NELC has collaborated with Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, a leading law firm in Spain and Portugal, since 2014. We asked Ignacio Escobar, the company’s Human Resources Director, to tell us about this partnership and how NELC has helped.
NELC: How important is it for Cuatrecasas to have a team with a good command of English?
Ignacio Escobar: A good command of English is essential in our company. Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira is a law firm dealing with international clients. Our lawyers need to be able to do their job in this language because for reasons of work they move constantly in situations involving people from other nationalities. However brilliant their legal expertise, it will be of little use if they cannot communicate in English when advising our clients.
N: NELC delivers Executive English courses to your staff and also intensive courses such as the Fast Track or the Language Coaching programmes. How many of your employees have attended these courses?
I: Nine of our employees have completed the Fast Track and Executive English intensive courses at NELC.
N: Where are the classes taught?
I: In Barcelona, at the NELC centre in Via Augusta, 390.
N: Why did Cuatrecases choose these formats?
I: Courses such as the Fast Track and Executive English programmes enable us to meet the different needs of our team, either by consolidating their level of English or by attaining a certain level in a short time. The fact that we can adapt these courses to our complicated schedules is also extremely positive.
N: Let’s talk about level-testing. What is it?
I: These are the annual English tests that we carry out at our firm with your help.
N: Why is level-testing important at Cuatrecasas?
I: Everyone who works at Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira has a certified level of English. To make sure this certification is objective it must be checked by means of an internal test that NELC designed especially for us, and it must be revalidated every three years.
N: How many of your members of staff have had to pass this test?
I: Over 1000 team members have been level-tested and we plan to carry out a further 500 tests in 2016.
N: Has any information that surprised you emerged from this experience?
I: There were no surprises though we have been able to confirm that the new generations of lawyers entering the company arrive with a higher level of English. We have also seen that there is a general interest in the language and this means that our professionals’ average level of English is very high, especially among our team members in Portugal.
N: What does NELC offer that other language schools don’t?
I: Flexibility, resources, professionalism and an extremely well-prepared team.
N: What aspects of our In Company service would you highlight?
I: We value it very positively, especially taking into account the restrictions on time experienced by a professional services company like ours.
NELC BIO
Name: Ignacio Escobar
Position: Human Resources Director
Company: Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira
Sector: legal
NELC clients since 2014
