Spanish law firm Cuatrecasas has added a leading European compliance lawyer from Dentons in Barcelona. 

Diego Pol has joined the firm after four years at Dentons, where he led the Spanish compliance team and co-chaired the European compliance practice alongside Berlin-based partner Judith Aron. 

Pol is expected to develop Cuatrecasas’ corporate compliance team, which the firm said had become an important driver of growth in recent years, as well as make it more cross-sectoral and international in nature. 

Joining him for the move are compliance associates Cristina Serrahima and Carmen Cases, both of whom were based in Dentons’ Barcelona office. 

Cuatrecasas managing partner, Javier Fontcuberta, commented: “With the addition of Diego Pol to the team, Cuatrecasas has established itself as one of the leading law firms in compliance in Spain, and strengthens its capacity to advise on the most complex of cases, including international sanctions.”

Pol’s practice focuses on advising national and international clients on the prevention and management of legal risks and regulatory compliance, including anti-corruption regulations, export controls and international trade sanctions. He also advises on designing the compliance function and implementing irregularity management systems across companies and is the only lawyer in Spain included in the Who’s Who Legal global directory as an expert in international sanctions. 

A member of the bar associations of both Spain and the United States, he practised in the Barcelona office of Baker McKenzie before joining Dentons in 2019 and earlier in his career clerked for leading Florida litigator Bruce Rogow. 

The addition of Pol and his team are a significant boost to Cuatrecasas’ compliance team, which currently houses 47 lawyers globally including 25 partners – nine of whom are based in Barcelona. 

His move follows Dentons announcing in January that it would shutter its Barcelona office and integrate its team there into its other Spanish base in Madrid, in a move the global giant said at the time was in line with its approach in most European jurisdictions to centralise operations in a single location. Most of the team had accepted the offer to relocate but a few, including office head Nieves Briz and Pol, opted to split their time between working remotely from Barcelona and Madrid. 

Cuatrecasas reported last month that it achieved record revenue for the 2022 financial year, rising 4.7% to just under €353m. The firm – the second largest Spanish firm by revenue after Garrigues – has more than 1,800 lawyers across 27 offices around the world. 

A Dentons spokesperson confirmed Pol's move to Cuatrecasas, commenting: “We wish him well in this next phase of his career. Dentons’ corporate and M&A team in Spain – led by partners Jesus Duran, Nieves Briz and Israel de Diego – continues to support the needs of our clients with regard to both M&A and corporate governance matters."