Hi, I am looking to hire a lawyer for my Golden Visa application through real estate investment. Have anyone heard of or worked with the Martinez Echevarría (ME&F) law firm. Would you recommend them? Thanks!
It all boils down to the lawyer who shall be working with you rather than a firm in general. Although the GV application is straightforward and several options are just like a checkbox, choose a lawyer who takes responsibility to follow-up on the application process, patiently answers your questions and available for you when you need them. Internet is a bad place to look for a specific advice and recommendation, choose someone with whom you are comfortable to work with.
To add to @TommyReine points, interview your lawyers and ensure you feels it’s a good fit from a knowledge, experience, responsiveness, and empathy perspective. Optimally you’ll be working with them until citizenship. 
We had several great discussions with different lawyers but disqualified ones that were slow in follow-ups. With two different firms, after the interview call, it took over a week and two follow-up e-mails to get their engagement letters. Big flag for us so we moved forward with another who was very responsive. But that was one of our must-haves.
ME are useless. We tried them and they were impossible to work with, extremely unprofessional and did not seem to understand the legal issues. ME is definitely a no go zone if you want things done properly.
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I had the same experience with them. STAY AWAY!!!
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My recent experience of MEF is very good indeed.
It is my understanding that in past years their size and standing brought in a lot of business, probably more than could be optimally serviced.
They have adapted, employed more lawyers and as a result their business seems to have been transformed.
A business is never immune from issues, but being proactive and adjusting to improve is precisely what makes a good business.
In summary, the posts here do not reflect the current business of MEF in my opinion.
I am very pleased to still be a client of MEF, and as a result of their efforts on my behalf, I am hoping to shortly post a very postive development.
You pays your money and makes your choice, but some poor or out of date reviews lead you to a worse outcome.
I have had a bad experience with them, lost a lot of time and money along the way. Please stay away. There are professional law firms and then there is MEF.
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I hope your spirited defence of MEF has been vindicated?
It’s interesting that they would have shared with you the fact that they took on more clients than they could ethically service. I wonder if they also shared where those of us who lost time (literally years in my case) and money (thousands, including for services not delivered) before their supposed transformation can apply for restitution?
Martin, lawyers are not just another business that had a blip in their ratings because they over-traded. When they mess things up there are very serious and lasting consequences for their clients. Past practice is a fairly good indicator of future performance in my opinion, and as for ignoring poor reviews, caveat emptor.
Lala,
If a new visitor to this Nomadgate Forum was invited to read the last 100 contributions posted, I highly doubt that he or she would conclude that lawyers are the problem.
@TommyReine writes above:
“It all boils down to the lawyer who shall be working with you rather than a firm in general.”
How true that statement.
I hope that you have been able to find excellent legal representation elsewhere.