José has 20 years of experience as a qualified lawyer, with a focus on internationalisation and a well-established sanctions practice. He has been active in the fields of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international commerce, as well as project finance, investment protection and, more recently, fintech.
Recognised in the prestigious international directories The Legal 500, for Project Finance and European Law, and Chambers. Since 2015, he has been recognized by Best Lawyers in Spain for Project Finance. He has also been awarded the Iberian Lawyer Top 40 Under 40 in 2017, conferred on the 40 most prestigious lawyers under the age of 40 in Spain and Portugal.
José María has co-authored a Handbook on International Sanctions, which is intended to provide a first guide for companies and in-house counsel in navigating the complex regulatory framework of international sanctions. He has also recently co-authored the book Investments Abroad: Mechanisms of Protection, published by Thomson Aranzadi in 2017. Likewise, he has co-written Comments to the Arbitration Law of 2003 (Aranzadi, 2005), and authored Code of Arbitration (Aranzadi, 2005), a work of compilation and commentary on legal matters and rules of arbitration as well as the Cuban chapter of International Franchises 2016: Legal and Commercial Considerations.
José María regularly writes articles for the Spanish business and legal press, such as Expansión, Cinco Días or Latin Lawyer, and is frequently consulted as an expert in protection of foreign investments and international sanctions both in radio media and in televised discussions in Spain.
José María holds a degree in law and business administration and management (E-3) from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE). He is a professor of corporate law and legal aspects of blockchain at the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles in Madrid. He frequently gives conferences as a guest speaker on matters such as international law, oratory and dialectics, investment protection, and international sanctions in various universities in Spain and abroad, including ICADE, Instituto de Empresa, Menéndez Pelayo International University, Public University of Navarra, Madrid’s Universidad a Distancia, the University of Havana, and the University of Alicante. Furthermore, he has talked at events organized by the Cuban Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos (ONBC), the Brookings Institution, The Economist, and the Wharton Business School.
EU Sanctions
Sanctions Litigation
Foreign Investment and Project Finance