Gomez-Acebo & Pombo has parted company from its Seville arm, in a move that sees the Spanish heavyweight refocus its Andalusia practice on Malaga.

The nine-lawyer Seville office will split from Gomez-Acebo next month (31 August) to launch an independent boutique practising as Caveat Abogados. The team is led by former Gomez-Acebo partner Manuel Bellido.

Gomez-Acebo will now base its Andalusian practice from the firm's eight-lawyer Malaga branch, which is led by partner Jose Luis Palma Fernandez and is expected to grow in the coming months.

The news comes after Gomez-Acebo last year called in consultancy giant Accenture to draw up a five-year plan in what represented the firm's first formal overhaul of strategy.

In June the firm split from Portuguese ally Vieira de Almeida, with Gomez-Acebo now expected to launch its own Portuguese practice in 2008. The Madrid firm also plans to open an office in London by the end of this year.