The Firm
Estudio Jurídico Zabala is an independent boutique law firm, dedicated exclusively to advising in all areas of criminal law, with a marked specialization in so-called white-collar crimes.
Our lawyers have extensive understanding of these areas, forged in the most relevant criminal proceedings in Spain in recent years.
The firm offers advice on all matters involving corporate crimes, being pioneers in carrying out internal investigations and crisis management derived from internal complaints (whistleblowers).
This expertise has been recognized by the main legal directories and rankings in recent years.
Services
Criminal Law
We provide services in all areas of criminal law, in all the Jurisdiction of the Courts of Spain and in all matters.
From the beginning of the procedure, we help our clients and their families to understand the environment of the criminal process and the consequences that it entails. We also guide and walk them through in the first moments of the judicial matter.
White-Collar Crimes
Our clients are mainly high-profile individuals as directors, executives and companies seeking specialized and independent advice on criminal matters.
Regarding litigation advice, we exercise the private prosecution and the defense of the interests of the client throughout Spain’s national territory and in all phases of the process. From the beginning of the proceedings through a complaint before the Investigating Court, going through the process before the Criminal Courts or the Provincial Courts and, if necessary, up to the highest jurisdictional instances, such as the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court or even the European Court of Human Rights.
The main matters that make up our most recent experience are the following: fraud, misappropriation, corporate crimes, tax fraud or environmental crimes, labor accidents and corruption related crimes.
International Criminal Law
We are specialists in procedures with any type of European component (OEDE, OEI or European Public Prosecutor’s Office), as well as criminal investigations against foreign citizens in Spain or those whose extradition is sought.
The Firm has more than twenty years of experience in procedures followed before the National Court.
Compliance: internal investigations and whistleblowers
Compliance systems have undergone a significant evolution in recent years, to prevent the corporate criminal liability. The Firm’s lawyers have participated in this evolution both in the academia and in the practical field. They have participated in the implementation of criminal prevention plans and management models in the most relevant national and international companies.
In the compliance advisory environment, the matters to which the firm usually dedicates itself are the following:
- Crisis Management (warrants and police investigations)
- Internal investigations and whistleblowers (Law 2/2023)
Lawyes
Carlos Zabala
He began his professional career at the Law Office of Prof. Cobo del Rosal, combining the free practice of law with teaching tasks and doctoral studies at the Complutense University of Madrid. He furthered his studies at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA), where he concluded, with the highest academic marks, his thesis on securities fraud and insider trading.
Upon his return to Spain, he continued with his teaching work in different public and private universities, combining his academic work with the practice of Criminal Law in different national and foreign law firms. In recent years he has lead the Criminal Law and investigations practice in the well-known firm Clifford Chance in Spain.
Over time, he opened his own Law Firm to offer what he had always been passionate about: legal advice on criminal matters, complying with the highest standards of independence and quality.
Currently he is a professor of Corporate Criminal Law at the Pontifical University of Comillas – ICADE.
Academic experience:
- Graduate in Law (Complutense University of Madrid), 2002
- Master of Laws –LL.M- (University of Pennsylvania Law School), 2008.
- Doctor in Law (Complutense University of Madrid), 2008.
He has published a multitude of specialized articles, several books on matters related to Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law, and has collaborated on multiple collective works. His publications can be consulted on Dialnet.
