F&J Martín hires José Antonio Morillo, the state counsel who ran Ports' legal office, to launch its Port Law practice
José Antonio Morillo Velarde del Peso, 15 years heading the legal office of Puertos del Estado, joins as of counsel to lead the port practice.
F&J Martín Abogados has announced a specialist hire to open a new business line: José Antonio Morillo Velarde del Peso joins as of counsel to lead the firm's Port Law area, expanding its public-law practice and its advice to companies and operators in the port, logistics and international transport sectors, Cinco Días reports and the firm has confirmed.
Fifteen years at the legal heart of the port system
Few profiles know the legal fabric of Spanish ports as Morillo does. A career state counsel, he has headed for the last 15 years the legal office of Puertos del Estado, the public body where he also served as secretary of its governing council and of the committee of the Interport Compensation Fund, the mechanism that balances the accounts of ports of general interest. He also chairs the International Port Law Association.
His sector experience was also built from within the port authorities: he sat on the boards of the Junta del Puerto de Melilla and of the port authorities of Marín and Ría de Pontevedra, Málaga, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
A state counsel career with a tax stamp
Before his port years, Morillo held some of the most senior posts in the State Legal Service. He was chief state counsel in Málaga, practised before the Madrid High Court, at the Treasury Secretariat of State and the Ministry of Justice, and rose to deputy director general for Coordination and Audit of the State Legal Service, a role that included heading its inspection service. He also chaired the State Counsel Association.
His link with the tax administration is equally long: he was secretary of the economic-administrative tribunals of Tenerife and Málaga and of the Council for the Defence of the Taxpayer, the body that advises taxpayers in review proceedings. He holds the Cross of Honour of San Raimundo de Peñafort and the Encomienda of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.
Why ports are now a legal business
The firm's managing partner, Javier Martín Fernández, explained the fit with an idea that sums up the specialty: in ports, questions of public law, economic regulation and taxation converge in a single space and rarely admit separate analysis, and Morillo's experience allows them to be addressed with the comprehensive view they demand.
The Spanish port system moves hundreds of millions each year in charges, fees, concessions and service contracts, all under state and regional regulation that reforms frequently. Logistics operators, container terminals and shipping companies need advice combining administrative law, public procurement and taxation, and that profile is scarce in the market.
For F&J Martín, the bet fits its strategy of growing through high-value regulated specialties, a model that sets it apart from generalist firms of its size. That the hire is an of counsel rather than an equity partner also suggests a flexible formula: the firm gains immediate access to an institutional network built over fifteen years, while valuing the conversion of that portfolio into a consolidated practice before full integration into the partnership structure.
Sources: Cinco Días (29 October 2026) and F&J Martín Abogados.
Related links
Fuentes
- cincodias.elpais.com. Accessed 1 November 2026.
The specific data in this article come from the official sources cited.
