Photo, María Massó

María Massó

Partner
Baker McKenzie Madrid S.L.P.

Biography

María is a partner in the area of Criminal Litigation, Compliance and Investigations. Her work mainly focuses on advising in connection with the prosecution or defense in cases involving corporate crime, tax crimes, crimes involving property, public order, misappropriation, fraud, malfeasance or punishable insolvency, as well as pre-litigation and preventive counsel on criminal law and corporate compliance.

Over her professional career she has come before the National Court on numerous occasions to advise clients as well as lead proceedings, acting at times as defender and others as prosecutor. In addition, she has led the criminal defense in proceedings involving the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

She provides counsel to both national and international clients, helping them to develop, implement and update their compliance programs. She has extensive experience in leading and collaborating in internal investigations related to regulatory non-compliance. She also takes part in compliance training and awareness programs at different organizations.

Practice Focus

María joined the Economic and Criminal law Department of renowned firm in 2006. She joined Baker McKenzie's Litigation Department in 2009 and was appointed as partner of said department in 2017.

Ranked in Band 3 by "Chambers and Partners", under the category of "White Collar Crimes" and she was mentioned as one of the "Top 10" criminal lawyers in the ranking published by "Iberian Lawyers".

She was recently selected as one of the 20 Leading Women in the Spanish Legal Sector by the magazine "Economist & Jurist".

She has been involved in the criminal defense of both companies and individuals in cases with a high media profile such as the Lezo Case, the Rato Case, the Villarejo Case, the Taula Case, the DEFEX Case, the Banco Popular Case, the Gürtel Case, the Rueda Case, the HSBC Case, etc.

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Madrid Bar Association - Member
  • Spanish Chapter of the Women's White Collar Defense Association - Member
  • Working Group for the Independent Audit on Abuse within the Church, appointed by the Spanish Episcopal Conference - Member

Admissions

  • Madrid~Spain (2006)

Education

  • Escuela Practica Juridica (Course Criminal Forensic Practice and Procedural Criminal Law) (2008)
  • Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE) (Law Degree) (2006)
  • Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE) (Program International Relations) (2006)

Languages

  • English
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Author, "Can criminal proceedings be automatically extended for twelve months?," Cinco Días (financial press), 6 October 2020
  • Author, "Persuadir y Razonar, Legal Studies in Homage to José Manuel Maza Marín (book)," Thomson Reuters, 2018
  • Author, "The problem of criminalizing law," Revista del Círculo de Empresarios (entrepreneurial magazine), April 2016
  • Author, "The Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption Review, The Law Reviews, "Spain Chapter", 2013, 2014 and 2015
  • Author, "Spanish Law in the 21st Century in a Globalized Economy," La Ley (legal press), November 2015
  • Author, "Corporate Internal Investigations, CH Beck, Hart, Nomos, "Spain", December 2012