Contract structuring and negotiation
Drafting and negotiating agency, distribution, dealership and commercial representation agreements.
Agency & distribution law
Specialists.
Agency and distribution law. Commercial and legal counsel for agents, distributors and principals.
The firm
Apalategui Garmendia is a specialist practice whose work encompasses several areas of law. Agency and distribution law represents one of its core practice areas, led by Felipe Apalategui Tolosa, a lawyer with 25 years of experience in this field, for whom it has been a defining and consistent focus throughout his professional career.
The firm advises both commercial agents, distributors and principals (including trade associations) across a broad and diverse range of industry sectors.
The practice handles the full lifecycle of agency and distribution relationships: from contract structuring and negotiation, through the management of ongoing commercial disputes, to termination — whether resolved judicially, extrajudicially or through negotiated settlement.
Where are you writing from?
Each position in the commercial relationship has different needs. Choose your profile and we will reply with the right approach.
Chambers of Commercial Agents
Members' area
Priority attention for members of the Chambers of Commercial Agents, with specific terms for enquiries and matters referred by the Chamber.
Our approach
What sets the firm apart is a deliberate and consistent commitment to understanding the commercial (not merely the legal) dimension of every matter. It reflects over two decades of close, sustained work alongside commercial agents, trade associations and principals across multiple industries.
That proximity has generated a genuine inside understanding of business logic: how companies sell, how commercial networks are built and managed, how decisions are actually made within distribution structures.
Commercial reality at the centre
Agency and distribution relationships exist within that reality, and the firm approaches each case with it at the centre.
A hierarchy of solutions
Resisting a default litigious posture in favour of a hierarchy of solutions calibrated to the client's actual commercial position and objectives.
Litigation pursued with full force
This means that litigation, where necessary, is pursued with full force; but equally, where negotiation or restructuring better serves the client's interests, the firm identifies that path early and pursues it with the same rigour.
Practice areas
The full lifecycle of agency and distribution relationships, in domestic and cross-border matters.
Disputes during the relationship
Managing commercial disputes while the relationship is live: targets, exclusivity, commissions, territories and customer base.
Termination and compensation
Termination resolved judicially, extrajudicially or through negotiated settlement, including goodwill indemnity and damages claims.
Corporate and structural dynamics
The firm also brings particular depth in understanding the corporate and structural dynamics that frequently reshape agency relationships: acquisitions by investment groups, changes in ownership of principals, and the integration of agents into multinational structures. These transitions generate specific legal risks and strategic opportunities that require not just legal knowledge but genuine familiarity with how businesses operate from the inside.
Cross-border matters
The practice operates across both domestic and cross-border matters, advising Spanish agents, distributors and principals operating nationally and internationally as well as foreign companies establishing or restructuring their commercial networks in Spain and Europe.
Trade associations
Ongoing advice to professional and trade associations on the legal framework governing their commercial networks.
Profile
Felipe Apalategui Tolosa
Lawyer · Agency and distribution law
Leads the firm's agency and distribution practice. A lawyer with 25 years of experience in this field, for whom it has been a defining and consistent focus throughout his professional career.
This perspective — commercial and legal simultaneously — is what the firm offers as its core differentiator.
Especialistas
years of experience
Contact
Tell me briefly about your situation. I reply personally.