Practice areas: eight fields of Spanish law, west of Madrid
Eight areas of law, and a separate page for accident compensation. If your matter fits none of them, tell us anyway: we will point you to the right person.
Choose the area your matter falls into
Each area has a page of its own setting out the procedure, the time limits and the questions we are asked most.
Inheritance and probate
Lifetime gifts that were wrongly counted, legítima shares (the fixed portion of an estate the law reserves for close relatives) that do not add up, challenges to a will, objections to the cuaderno particional (the written division of the estate) and the ending of co-ownership over inherited property.
See inheritanceCriminal defence
Defence from the first police or court statement through to an appeal before the Tribunal Supremo (the Spanish Supreme Court).
See criminal defenceCivil law and tenancies
Evictions, debt claims, contracts and claims against insurers.
See civil lawDivorce
By agreement and contested, winding up the sociedad de gananciales (the default marital property pool) and applications to vary existing orders.
See divorceFamily law
Custody, contact arrangements, child maintenance and breaches of existing orders.
See family lawDismissal and employment
Challenging a dismissal within twenty working days, claims for unpaid wages and resignation with compensation under art. 50 ET (the Workers’ Statute).
See dismissalCompany and commercial
Disputes between shareholders, directors’ liability and recovery of unpaid invoices.
See company lawAdministrative and regulatory
Penalty proceedings brought by town halls and by the Comunidad de Madrid, licences, planning enforcement and the recurso contencioso-administrativo (court review of an administrative decision). We do not handle traffic fines or low-value penalties.
See administrative lawPersonal injury and accident claims
Road traffic, accidents at work and medical negligence. We handle these from a separate site of our own.
See personal injurySubjects we cover in detail
Within each area there are matters with rules, time limits and a strategy of their own. These are the subjects that have a page of their own, written by the firm and citing the law article by article.
Civil, contracts and consumer matters
- Building and renovation contracts — the ten, three and one-year periods under the Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación (the Building Act), extras nobody authorised and work abandoned part-way.
- Breach of contract — requiring performance, terminating the contract or claiming the loss; mora (late performance), arras (the deposit on a sale) and interest under the late payment legislation.
- Consumer rights — the three-year guarantee, the right to withdraw, unfair terms and advertising the trader can be held to.
Installations sold at the door
- Air-source heat pump installations — sizing, legalisation, noise from the outdoor unit and the liability of the company that financed the equipment.
- Solar panels — the output promised, surplus energy that is not credited, the extended withdrawal period and the linked loan.
Business premises
- Transferring business premises and licences — assigning the lease without the landlord’s consent, the inventory and putting the licence into the new holder’s name.
- Commercial leases — duration, early termination, works, the deposit, unpaid rent and eviction.
Employment
- Unfair dismissal — when a dismissal is unfair, how the compensation is worked out and the twenty-working-day time limit.
- Void dismissal — pregnancy, family leave and retaliation: reinstatement is compulsory and damages are payable for the harm done.
- Conciliation claim before the SMAC — what it suspends, for how long and how the hearing is prepared.
Economic crime and administrative matters
- Economic crime and fraud — estafa (fraud) and its aggravated forms, frauds over property, administración desleal (disloyal management of another’s assets) and misappropriation.
- Administrative penalties and appeals — caducidad and prescripción of the file (the two ways a penalty file can run out of time), paying with a reduction and suspending the penalty.
What is the same in every area
The court changes and the applicable law changes, but the way we work is the same in a dismissal and in a seven-figure estate. We read before we give a view. At the first meeting there is no diagnosis: there are questions and a list of documents. The view comes once they are on the table. We tell you whether you have a case, including when you do not. We study every case before taking it on, and we tell you frankly whether it has any prospect of success — even when the client insists on going to court. We would rather lose the instruction than put someone into proceedings whose ending we already know. We do not promise results. What we do, from the start, is explain what can reasonably be expected, how long it may take and what it may cost. If anything changes along the way, we say so. Both partners study the matter. There is no one lawyer who signs and another who does the work.
What to bring to the first meeting
It varies with the matter, but these are the documents that speed up the review most:
- Inheritance: the will or the declaración de herederos (the formal declaration of who the heirs are where there is no will), deeds of gift, any capitulaciones matrimoniales (marital property agreement) and, if one exists, the cuaderno particional.
- Dismissal: the dismissal letter, the contract and the payslips for the last twelve months.
- Divorce and family: the libro de familia (the official family record book), the marriage certificate, any earlier judgment or agreement, and a rough statement of income and outgoings.
- Criminal: the summons, the complaint or the judgment you have received, and the exact date of each document.
- Civil and commercial: the contract or the policy, the invoices, and the burofaxes (certified letters with proof of content) exchanged with the other side.
If you are missing one of them, do not wait until you have everything before you call: in several of these matters the time limits are short, and once they are missed nothing can be done about it.
Questions we are asked about our practice areas
What if I do not know which area my matter belongs to?
Then describe it as you understand it and we will place it. Choosing the right heading is our job, not yours. If the matter turns out to be one we do not handle, we will say so and point you to the right person.
Do you handle road traffic accidents and medical negligence?
Yes, but not from this site. Compensation claims for road traffic accidents, accidents at work and medical negligence are run from a separate site of ours. You can read about them on our personal injury page.
Are there matters you do not take on?
Yes. We do not handle traffic fines or low-value administrative penalties. And in any area, if after studying the papers we think the matter has no prospect of success, we say so rather than start proceedings.
Is there a time limit I should know about before I call?
In several areas there is. A dismissal must be challenged within twenty working days, and other matters have their own limits that depend on the date of the document you received. That is why it is worth calling before you have gathered every paper.
Tell us about your case
If you do not know which area your matter falls into, do not worry about getting it right: describe it as you understand it and we will place it.
28691 Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid)