The "exceptional" speaker who defends Pujol and never recovers his speeches

BarcelonaThis week the trial of the Pujol family has begun. In the courtroom of the National High Court, among the defenses' interventions, that of one lawyer in particular stood out. This is Cristóbal Martell, who is in charge of defending former president Jordi Pujol and several of his children, including Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, the family member for whom the Prosecutor's Office is requesting more years in prison.

The presentation of preliminary issues made by Martell served to introduce many topics that the rest of the lawyers replicated and detailed, and earned him the praise of his professional colleagues present in the courtroom who defend other accused before the court. For example, Fermín Morales, a lawyer for an Andorran businessman investigated for doing business with the Júnior, described his intervention as "brilliant": "It allows for few nuances".

Martell, who has been a lawyer for, among others, Messi, Dani Alves, and Jonathan Andic, the son of the founder of Mango, explains to ARA that he takes his work with great "responsibility and commitment". "In the end, there is someone who has put a problem they suffer from in your hands," he says. That is why he considers that the profession requires "a lot of dedication and work".

Jurists in the sector who have known him for years highlight his "exceptional oratory", as well as his "very important" legal training. "There are many people who know a lot of law but don't know how to present it, and this man is brutal," they say. In fact, this ability stood out during his intervention on Monday, with constant gestures and exclamations that built a much more expressive and passionate discourse than what is usually seen in courtrooms. However, Pujol's lawyer admits that he tries not to listen to himself afterward: "I get very embarrassed, I don't like myself".

On Monday, in his presentation, Martell relied on stacks of papers, separated by topics in colored folders, one for each preliminary issue. "Each folder is like a jewelry box," he explains. "In each one, I have the jurisprudence and legislation that supports each topic. Also, some keywords for each issue. It gives me security to have them close, but I don't follow them much either." In fact, although he was opening and closing folders, he practically did not look at their content at any moment. The key to achieving a good intervention, both in content and form, he says, is to know the case in detail. From there, with the confidence this gives him, he explains it as it comes to him that day.