Cuatrecasas has hired an experienced labor and employment partner from Ernst & Young Abogados as the need for labor and employment advice grows in Spain.

Isabel Merenciano was previously ppartner responsible for labor practice and employment at Ernst & Young in Valencia. A labor lawyer for almost 25 years, she is also an arbitrator at the Labor Arbitration Tribunal of the Valencian Community and associate professor at the CEU-Cardenal Herrera University. She will continue in both roles while working in the Valencia office of Cuatrecasas.

Prior to joining EY, Merenciano was a partner at Broseta Abogados. She has experience in advising companies, particularly in the automotive, port, transport, industrial and financial sectors, in the processes of negotiation of collective agreements, restructuring and revision of occupational risk prevention policies.

Cuatrecasas said in a statement that Merenciano would strengthen the firm’s team based in Valencia, which has been advising companies and entities in all economic sectors for 26 years.

Merenciano noted in the statement that the need for labor and employment legal advice is growing.

“Cuatrecasas has bet on my experience in an area that has become increasingly powerful in terms of the need for advice, especially in recent years, and which, after the latest legislative changes, has become a decisive role in any business planning “, she says.

In February this year, after the government, unions and employers spent months negotiating a deal, Spain’s parliament passed a major labor reform that limits the use of fixed-term contracts and increases fixed-term contracts. permanent and seasonal contracts. It also strengthens the information rights of trade unions and the audit possibilities of the state labor inspectorate.

The new hire follows the firm’s hiring earlier this month of a tax partner in Mexico and an M&A partner in Peru. It also comes after Cuatrecasas named five lawyers to partner in its latest round of promotions in May. The company job record turnover of 350 million euros for 2021—an 11% increase from 2020 which continued a five-year growth trend for the company.

Cuatrecasas is a full-service international law firm with a strong presence in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. It has 27 offices in 13 countries, with offices in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States.