Goñi & Co Abogados (Goñi & Co Lawyers) is a well known law firm with over 50 years´ experience as an internationally recognized/respected firm that specializes in the field of Maritime Law. We are part of an international network of maritime law firms that have longstanding professional relations.
In addition to our primary trademark as a pioneer international maritime law firm in Spain, which has always been our trademark, we have developed over the years an extensive expertise in other related law fields such as Transport Law (land and air transport) and Insurance Law. We also have a long and consolidated expertise in international litigation as well as arbitrage and mediation. We have a wealth of practice in dealing with highly complex cases, in which our international know-how and our network of international contacts is an asset greatly valued by our clients. This, in turn, translates into a solid and stable relationship with our clients, based on reliability and mutual trust.
Goñi & Co is first and foremost a solid and experienced human team of highly qualified expert legal professionals. This team is shaped and led by Mr Jose Luis Goñi Etchevers, who is the founder and lead partner. He is a well known Spanish attorney of a long and outstanding career who has been credited with a well deserved and prestigious reputation both at home and abroad
As a firm that specializes in maritime law, transport law and as an international firm, we have a demand for a wide variety of services, as often as not of profound complexity. We have intervened, to mention but a few examples, in oil pollution disaster cases such as “Urquiola”, “Mar Egeo” and “Prestige”; the “Yak 42” air plane accident; arbitration in the case of the installation of large cranes in a British port; large maritime archeology operations by Odyssey in the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic ocean; the acquisition or construction of fast seagoing passenger and cargo vessels as well as large yachts (Navantia 45); vast chartering agreements; important international cases involving Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVESA), etc. We are often involved in special or singular cases, such as the unusual accident involving a helicopter and a competition sailboat, and in an array of different situations concerning accidents or responsibility of yacht owners, pollution fines and many others of diverse size and amount.
In the last few years we have notably increased our legal services and practice in the field of “superyachts” and leisure boats in general: financing, shipbuilding, register, purchase and sales, insurance claims, shipyards and leisure boat ports. Aeronautic law is another field in which we have developed an increasing practice: transport law, sales and acquisitions, air accidents, etc. One of our clients has one of the leading fleets in Spain of privately owned jet planes for rental and management.
I might add that we have a long tradition and very wide experience in a very specific area of expertise: the preventive seizure/embargo of vessels. This is a field in which we were pioneers in Spain, thus enabling us to acquire a proficient and reputable know-how through the successful accomplishment of many such cases over the years. Lately we have renovated our preventive embargo practice through the introduction of new aspects of law (European procedural legislation Brussels I, and Arbitration law, NLA).
Currently we are developing our great potentials in the area of Arbitration and Mediation, proposing and helping to create the groundwork for strengthening institutions and panels in fields where there is an urgent need for them, through the exchange of information and a much needed legal uniformisation.
Goñi & Co responds to the modern concept of boutique or “tailor- made” law firms, stressing the care invested in providing a personalized service, which is in line, I dare say, with the current international trend of adjusting the dimension, structure and overhead costs of organizations. This is especially important at a time of international financial crisis where our clients are keen to avoid unnecessary expenditure. Therefore we try to shun overdimensions in our gradual growth strategy, tying instead to combine ambition with caution. This policy allows us to limit our costs and increase the quality of our service. Apart from this I might add that we are a very specialized firm of international scope, we can travel quickly in order to deal with very urgent cases, at any time and anywhere in Spain or abroad. The summary of our firm’s vision is to provide a highly specialized, highly qualified, personalized service at a reasonable cost
