Marlen Estévez

Practice Areas

Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation

Career

Marlen is a Partner and Director of the Litigation, Arbitration & Mediation Department at RocaJunyent, as well as a member of the Firm’s Board of Directors, Head of the Innovation Commission and Head of the Latin American practice area. In addition, she is the Founder and President of Women in a Legal World.

She has a prolific international career as an expert in the field of dispute resolution. She is also the President of the Business Mediation Centre of Madrid and Co-President of the ADR section of the Madrid Bar Association.

She holds executive positions in the Council of European Lawyers, is the Secretary of the Royal Academy of Spanish Jurisprudence and Legislation (Ibero-American Section) and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of the Royal Academy of Spanish Jurisprudence and Legislation. She is also a member of the advisory board of universities, publishers, arbitration courts and organisations such as Endeavor.

Experience

She focuses her professional practice on civil procedural law, national and international arbitration, as well as in the field of mediation. She has extensive experience in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards and in the application for precautionary measures in support of judicial and arbitral proceedings.

Marlen advises on national and international arbitration proceedings, especially in complex matters in the field of construction and post M&A disputes. She has participated in more than eighty arbitrations conducted before the main international arbitration courts (the ICC Arbitration Court, the London Court of International Arbitration and the Swiss Arbitration Courts, among others) and before the main Spanish courts (Court of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Madrid and the Civil and Commercial Court of Arbitration —CIMA). She has also participated in numerous ad hoc arbitrations.

In the field of mediation, she has intervened in more than twenty processes as a mediator and as a lawyer representing a party, highlighting, among others, the mediation “Edificio Conde Fenosa”, for its relevance and public character. Marlen also has experience in bankruptcy matters, having advised on procedures related to different sectors of activity, such as the real estate, venture capital or industrial sector.

Her professional activity is complemented by her great involvement in various educational institutions with the aim of promoting and disseminating alternative methods of dispute resolution. Her social commitment is materialised in the creation of various organisations. In addition, in terms of dissemination and teaching, she has participated in numerous conferences and seminars at national and international level such as the IBA, the UN, etc., and has published a large number of articles related to her area of expertise.

She has been chosen as Top 10 most influential Spanish female lawyers by El Mundo - Yo Dona, Top 20 most relevant female lawyers of Spanish law by Economist and Jurist, Top 100 women leaders of Spain by Mujeres & Cía, Top 500 most outstanding women of Spain by El Mundo - Yo Dona (2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023). She has also been chosen Top 50 InspiraLaw of Spain and Portugal from 2018 to the present and awarded “Forty under 40” by Iberian Lawyer. Various international directories, such as Leaders League and Best Lawyers, have selected her as a leading lawyer in her field. She was awarded the Barakah Mediation Award by the Valladolid Chamber of Commerce 2023.

The Chambers & Partners Guide 2024 describes her as “sensitive, empathetic and assertive, as well as extremely creative in her proposals. She shines in the trials she attends and has the ability to handle complex matters”. In turn, the Legal 500 Guide recognises her as “a reference person in the area of litigation”.