Interview for

12 february 2020

In recognition of the milestone of having his 4 articles of 2019 in the Top10

Today we recognize in an interview the milestone achieved by Leopoldo Cólogan, our regular collaborator on the subject of Legislation, which got his 4 articles published in the year were among the 10 most read out of about 100 that appeared in this recent 2019.

In this interview we will learn more about Leopoldo Cólogan, both professionally and personally, the concerns you have and your project Leopoldo Cólogan | Law Hotel in which he has been immersed for several years.

Hi Leopoldo. What has it meant for you to have participated in the Cajasiete blog with your business and be in the TOP 10?

For me it has been an honor, to have participated in the Cajasiete blog and to have given me that opportunity because it has allowed me to develop one of the facets of my project Leopoldo Cólogan | Law Hotel.

One is the practice of law in the strict sense, another is to teach at the University because it is a way of trying to contribute something to the new generations of lawyers and on the other hand is to write articles that is a topic that I like, that is vocational and
that has allowed me to write articles being myself, expressing my reflections with the different people who have been interested in reading it according to the experiences that I have had in the different periods.

For me it has been a great personal satisfaction that someone has considered interesting to read my reflections within the legal field and to be able to express oneself.

Do you remember the moment we contacted you to participate in this project?

Yes, I remember that for me it was something special when an entity like Cajasiete that was going to develop a blog, thought that I was a suitable professional to collaborate in the development of that blog by contributing my articles.
I was pleased with this relationship and that the Itop team felt the same.

What do you think of the idea of creating a blog whose purpose was to be of interest and usefulness to entrepreneurs, freelancers and professionals in the Canary Islands?

Well, it seemed like an innovative idea because I think that in times of the digital revolution and increasingly digitalized, we all need to feel accompanied in the development of our respective projects.

There are many ways to feel accompanied and many ways to collaborate, which is what today is called intelligent collaboration.

It seems to me that the creation of this blog in one way or another and the different subjects can serve as a travel companion in all those companies, freelancers or professionals who need to distance themselves a little from the day to day of what is the
exercise of their respective activities business and professional and think with a slightly global vision seeing a little the experiences that are shared by the different authors.

Tell us a bit about your career from your beginnings to the present.

I consider myself a lucky person because from the first moment I started in my profession that is the practice of law, I have had the opportunity to contact professionals who for me have been a reference in the sector.

I especially remember when I started exercising, that I came from training in Madrid, Brussels and Dublin, and when I arrived in Tenerife I didn't know exactly what I could contribute, among other things because I came to do the military service.

I will never forget when at dinner I heard that there was a lawyer named Myriam Hodgson who was looking for someone for his office. In those days I looked for her name in the phone book and called her.

I will always be grateful, since I did not want to compromise her, I asked her that I wanted an orientation interview to find out what this was about the practice of law. She interviewed me in English and Spanish and at the end of the interview she said: "Leopoldo, do you want to start on Monday?" Which for me was a satisfaction because it was who gave me that first opportunity.

From there I have lived different stages, after having been in the firm Hodgson Abogados I became a Doctor César Llorens, an office that at one point allowed me to participate in a collective office. I am very grateful to Juan Manuel Llorens who always trusted me and gave me the opportunity to be in that magnificent office where I was about 10 years ago that we became 9 partners. We were a team of more than 70 people from the Canaries outward developing the activity.

Later I had the great opportunity to enter a multinational such as Garrigues where I was surrounded by magnificent professionals who helped me to improve myself both professionally and personally and for more than 8 years being a partner of that firm, which has allowed me to do what i'm doing now.

I've been more than 3 years, starting my 4th year with the development of my project Leopoldo Cólogan | Law Hotel. A project where it is a digital office where dealing with customers is very personal, it is not a matter of volume but of quality, it is intended to contribute to society and developing the different facets that I mentioned earlier in the 1st question of the interview.

Looking for personal balance, with family and partner. One of the things in which I am most satisfied with this new stage is sharing with my wife some Pilates classes that bring me a lot in that balance.

What do you base on to choose what to talk about every time?

Well, I base on the personal and professional experiences that I have every quarter and on what I am reading and I see that I consider them to be legal issues, being oneself in the sense that I like history a lot, I like to make reflections with a historical perspective and at the same time personal reflections that I consider to be useful.

Simply, without any more encouragement than expressing those reflections that reflect what I think at that time and trying to share them and trying to contribute something to anyone who considers of interest to read those articles.

How do you think the current Canarian outlook is in terms of legislation?

As for the current Canary Islands, having specificities in the current regulation of the REF of the Canary Islands and the Statute of Autonomy, we are at a very interesting point and I think that it is very productive in terms of standards that give us something
different from the rest.

In fact, I think that in this sense we should develop and strengthen the Canary Islands ZEC, taking into account, among other things, Brexit. Our historical relationship with the United Kingdom has always been very productive and we have tools to continue on that path.

Things that in principle are negative such as the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, which has been one of the great historical collective successes of economic and political collaboration in many aspects, we can turn them into an opportunity and I think the Canary Islands could play an interesting role there .

What projects do you have underway or under development?

When someone is developing a project as is my case with Leopoldo Cólogan | Law Hotel, is a project that must be worked every day.

When someone in the digital world in which we are trying to strengthen a personal brand, but with aspirations to be something else, I think that in that sense I have to continue working and consolidating this brand, the project that underlies and I am excited that it is the development within the legal field and the different facets, and especially I would like and I am working on it, in the face of a challenge such as that of the Canary Islands to become a reference for both national and international arbitration.

The cake is very large, it would be enough with a small piece to feel satisfied with it.