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Juan Pedro Cortes

Juan Pedro Cortes

Partner
Baker McKenzie Madrid S.L.P.

Biography

Juan Pedro Cortés is a partner in the Criminal Litigation and Corporate Compliance practice at Baker McKenzie Madrid. With over 15 years of experience, he focuses on advising both individuals and corporations on criminal matters, covering litigation, pre-litigation, and preventive strategies.

He has notable experience in international legal cooperation, including extradition proceedings and the execution of European arrest and investigation warrants. Juan Pedro also leads the European Public Prosecutor’s Office working group across the EMEA region.

In the field of compliance, he has designed and reviewed numerous regulatory compliance systems for companies ranging from SMEs to large multinational corporations. He has also overseen complex internal investigations involving multiple disciplines and jurisdictions.

Additionally, he is part of the cybersecurity task force, focusing on criminal implications arising from cyber incidents.

His work has earned recognition from Legal 500 (2025), naming him a Next Generation Partner in the area of white-collar crime.

Practice Focus

Juan Pedro joined Baker McKenzie in April 2016. He began his professional career in 2010, as an associate in a law firm specialized in criminal matters. After two years at that firm, he joined the area of Criminal Litigation, Compliance & Investigations at another renowned firm, where he continued in the field of economic crimes for four years, until he joined Baker McKenzie in 2017.

Over his professional career, Juan Pedro has participated in numerous highly mediatized cases, both as defender and prosecutor, they include: the Gürtel Case, the "Trama Púnica" case, the case involving collective redundancies in Andalusia, the CaixaNova case, the ZED Case, Bankia's IPO case, the "Operación Libero" case, and the Bandenia case. He has also defended several soccer players in criminal proceedings, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Radamel Falcao, Fabio Coentrao or Ricardo Carvalho.

He is a member of the advisory teams for several large multinational firms, such as Amazon, Google, Twitter and Siemens, providing them with counsel on compliance and crime prevention.

Professional Honors

  • Next Generation Partner, White-Collar Crime, Legal 500 (2025)

Admissions

  • Madrid~Spain (2010)

Education

  • Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE) (Law Degree) (2010)
  • Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE) (Program Business Studies) (2010)

Languages

  • English
  • Spanish

Publications

  • Author, "Treatise on Economic Criminal Law", Tirant lo Blanch.
  • Author, "Video surveillance cameras in the automotive sector: legal, illegal or unregulated?", La Ley (legal press), No. 10028, Opinion Section, Wolters Kluwer.
  • Author, "Comments on Constitutional Court Judgment 180/2020, of December 14: Constitutional doctrine on the rights to information and access to the proceedings in the context of pre-trial detention incidents", La Ley (legal press), No. 9877, Opinion Section, Wolters Kluwer.
  • Author, "The compliance expert system: specific features of the Bankia Case", La Ley (legal press), No. 9750, Opinion Section, Wolters Kluwer.
  • Author, "A more lenient regime for pretrial detention", Almacén de Derecho (legal press)
  • Author, "Practical aspects of testifying in Spain, England and Wales and the use of European Investigation Orders", La Ley (legal press) No. 9706, Opinion Section, Thomson Reuters Aranzadi.
Baker & McKenzie Madrid S.L.P. is a member of Baker & McKenzie International, a Swiss Verein.