SMPS Legal > Mexico City, Mexico > Firm Profile

SMPS Legal > The Legal 500 Rankings

Mexico > Real estate Tier 2

SMPS Legal continues to impress clients who ‘feel very secure when we turn to them for advice’. The 11-strong team (including five partners) is praised for advising a wide range of clients including developers, creditors and investors on matters ranging from project development concerning luxury residential buildings or commercial projects, to financing, land acquisitions and lease agreements, among others. The practice is led by three accomplished and knowledgeable partners. María Teresa Paillés, a major market figure with a 30 year trajectory who specialises in real estate along with associated M&A and financial and credit operations; María Esther Rey who has deep experience regarding investments, commercial and lease trust agreements, guarantees and administration; and Andres Pizarro Suarez, whose practice centres on matters including complex trusts, escrow operations and real estate trusts. Senior associates Andrés González (real estate, corporate and finance) and Nadiezhda Vázquez Careaga (corporate law, real estate, and M&A), both have deep experience of the sector.

Mexico > Tax Tier 3

Jorge San Martín, a skilled lawyer and accountant with notable experience advising national and multinational clients on local and international tax matters regarding cross-border operations, investments, and transactions; Luis Curiel Piña, a renowned tax litigator who handles all kinds of procedures, requests for tax refunds and undue payments, appeals for revocation and audits before Mexican tax authorities; and Francisco Carbajal, who joined the team in October 2021 from Cuatrecasas and specialises in tax consulting matters for a broad range of industries, are the standout names of SMPS Legal‘s tax practice. Senior associate Elsa Sánchez Urtiz, who focuses on the provision of consultancy and tax planning services to local and international corporations and individuals, is another name to note.

Mexico > Corporate and M&A Tier 4

Clients appreciate SMPS Legal‘s ‘personalised service and high attention to detail’. The corporate and M&A practice houses a team of accomplished practitioners, including department-head Eduardo Pizarro, whose practice has a particular emphasis on the creation and structuring of corporations, spin-offs, mergers and acquisitions; María Teresa Paillés, who has over two decades’ experience handling corporate and real estate transactions in Mexico and abroad, an expertise she shares with fellow partner María Esther Rey. Iván Pérez Correa, who -with his banking focus- provides a financial vision and context for transactional activity, is another name to note. Former partner Juan Pablo Visoso moved in house in November 2021; since when the firm has hired the former head of Basham, Ringe y Correa, S.C.‘s corporate and M&A department, Daniel del Rio, as a strategic partner in the firm’s transactional practice – effective as of July 2022. Since publication, the firm has also hired José Gerardo Vazquez, the former head of legal and compliance at Gap Inc/Old Navy; and competition specialist Fernanda Garza (who also arrives from Basham, Ringe y Correa, S.C.), effective as of January and March 2023, respecitvely.

Mexico > Banking and finance Tier 5

In the banking and finance sector, SMPS Legal‘s ‘highly qualified team’, garners praise for its capacity to ‘respond and find (quick and easy) solutions to all the problems and vicissitudes’ that may arise from financing issues. Lauded as ‘an outstanding lawyer’, Iván Pérez heads the team in conjunction with María Teresa Paillés. Pérez advises issuers and underwriters in connection with debt, equity, asset-backed and structured securities’ offerings and tender offers, both domestic and cross border; while Paillés, who is well known for her high-level of expertise in the real estate sector, brings additional key experience to the practice, which also focuses on the insurance, chemical and private equity industries.

Mexico > Energy and natural resources Tier 5

With offices in Mexico, USA, Canada and Colombia, SMPS Legal has notable strength in energy and natural resources and advises clients on transactions in the electricity, gas, oil, and petrochemical industries, including all regulatory, compliance, tax, corporate and financial matters, as well as on the development, financing and operation of energy-related infrastructure projects. The practice is co-led by Eduardo Pizarro  who provides legal and business advice to multinational and Mexican companies, he mainly focuses on energy, civil law, corporate finance, joint ventures, mergers and acquisition transactions. Carlos Solórzano , in turn, specialises in oil and gas, project financing and real estate; while Mauricio Alvarado , has expertise across the energy and natural resources sector, where he represents clients in corporate and transactional work.

Mexico > Competition and antitrust