Ontier: With an international outlook
Pedro Rodero, executive chairman in Spain, shares the firm’s strategic and transformative vision
by mercedes galán
With a solid strategy for international expansion, an innovative approach to technology, and a clear commitment to sustainability and talent, Ontier has positioned itself as a benchmark in both the legal and business worlds. At Iberian Lawyer, we spoke with Pedro Rodero, the firm’s executive chairman in Spain, to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the current legal market.
A Spanish firm with an International vision: What has the process been like?
In recent years, the firm has experienced significant growth, always guided by a sustainable and steady approach. International expansion has been key since our beginnings in 2009, becoming one of the firm’s strategic pillars. This innovative expansion model is based on opening proprietary offices by fully integrating local firms to enhance their technical capabilities. Although Spain is our home and remains our largest market in terms of size, revenue, and number of lawyers, our international presence has allowed us to adopt a global business approach. This translates into international teams collaborating on areas such as litigation with an international component, arbitration, M&A, energy, sustainability, technology, sports, and entertainment—disciplines that increasingly have a global reach.
What strategic approach do you take in Spain to strengthen the local market?
Our goal is to strengthen various practice areas and grow both organically and inorganically, but always in an orderly fashion. We are meticulous when integrating other firms because building a strong corporate culture is no easy task. While we are entrepreneurial and disruptive in our pursuit, we proceed cautiously to preserve our identity.
What role do technology and innovation play in the firm’s future?
They represent one of today’s biggest challenges, deeply impacting organizational and legal work. During the pandemic, we were pioneers in developing chatbots to address legal queries in tax and labor matters, adapting to the uncertainty of the moment with a solidaritybased approach to assist vulnerable groups. We’ve also implemented internal technology to automate the drafting and submission of administrative documents, reducing the manual workload. Currently, we are developing a proprietary text-processing project called Alfred in collaboration with other partners, involving a significant portion of our team to perfect it. While we prioritize in-house development, we recognize that major tech companies will offer more definitive solutions, so we combine both strategies.
