On the 23 October, Dr Jordi de Juan, director of the Bosch Aymerich Family Business Chair at UIC Barcelona and lecturer at the Faculty of Law, participated in the conference "The MASCs in the field of family business", which was organised by the General Council for Judiciary Power (CGPJ).

This conference, held in line with the CGPJ's objective of promoting alternative dispute resolution in Spain, saw experts from various fields discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of resolving disputes that arise within business families and subsequently affect family businesses. The conference explored ways to achieve satisfactory outcomes outside the judicial system. “We must remember the importance that family business represents as a strategic sector of the productive economy and in the creation of employment. According to data from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, it represents 88.8% of our productive economy, 57% of the Gross Domestic Product and 66.7% of employment,” explained Dr de Juan.

The conference, which is part of the training courses for judges and magistrates, began with a reception given by Ms Yolanda San Pastor Sevilla, Lawyer of the Technical Office of the CGPJ, and with various presentations on 23 and 24 October, which brought together distinguished magistrates, notaries and lawyers. 

Dr De Juan participated, together with Ms. María Zulema Gento Castro, magistrate of the Provincial Court of A Coruña, in the section on intra-judicial mediation in family proceedings with family businesses. 

The legal expert analysed the high level of conflict in companies in terms of succession, which, he said, requires a three-dimensional approach: business organisation, family psychology and legal advice. In this sense, the lecturer outlined various strategies against the succession conflict from different levels, all of them presided over by the great importance of succession planning. “In the face of the litigious culture that exists in our system, we have to focus on the importance of anticipating mediation clauses in family protocols, analysing their challenges and risks”, said the expert. On the other hand, the lawyer emphasised the alternative strategy for the resolution of inheritance disputes. 

This lecture is part of the study carried out in the 2023-3024 academic year by the Bosch Aymerich Family Business Chair, which led to the publication of the book Retos y riesgos de la sucesión en la empresa familiar (Challenges and risks of succession in family businesses), in which this issue was addressed from a novel and multidisciplinary perspective.