Claudia Rodríguez > Santamarina y Steta > Mexico City, Mexico > Lawyer Profile

The practice at Santamarina y Steta has considerable experience across environmental project management (including obtaining environmental permits, authorisations and licenses), the implementation of compliance systems and environmental audits; the monitoring and evaluation of environmental legal obligations; and the development of strategies for environmental, social and corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. Primarily active on behalf of clients in the tourism, infrastructure, energy, mining, automotive and chemical industries, the team is co-led by Claudia Rodríguez C – who specialises in real estate, environmental and agrarian law, and indigenous consulting; and Monterrey-based Heriberto Garza, whose broad practice takes in real estate, environmental matters, estate and wealth planning, among other areas. While the team lost former senior associate Juan Carlos Aguirre – who moved to Bustamante & Freyre in March 2022- the firm moved quickly to replaced him with experienced environmental practitioner David González Vega -who arrived as a senior associate from Fonatur (where he was legal director with regards to the Tren Maya project)- the same month. Recent matters for the practice include environmental audit procedures, impact studies, remediation proposals and the accompaniment of industrial clients during environmental prosecutors’ inspection visits.

Praised by one client as a ‘firm that inspires confidence from the first moment’, Santamarina y Steta’s real estate group is routinely instructed by international corporations working in the retail, food, luxury goods, energy and logistics sectors. The ‘highly professional and experienced’ team is well-equipped to handle agrarian and urban development matters, land acquisitions, leases and sales, financings and real estate-related due diligence for industrial, residential, tourist, mixed-use and ejidal properties. At the helm of the practice, Vicente Grau regularly advises clients on the acquisition, leasing, development, construction and sale of real estate properties, and is lauded as a ‘specialist’ who offers ‘efficient and comprehensive solutions’. Partner Claudia Rodríguez assists local and international clients with the structuring, planning and implementation of operations for the acquisition, financing, development, leasing and sale of real estate, with a particular focus on the commercial and industrial sectors. Senior associate Ivan Szymanski is active on compliance and real estate matters, while associate Yakov Kobets majors on the structuring and execution of projects related to the acquisition or sale of assets, as well as related due diligence work. Since the conclusion of research, Szymanski has sleft the firm – effective as of September 2023.