The 2026 edition of the Legal 500 rankings for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), published on 25 March 2026, confirms the growing influence these directories wield within the legal sector. The guide was compiled after analysing more than 17,000 submissions, contacting approximately 263,000 clients, and conducting thousands of interviews across 80 countries.

This scale reflects an increasingly rigorous and comprehensive research process, which now requires firms not only to deliver high-quality work but also to present it with clarity, focus and consistency. In practice, rankings have become a positioning tool that goes beyond reputation, functioning as an indicator of specialisation, visibility and competitive strength in the market.

In Spain, this edition highlights two significant developments. The first is the creation of a dedicated table of leading arbitrators, which recognises outstanding individuals and reinforces the importance of personal positioning within the market.

Tier 1 includes David Arias, Antonio Hierro and José María Alonso Puig; Tier 2 features Jesús Almoguera, Víctor Bonnin, Carlos González-Bueno, María José Menéndez and Miguel Virgós.

Legal 500 EMEA is moving towards a more granular interpretation of the Spanish legal ecosystem

The second development is the introduction of a table dedicated to leading firms in Barcelona. Tier 1 includes Baker McKenzie, Cuatrecasas, Garrigues and Uría Menéndez, while Tier 2 comprises Pérez-Llorca, RocaJunyent and DWF-RCD. This follows a similar trajectory to that pursued for years by Chambers, with more segmented coverage by market and location, and indicates that Legal 500 is also advancing towards a more nuanced reading of the Spanish legal landscape.

From a strategic standpoint, this holds considerable value for Spanish firms. On the one hand, the Barcelona table acknowledges that the legal market is not solely national in scope and that certain jurisdictions possess their own identity, competitive dynamics and market structures.

On the other hand, the new category of leading arbitrators further increases the emphasis on individual visibility and the need to build recognisable professional trajectories. Rankings are no longer merely a means of stating “we are included” or “we have improved”; they now serve to clarify a firm’s or professional’s true position, how they are perceived, and where gaps in positioning may lie. When properly interpreted, they constitute a valuable tool for strategic decision-making, business development and talent projection within an increasingly competitive legal market.