Corporate digitalization and sustainability, cornerstones of IE Law School and ONTIER’s 16th José María Cervelló Prize

On November 22, the José María Cervelló Chair of IE Law School and ONTIER held the 16th edition of the José María Cervelló Business Law Prize, where the protagonists were corporate digitalization and sustainability.

The award ceremony at IE Tower included the participation of Pilar Galeote, director of the José María Cervelló Chair and professor at IE Law School; Soledad Atienza, dean of IE Law School; Adolfo Menéndez, co-holder of the Cervelló Chair; Pedro Rodero, managing partner at ONTIER; Luis Gallego, CEO at IAG; and Gregory Marsden, professor at Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey.

The Prize, awarded by ONTIER, is endowed with €30,000: €20,000 to fund scholarships for the study of tax and legal programs at IE Law School and €10,000 to be given to the author of the winning essay.

The winner of this year’s edition was Álvaro Martín Sierra—a student at IE Law School who is currently working as a banking and finance lawyer at Uría Menéndez—for a paper entitled “La tecnología blockchain como vía hacia la digitalización societaria sostenible” (Blockchain Technology as a Pathway to Sustainable Corporate Digitalization).

“The case method was very different from what I was used to and it’s something that is highly valued in top law firms.”
Álvaro Martín Sierra

In his acceptance speech, Martín Sierra emphasized the impact that his education at IE Law School has had on his professional career: “The Doble Máster en Abogacía y Asesoría Fiscal de Empresas is a very intense and enriching experience that not only provides you with unparalleled knowledge of the law, but also enables you to develop personal and teamwork skills. The case method was very different from what I was used to and it’s something that is highly valued in top law firms.”

“To talk about digitalization is to talk about technology. But technology today is philosophy, it’s ethics and aesthetics. We must break down barriers between knowledge and take advantage of the symbolic relationship between technology and the humanities. Academic and research institutions that have discovered this hybrid space between areas of knowledge are few and far between. IE Law School is one of them. The rationality of digital technology can never exclude the rationality of communication. The two coexist because they need each other—and this is the only way digitalization can lead us to sustainable behaviors,” said Pilar Galeote, director of the José María Cervelló Chair and professor at IE Law School.

During the ceremony, Soledad Atienza, dean of IE Law School, presented Doing Law School Wrong: Case Teaching and an Integrated Legal Practice Method, a paper published in the St. Louis University Journal co-authored with Gregory Marsden, professor at Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey. The paper recounts the development of the case method pioneered by José María Cervelló.

THE JOSÉ MARÍA CERVELLÓ CHAIR

The José María Cervelló Chair is part of the knowledge generation area of the IE Foundation and carries the full support of IE Law School and law firm ONTIER.

In addition to awarding the José María Cervelló Business Law prizes, the Chair—supported by ONTIER—funds the education of graduate students of IE Law School’s tax and legal programs. This aid is based on the students’ outstanding academic merit and demonstrable financial difficulties.

The Chair’s work also extends to three other areas: professional ethics education, research and the dissemination of knowledge. To that end, the Chair organizes conferences, seminars and debates; publishes papers in national and international journals; and supports IE Law School students’ research.