With the successive regulation of different institutions of private law, civil law in Catalonia increasingly affects the activities of companies, the way they are organized and how they perform their business activity. In the book, attorneys, notaries public, registrars, judges and university professors contribute their experience to analyse and discuss this situation from a practical perspective.

Specifically, Dr. Salvador Durany contributed the chapter on the right of retention in Catalonia. In this section of the book, Durany compares the way the right of retention is handled in the old and new versions of the Civil Code of Catalonia. As the author explained, "It discusses the new Catalan regulations on the right of retention, which is a tool legislators have tended to grant to creditors to make it easier for them to collect on their debts".

Antonio Bosch contributed the chapter on the civil aspects of agreements on succession to the manual. Throughout the chapter, Bosch analyses the concept, use, nature and features of agreements on succession. The chapter also addresses matters such as the results of these agreements, how they can be declared null and void, and the negative effects they can have on married and unmarried couples. 

The book pays special attention to the development of legal doctrine and judicial application in different cases. When preparing the manual, the authors focused on what is relevant in practice with the aim of offering a useful tool for legal agents who interpret and apply the Civil Code of Catalonia.

The book was coordinated by Javier Valle Zayas, the president of the Mercantile Law Section of the Barcelona Bar Association and a partner at Uría Menéndez law firm; Dr. Juan Antonio Pérez Rivarés, an attorney at the same firm; and José Ramón Salelles, a professor of mercantile law at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and a consultant to Uría Menéndez.