Rafael Sebastián

Rafael Sebastián is a corporate lawyer in the Madrid office of Uría Menéndez. He joined the firm in 1990 and became a partner in 1991.

Rafael was previously general counsel and secretary to the board of a leading international bank. He opened the New York office of Uría Menéndez in 1990 and was managing partner there until 1996.

Rafael’s practice covers a wide range of corporate and banking work. He specialises in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring, and has advised on insolvency proceedings involving leading Spanish and multinational companies.

Rafael has been recognized as a top lawyer in multiple fields by all the major publications (Chambers Global, PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook, etc.). According to the 2012 edition of Who’s Who Legal, Rafael is considered by his peers as one of the world’s leading banking lawyers. He is regarded as a leading lawyer in structured finance as well as restructuring and insolvency by IFLR 1000 in its 2013 edition.

We are widely acknowledged as a specialist corporate firm. Since the firm’s foundation, we have provided advice in all areas of corporate law: mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial law, commercial contracts, maritime law, company law and insurance.

The increasing complexity of transactions and the enactment of industry-specific legislation have paved the way for the creation of new specialist practice areas. However, far from departing from our corporate tradition, our specialist practice areas have consolidated our prestigious Corporate and Commercial Practice Area. It is the cornerstone of our firm and is staffed by a group of lawyers specialised in advising companies and individuals alike in all types of business, financial and commercial transactions, be they national, foreign, listed or unlisted. We advise on general commercial law matters that are common to all practice areas and industry sectors, such as general contracts, the incorporation and liquidation of companies, keeping of company records and agency agreements.

Our leadership in commercial law is rooted in the outstanding skills and experience of our lawyers, their active teaching role at universities and business schools, their involvement in the drafting of new legislation, and their participation in large-scale global transactions.

Founded in the 1940s, Uría Menéndez has since become one of the most prestigious international law firms. Our capacity for innovation, our profound analysis of the law and our unwavering respect for deontological ethics have all made Uría Menéndez one of the leading firms across the Iberian and Latin American markets.

We have almost 600 lawyers working in 16 different offices located in the most important financial centres in Europe, the Americas and Asia. We also make up part of the first ever major Ibero-American law firm, Philippi, Prietocarrizosa, Ferrero DU & Uría.

Uría Menéndez is there for its clients across the globe through its close ties with prestigious local firms. In addition, through our network of best friends in Europe we are able to create cross-firm teams with the leading firms from France (Bredin Prat), Germany (Hengeler Mueller), Italy (BonelliErede), the Netherlands (De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek) and the United Kingdom (Slaughter and May). Uría Menéndez is also a member of renowned international networks such as Lex Mundi.