Property and contract law lies at the origin of the firm and is our main area of specialisation. Since 1992 we have advised companies and individuals on the ordering, protection and defence of their property interests, with a body of knowledge built up over more than thirty years of professional practice.
This branch of the law governs a large part of the economic relations of individuals and companies. It essentially comprises the law of obligations and contracts and the legal regime governing ownership and the other rights in rem. A command of this discipline provides a cross-cutting legal foundation from which to approach with rigour many of the questions that affect a person's assets.
In Catalonia, that specialisation also calls for a precise knowledge of Catalan civil law and of how it interacts with the rest of the legal system. Our continuous practice in Barcelona and in the rest of Catalonia allows us to bring both perspectives together in the analysis of every transaction, legal relationship or dispute.
Preventive advice and asset strategy
In property and contract law, acting in advance is usually the best way of protecting the client's interests. An inadequate contractual clause, an insufficient guarantee, a failure to check the legal or Land Registry position of a property, or a contract structure that has not properly assessed its tax consequences may later give rise to complex and costly disputes. An essential part of our work is therefore preventive in nature. Before documenting or formalising a transaction, we analyse its economic purpose, the interests of the parties, the legal risks, the guarantees required and the consequences of each alternative.
We do not see contract work as the mere drafting of a document. A contract must reflect the reality of the transaction, make reasonable provision for its contingencies and lay down effective mechanisms to protect the client if circumstances change or the other party is in breach.
The cross-cutting nature of property and contract law also calls for its relationship with other disciplines to be assessed. Where the transaction requires it, we build into the analysis its commercial, corporate, real estate or tax implications, so as to provide a legal answer consistent with the interests at stake as a whole.
National and Catalan civil law
Catalonia has a civil law of its own with a considerable bearing on property matters. Ownership, possession, situations of co-ownership and limited rights in rem, as well as important areas of obligations and contracts, are specifically regulated in the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code. Determining the applicable law correctly is not a merely academic question; it may shape the structure of a transaction, the content and effects of a contract, the exercise of a right or the strategy to be followed in the event of a dispute.
Our specialisation in property and contract law, together with the experience built up in applying Catalan civil law, allows us to advise companies and individuals on transactions and disputes that call for a particularly precise knowledge of this legal framework. This dual perspective is of particular importance in areas such as the sale and transfer of assets, purchase options, pre-emption rights, ownership and co-ownership, rights in rem, guarantees and the legal relationships connected with real estate assets.
Contracts, ownership and rights in rem
In contractual matters, we advise throughout the whole cycle of the legal relationship, from the analysis and structuring of the transaction, the negotiation and drafting of the contract, through to its amendment, performance and interpretation and, where necessary, its termination or discharge.
Our practice covers, among others, contracts of sale and purchase, purchase option, exchange, lease, assignment of business premises, provision of services, estate agency, lease of a business as a going concern, works, loan, mandate, deposit and acknowledgement of debt, as well as the setting up and regulation of co-ownership arrangements and of other property relationships between individuals or companies.
In the field of ownership and rights in rem, we advise on the acquisition, transfer, protection and legal ordering of real estate, as well as on situations of co-ownership and the division of co-owned property, possession, rights of first refusal and pre-emption, usufruct, use and habitation, easements, the determination and marking of boundaries, mortgages and pledges, declarations of new building works and matters relating to the “Registro de la Propiedad”, the Land Registry.
From advice to litigation
The same specialisation that we apply at the preventive stage is the foundation of how we act when a dispute arises. Before going to court, we analyse the possibilities of negotiation, mediation, conciliation or settlement and assess whether there is a solution that protects the client's interests without the need to commence court proceedings.
Where litigation proves unavoidable, a thorough knowledge of the substantive law comes fully into its own. Actions for performance, termination, nullity or rescission of contract, claims for payment, the defence of ownership or of possession and, in general, disputes over property all require the client's legal position to be determined precisely first, so that the appropriate litigation strategy can then be built. It is here that property and contract law and litigation, the firm's two long-standing specialisations, come together.
