Raquel Ballesteros is the Partner in charge of the Department of Public Law at Bird & Bird Madrid, an international firm that she joined in 2005 as a founding partner of its spanish office.

She holds a degree in Law and received an Outstanding Graduation Award, and a Master's Degree in Health Law from Complutense University of Madrid. Her work mainly focusses on regulatory advice to pharmaceutical companies and healthcare products, in particular in relation to legal questions of access to the market and public contracts.

Raquel is an expert in innovation public contracts (PPI) and innovative public contracts (PCPs, PPPs, POVs, MEAs, risk agreements and/or shared cost), and she belongs to the European Commission's Expert Group in public contracts, advising on various European projects in matters of e-health, m-health and big data financed by the Commission submitted under the Seventh Program Framework the New Horizon 2020 program.

Raquel is an arbitrator in various courts (Chamber of Commerce of Madrid, Spanish Court of Arbitration and AEADE) and member of the Spanish Club of Arbitration, being recommended in Public Law and Life Sciences & Healthcare by some of the most prestigious international rankings (Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Best Lawyers). In 2015 the ILO awarded her the best Life Sciences & Healthcare Lawyer in Spain.