La regulación de los honorarios por los Colegios de la Abogacía desde la óptica del Derecho antitrust: un análisis a la luz de la jurisprudencia nacional y comunitaria

The Spanish Supreme Court has confirmed some of the sanctioning resolutions of the competition authorities, considering that the guidance criteria for fees drawn up by different Bar Associations infringe Competition law. In this context, it is worth considering whether the actions of these entities could be justified, under the jurisprudential criteria established in the Wouters case, by the pursuit of legitimate objectives. Therefore, this paper, after studying the regulations on professional fees and analysing the administrative and judicial resolutions issued to date, examines whether these decisions are in line with European case law and, specifically, whether they respect the new interpretation of the Wouters exception, which the Court of Justice of the European Union has upheld in several judgments of 21 December 2023 and January 2024.