Team size: 2 persons

Career Biography

Federico Ángel Ramírez Sáenz is an accomplished executive counsel with over 18 years of corporate legal practice. For the past five years, he has served as Legal Affairs Manager and Head of Legal for Air Liquide México, overseeing the corporate, regulatory, commercial, and litigation strategy for the global industrial and healthcare gas leader’s operations in México.

Having managed multi-jurisdictional matters across Latin America and North America, including prior senior legal leadership roles at Honeywell UOP, Honeywell Aerospace, and Steelcase, Federico Ángel Ramírez Sáenz combines deep expertise in complex cross-border transactions and high-stakes dispute management.

A strategic business enabler, has spearheaded Air Liquide México’s legal response to critical enterprise challenges, notably managing, alongside external legal and financial experts, the complex legal defence surrounding the government expropriation of Air Liquide México’s Hydrogen Plant located at the Tula Pemex Refinery and navigating the bankruptcy procedure of Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA).

An alumnus of Tecnológico de Monterrey and American University, holding post-graduate certifications in Corporate Governance and Compliance from Penn Law and Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

What piece of work or project over the past year are you most proud of, and why was it particularly significant for the business?

Over the past year, my most proud achievement has been leading Air Liquide México’s strategic legal response through two simultaneous, high-stakes corporate crises: the government’s expropriation decree regarding our Hydrogen Plant at the Pemex Tula Refinery, and the complex insolvency proceedings of one of our main customers, Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA).

Both matters presented existential legal and commercial risks involving sovereign actions, major counterparty insolvencies, and multi-million-dollar asset valuations. In the Tula Pemex expropriation case, I mobilised cross-functional teams and external legal experts to construct a robust constitutional defence, ensuring our legal rights and capital investments remained vigorously protected under Mexican law and international standards. Concurrently, managing our exposure within the AHMSA bankruptcy required executing a disciplined credit preservation and debt recovery strategy to insulate Air Liquide’s operational continuity from broader regional financial contagion.

These cases represent the pinnacle of modern in-house legal practice: balancing aggressive asset protection and international legal strategy while maintaining commercial composure under intense regulatory and public scrutiny. Successfully navigating these crises safeguarded our balance sheet, reinforced our corporate standing, and proved that the legal function is a fundamental pillar of corporate resilience.

What excites you most about the future of the in-house legal profession, and where do you hope to continue developing your career?

What excites me most about the future of our profession is the definitive shift of the in-house legal team from a traditional risk-mitigation centre into a proactive, multidisciplinary engine for business growth. The days of the legal department operating in an isolated silo are over. Today, we are expected to be strategic co-pilots alongside executive leadership.

I am particularly energised by how legal teams are increasingly integrating with commercial operations. At Air Liquide México, and throughout my career, I have seen first-hand that the most successful legal strategies are born from deep collaboration with Sales, Procurement, and Finance. As the regulatory and geopolitical landscape in Latin America becomes more complex, the future belongs to legal departments that leverage technology, embrace agility, and deeply understand their company’s core business drivers.

Looking ahead, I hope to continue developing my career at the intersection of law and corporate strategy within multinational environments. My goal is to continue building and empowering high-performing legal teams that not only protect the balance sheet in times of crisis, but actively enable the business to capture new opportunities and drive sustainable, long-term growth across the region.

What skills or experiences have been most important in your development as an in-house lawyer so far?

My career has been defined by a dual perspective: foundational training in private practice corporate law, coupled with years of managing high-value, complex transactions for global corporations like Honeywell UOP and Steelcase.

Managing multi-jurisdictional deal flows exceeding $700M USD across diverse LATAM legal systems taught me early on that a successful legal function cannot operate in a silo. Technical legal knowledge is merely the baseline; the true differentiator is collaborative commercial acumen, the ability for a legal team to assess risk through an operational lens and provide actionable, solution-oriented guidance.

Furthermore, leading legal initiatives across distinct business sectors, from aviation and refining technologies to industrial gas, has taught me the immense value of empowering those around me. Whether we are negotiating complex technology licensing agreements or navigating sovereign asset disputes, the most vital skills I have cultivated are building strategic empathy with business units, fostering a collaborative culture within my department, and ensuring our legal outcomes always align with long-term corporate growth.