By Heidi Maldonado
Five of the eight firms ranked in Chambers’ new European ranking are Spanish. Ambar is the standout performer this year, achieving top positions in all three geographic categories—global, European, and Spanish—while PwC Tax & Legal has risen to gold in the domestic market, and Ecija has secured its sole position in the global Legal Transformation Consulting category for the third consecutive year.
The European ranking, the big news
The structural innovation of this edition is the creation of the European ranking, which for the first time provides an independent regional classification for alternative legal service providers (ALSPs). In this category, Ambar and Lawyers for Projects achieve the top spot, with Abroading, Andersen, and KPMG Abogados tied for second place. The fact that five of the eight ranked firms are Spanish is significant: it reflects that the Spanish ALSP segment has reached sufficient maturity to compete with equivalent firms across the rest of the continent.
The global map
In the global ranking, with awards in 19 categories, the following firms are included: Ambar, Lawyers for Projects, Abroading, Andersen, Deloitte Legal, Ecija, and KPMG Abogados. In the individual category of consulting for the transformation of the legal sector, the top award goes to Eugenia Navarro of the consulting firm Lois and Paul Handal of Deloitte Legal.
Movements in the Spanish ranking
The most significant development in the Spanish ranking is PwC Tax & Legal’s rise to the Gold Band, joining Abroading, Afiens, Ambar, and Legal Army. Andersen and Lois enter the ranking for the first time in second place. Francisco González Fernández-Mellado, partner in charge of NewLaw at PwC Tax & Legal, interprets this as “proof that the market values our strategic commitment to innovation and to developing distinctive legal and tax services that combine our traditional capabilities with the multiplier effect and transformative power of technology.” Also joining the Gold Band of the Spanish ranking are Laia Moncosí and Raquel Arenas of Lawyers for Projects; Teresa Forcada of FYR Legal; and Noemí Brito of KPMG Abogados, who join David Rodríguez (FYR Legal) and Santiago Torrejón (Ayerta Legal), already recognized in the previous edition.
In the 2024 edition , PwC Tax & Legal, KPMG Abogados, Lawyers for Projects, and Samaniego Law held the second position in the Spanish ranking, while Attolon Law and FYR Legal appeared in Band 3 in their first participation. PwC’s rise to Gold and FYR Legal’s entry into Band 2 in this edition are the most significant changes compared to that ranking.
The individuals
In the individual section of the Spanish ranking, Manuel Deó and Rosa Espín, co-founders of Ambar, retain the top recognition, joined by Irma Cebrián of Abroading. Natalia Martos, CEO of Legal Army, is included in Band 1 in the Individual – NewLaw category, a recognition that Chambers bases on client interviews and criteria such as technical capacity, service, and value. “This recognition has a value that goes beyond the symbolic,” Martos points out. “It signals that a different way of practicing law, closer to business, more connected to technology, and more focused on providing practical solutions, is being observed and valued by the market. Legal advice must be technically excellent, strategically clear, and operationally useful.”
Legal Army also holds band 1 in the Alternative Legal Service Providers category in Spain, with a profile focused on digital law, privacy, cybersecurity and technology contracting.
In 2024, Martos was recognized in Band 2 in the individual category, making her promotion to Band 1 in this edition one of the most significant individual advancements of the competition. In that year, the highest band was awarded to Lorena Salamanca of Afiens, along with Manuel Deó, Rosa Espín, and Silvia Perea—then at Abroading, now at Andersen—which also illustrates the talent mobility that characterizes the Spanish ALSP segment.
Ecija, three consecutive years alone
Ecija consolidates a unique position: it is the only Spanish firm ranked in the global guide in the Legal Transformation Consulting category, and it has done so for the third consecutive year in band 1. Chambers describes the firm as a benchmark in the use of advanced technology and artificial intelligence applied to law, and highlights Alejandro Touriño, managing partner, as a key figure in the practice for his combination of legal and technological vision with a practical and strategic approach.
A consolidated position
The overall results paint a picture of a Spanish ALSP market that is no longer peripheral within the European ecosystem. The concentration of top positions in local firms—as opposed to global or Anglo-Saxon structures that dominate equivalent rankings in other markets—suggests that the specialization and networked talent models developed in Spain in recent years now have an external benchmark that validates them.
For Guillermo Ranilla, business development director of FYR Legal, “this recognition has a meaning that transcends the pride of appearing in a benchmark ranking. It represents confirmation of the evolution and maturity of a legal services delivery model that demands specialization, innovation, and continuous improvement.”
For their part, Deó and Espín, from Ambar, place the result in a more structural perspective: “Chambers is now recognizing a reality that we have been building for years. Ambar is not an alternative to the traditional model; it is the infrastructure on which the next generation of legal careers will be developed.”
Silvia Perea, from Andersen, adds a perspective on the pace of change: “Achieving this recognition in less than a year since the start of Andersen’s NewLaw practice demonstrates the speed at which the legal market is evolving and the need for more flexible, technological and business-oriented solutions.”
The market that explains the results
The rankings in this edition cannot be understood without considering the context in which the ranked firms operate. The Spanish legal market is undergoing a transformation driven by the convergence of several simultaneous factors: the acceleration of European regulation—with the AI Act, NIS2, DORA, and the CSRD Directive as key drivers—the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence in legal operations, the internationalization of Spanish companies, and a profound shift in the expectations of legal professionals.
The most visible effect of this transformation is the gradual detachment of legal talent from traditional structures. For decades, access to high-level legal counsel was tied to large firms. Today, experienced lawyers are opting for more flexible models that allow them to focus on their specialization and operate across jurisdictions. Clients, in parallel, have become more selective: they no longer prioritize solely the size or brand of the organization, but rather responsiveness, sector-specific knowledge, and proximity to the day-to-day operations of their business.
Artificial intelligence is accelerating this shift. As routine work becomes automated, the value of legal professionals is concentrated in areas that technology cannot easily replicate: strategic judgment, negotiation, stakeholder management, and risk assessment in complex regulatory environments. Corporate legal departments are increasingly seeking lawyers who can act as trusted business partners, not as isolated technical specialists.
The result is a service delivery model that combines in-house teams, traditional law firms, and alternative providers in hybrid structures. The best-positioned organizations are not necessarily the largest, but rather those that can identify specialized knowledge wherever it may be found and mobilize it at the right time. The Chambers NewLaw 2026 rankings document, among other things, which Spanish firms have built this capability solidly enough to be recognized on a continental scale.
