Between lawsuits and digital strategy
Partner in charge of the Intellectual Property department at CMS and former co-managing partner of the firm in Spain, who is María González Gordon: her career path, her vision of leadership, and the current challenges facing the legal tech profession
by ilaria iaquinta
María González Gordon greets us in her office on a July morning in Madrid, where the heat is already stifling before noon. On her desk: reports, a digital strategy outline, several ongoing cases, and a complaint that looks set to go to trial. In one corner, a notebook filled with handwritten notes and a steaming cup of coffee. “I like taking notes the old-fashioned way. It helps me think”, she remarks.
The partner heading the Intellectual Property, Industrial Property and Digital Business area at CMS, and former co-managing partner of the law firm in Spain, González Gordon is a well-known name in legal circles. But who is she, really? How does she see herself? “My days are intense — she says bluntly — They’re packed with strategy, new issues, hours of research so I don’t miss what matters. Sometimes I feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day”. She laughs. “At the office they joke that they can tell I’ve arrived by the pace of my footsteps”. Half joke, half portrait, the line sums up her style: fast-paced, juggling many tasks, fully committed.
She speaks candidly about what drives her — clients, strategy, teamwork — and openly admits she struggles to switch off: “I find it hard to say no. I like to be involved in everything”, she says. She also confesses to a lingering sense of anxiety: “I’ve got FOMO (fear of missing out, ed.). But it’s also what keeps me on my toes, engaged, eager to build, to stay up to date”.
THE ORIGINS
Her relationship with the law began early, influenced in part by her father, a banking lawyer who worked from home. “I used to watch him receive clients, and I was fascinated by how they would come in with their heads down and leave feeling relieved. That’s what I wanted to do: help solve people’s problems”, she recalls. To this was added an almost visceral sense of justice. “I get a knot in my stomach when things aren’t done properly”, she admits.
Even at school, when career guidance tests aimed to sketch out possible futures, the result was unequivocal: “I scored 100% for law and 95% for the army. I even considered becoming a military lawyer… but life took me in another direction”, she adds.
FIRST STEPS
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