General counsel and institutional affairs vice president | Ternium México
Legal and compliance director | Holcim México
General counsel - Mexico and Southern Cone | Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Legal and HR director | Pan American Silver
Vice president legal México and North Latam | Linde
General counsel, government affairs, contract management, licenses, compliance and Latam | DHL Supply Chain
Director general adjunto juridico financiamiento, sector público | Banorte
Regional Legal Director Mexico & Central America and Caribbean | Reckitt Benckiser
Director Jurídico México y Centroamérica | Arcos Dorados
Vice president and legal counsel | Discovery Americas
Andrea Esquivel is vice president and legal counsel of Discovery Americas. She has more than 12 years of experience in corporate law, specialising in areas such as mergers & acquisitions...
Legal vice president and general counsel | PepsiCo International México
Chief General Counsel | Ideal (Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo en América Latina)
Director legal and compliance | Empresas Aries
Chief legal and compliance officer | Catena Activos Alternativos
Dina Moreno is currently the chief legal and compliance officer of Catena Activos Alternativos (Catena). Catena was established in 2023 by a seasoned team from Credit Suisse Asset Management Mexico...
General Legal Counsel | Iké Grupo Empresarial
General counsel | Alsea
Fernando Macedo is the general counsel of Alsea, one of the largest restaurant operators in the world, with presence in 12 countries and with over 4,500 restaurants and coffee shops...
General counsel and compliance officer | Grupo Rotoplas
General Counsel, vice president regulatory and external affairs | AT&T México
General counsel and operations – legal, collections, HR, market intelligence, internal control, ESG | Acosta Verde
Head of legal/ chief of staff | Gaya Sinergia Constructiva
General counsel, director of legal affairs | Grupo Lamosa
General counsel for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean | General Motors de México
General counsel, ethics, compliance officer and data protection officer North Latam | Capgemini
Legal director and public affairs Latam | Suntory Global Spirits
Managing director | Macquarie Asset Management
Director of legal services | Accenture
Head of legal and compliance Latam | The Vanguard Group
Vice president legal and compliance, assistant general counsel | Element Fleet Management Corporation México
Counsel, senior manager | Mondelēz Snacking México
General counsel Mexico | Compass Group Mexico
Head of legal advisory, corporate matters and contracts | AXA Seguros
Gerente legal fiscal contencioso y cumplimiento | FEMSA
Executive director - general counsel | RLH Properties
General counsel and compliance officer | Grupo Danone México
Vice President legal and government affairs México and North America | Continental Group Mexico
General counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer | Grupo Bimbo
General counsel | Promotora de Hoteles Norte 19
Directora jurídica, cumplimiento y enlaces normativos | Grupo Coppel
General counsel and compliance office | Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociación
General counsel nutrition Latam, México and CARICAM | Unilever de México
Legal and compliance director | Glisco Partners
Chief legal and compliance officer | GBM (Grupo Bursatil Mexicano)
General counsel México | Sizzling Platter de México
Vice president legal and corporate affairs | Grupo Modelo (AB InBev)
Senior counsel México and Rc emerging seeds Latam | Mars petcare México
It is with immense pride, and on behalf of everyone at The Legal 500, that I warmly welcome you to this edition of the GC Powerlist: Mexico. It has been a true privilege to interview the brightest legal minds in the country and gain insight into what defines exceptional in-house counsel, as well as the key issues shaping their work as some of the region’s leading corporate legal professionals. This publication is a tribute to the remarkable contributions these outstanding individuals have made to Mexico’s business landscape. It stands as a testament to their unparalleled expertise, exemplary leadership, and unwavering commitment to excellence.
One clear theme that emerged from this year’s research is the collective emphasis on teamwork and the essential role it plays in ensuring the success of a company. Many general counsel featured in this edition have underscored the importance of recognising and celebrating every member of their legal teams. As Juan Luis Rodríguez-Rivero, director of legal services at Accenture, shared: “In my experience, maintaining motivation and inspiration within a team is crucial. While not all tasks will be enjoyable, it is important to ensure that at least some aspects of the work are fun and exciting. We continually strive to find ways to motivate our team, with a significant focus on fostering enjoyment in their tasks. This is often achieved when the team commits to a goal they have set themselves, as this leads to greater dedication to their chosen work.”
This sentiment was echoed by Jorge E. Rodriguez Arellano, executive director of legal at Banco J.P. Morgan, who added: “A growth mindset is encouraged. We hold frequent meetings where every member of the team is encouraged to participate, share their challenges, and propose solutions. Every opinion is taken into account. Continuous learning is supported.”
Mexico’s business community is also rapidly embracing digital transformation, and its general counsel are leading this charge within their companies. José Eduardo Salgado Villegas, general counsel, ethics and compliance officer, and DPO for North Latam at Capgemini, explained the multifaceted approach necessary for ensuring the successful digital transformation of legal departments while adhering to Mexico’s data protection laws. As he noted: “The key elements of this strategy include comprehensive assessment and planning, developing a robust data protection and compliance framework, careful technology and vendor selection, training and awareness initiatives, ongoing compliance and adaptation, and close collaboration with IT and security teams.”
Within the pages of this publication, you will discover the incredible accomplishments of Mexico’s top in-house counsel, including insights into some of the largest deals and transactions they have overseen in the past year. Their profiles also provide a closer look at their personal journeys and the paths they have taken to success.
I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to every general counsel who participated in this edition of the GC Powerlist: Mexico 2024. This list celebrates the most impressive in-house lawyers in the country—those who have not only applied their legal expertise but also strategically leveraged it to drive business growth and success.
It is with great pleasure that I present this distinguished group of agile, innovative, and truly exceptional in-house counsel in Mexico.
Sara Maggi| Deputy Editor – The Legal 500 GC Powerlist Series
Legal 500 launched the fifth edition of GC Summit Japan in Tokyo on October 3rd, bringing together the top in-house legal leaders and professionals from across Japan at the beautiful Grand Ballroom of the Peninsula Hotel, opposite the Imperial Palace. Gathering over 150 attendees, the event provided a great opportunity for legal teams to dive into the main challenges they’re facing and explore new opportunities among peers.
Opening remarks were provided by the highly accomplished and universally respected GC of Fujitsu, Kyoko Mizuguchi. Her speech touched upon a number of issues, but went into detail on technological advancements for in-house legal teams and how these can be used to increase efficiencies.
Tsuyoshi Ikeda of Ikeda & Someya was joined by associate Aya Yasui on stage to lead an extremely detailed look at their firm’s specialist subject, that of competition law. They had assembled a crack panel to feed in to the session, with Naoko Teranishi of The Japan Fair Trade Commission, Naokuni Kuwagata of Novartis Pharma and Keiko Uchida of Roche Diagnostics.
Rimon Law’s Intellectual Property session followed, which provided the four speakers on stage ample opportunity to showcase both their expertise and their engaging personalities. Eric D. Kirsch and David E. Case of Rimon Law were joined by Natsue Ishida, managing director of legal and intellectual property division at SEGA Sammy Holdings and Nobumasa Hiroi, global general counsel of Mujin for this hugely interesting discussion.
The post-coffee break session on Global Whistleblowing Systems in association with GI&T Law Office was extremely detailed, providing a practical look into the challenges faced by in-house lawyers in Japan in implementing global systems that meet varying regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Mihoko Kawamizu (general counsel of Philips) and Koh Yamaki (senior manager, compliance dept., Hitachi) gave extremely valuable insights into their own companies’ systems and how they were set up, with founding partner Kengo Nishigaki being joined by Hiroko Miyazaki, Patrick Forman and Yuji Yamamoto of GI&T Law Office to give their expert perspectives.
Kenta Ikeb and Izuru Goto of City-Yuwa Partners then took to the stage to give their take on the current regulatory landscape for digital assets in Japan. Aided by a meticulously researched presentation, they provided a thorough overview of the state of play.
Atsumi & Sakai’s session on cybercrime received very positive feedback from the audience and inspired a lot of questions. Takafumi Ochiai and Daniel Jarrett of Atsumi & Sakai were joined by an interesting mix of in-house counsel: Brian Yu of Tencent, Mina Hoshizawa of Bayer and Andreas Höppel of Koki Group. Together, they outlined the threats and countermeasures each of their organisations face, providing an overview of the current cybercrime landscape for large corporates in Japan.
The next panel, managing international disputes, featured partners from two major international law firms (Peter Harris of Clifford Chance and Dominic Sharman of Baker McKenzie) and senior corporate counsel from two large international companies (Tomoya Hashimoto of Marubeni and Ryo Asakura of Olympus Corporation) to provide a balanced outlook of potential challenges in international disputes. As well as the theoretical side of matters, we looked at practical examples of challenges faced in disputes, advice on when to settle and potential traps to avoid, making this session a standout.
Finally, the Legal 500 invited a panel of some of Japan’s top general counsel from a variety of industry sectors to form a panel conversation on the changing role of in-house counsel, moderated by Editor Joe Boswell: Naoki Hamada, general counsel Japan, HSBC; Fumika Ito, general counsel, SAP; Toshimi Itakura, general manager, legal department, Sojitz; and Yuichiro Watanabe, lead counsel, Airbnb Japan were the hugely talented individuals who lent the benefit of their expertise to the audience. As well as discussing the ways in which corporate counsel’s responsibilities have changed in the past ten years, we discussed how to chart a rewarding career path as an in-house counsel and how to achieve the best work-life balance.
With every year, the audience for our Japan GC Summit grows, both in numbers and the seniority of attendees. We look forward to putting on an even more impressive 2025 event, and if you would like to be a part of it, please get in touch with [email protected]
