on ‘Reputation, risks and keys to growth in business law firms’.

Subsequently, Lola Conde, corporate legal counsel at Banco Santander; Federico Tarín, general counsel at Repsol; Ana Prado, general counsel at Mercedes-Benz and Fernando Ortega, general counsel at Siemens; addressed the ‘Keys to the hiring of firms by general counsel’, moderated by Ignacio Bao, emeritus chairman and managing partner in Spain and Portugal at Signium.

The Legal Marcoms will return in 2024

The Legal Marcom Awards were born in 2016 as the first Spanish-speaking awards, biennial in nature, with the aim of recognising the work of professionals in Legal Marketing, Legal Communication and Business Development.

In 2018 they were opened to Latin America and now, in 2022, they have grown in the number of categories awarded, including best in-house legal counsel, women’s leadership and ESG, among others, and have been awarded at the Legal Marcom Gala, which will be back in 2024.

LIST OF WINNERS | LEGAL MARCOM AWARDS 2022

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