Cospedal leaves CMS Spain temporarily

María Dolores de Cospedal has left her role as a partner in the law firm CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo after requesting a voluntary leave of absence

As Iberian Lawyer has confirmed with CMS Spain, the former secretary-general of the Partido Popular and former Ministry of Defence María Dolores de Cospedal (pictured), is leaving her position as a partner and member of the firm´s Board of Directors temporarily after requesting a voluntary leave of absence.

Cospedal requested, under the terms of the Partners’ Agreement, voluntary leave of absence from the firm, which was agreed by the Partners’ Board at its meeting last week. This means that, for the duration of her leave of absence, the former Minister of Defence will not exercise the functions of director, nor will she be a member of the other committees of the firm.

These are the last news after Manuel García-Castellón, judge in the Villarejo case, had charged María Dolores de Cospedal along with her husband, businessman Ignacio López del Hierro, in the cause by the plot codenamed “Operation Kitchen”, hatched in 2013 on the alleged espionage of the former treasurer of the PP Luis Bárcenas, with the supposed objective of snatching compromising documentation for senior positions in the conservative party after the Bárcenas papers scandal broke out. The magistrate of the National Court made this decision after the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which requested to question both in September of last year.

As Iberian Lawyer informed, María Dolores de Cospedal is being represented by Baker McKenzie White-collar Crime and Criminal Litigation partner Jesús Santos.