DLA Piper is pleased to announce that José María Gil-Robles is joining the firm as a partner and Head of Corporate in its Madrid office. He has almost three decades of Spanish and cross-border experience in the areas of M&A, private equity, hedge funds and distressed situations.

José María joins from Spanish law firm Garrigues. In addition to mainstream M&A and private equity transactions, José María regularly advises hedge funds and other distressed players on the sale and purchase of credit portfolios, corporate debt, shares in insolvent or near insolvent companies, regional or local authorities' debt, as well as on the granting of hybrid financing to Spanish companies, debt refinancing and operational restructuring.

Bob Bishop, partner and Global Co-Chair of DLA Piper's Corporate Group, said: ""José María has a first class reputation in his field. The breadth of his experience, working both domestically and cross-border, is ideally suited to our global platform. I look forward to working with him to further develop our Corporate practice, both in Spain and abroad.""

Pilar Menor, Country Managing Partner in Spain, added: ""We are delighted to announce the appointment of José María Gil-Robles as a new partner and Head of Corporate practice in Madrid. José María is a highly regarded lawyer in Spain. His hire demonstrates our on-going efforts to recruit the country's top practitioners whose integrated expertise and service-driven focus will give our clients the competitive edge.""