1. What’s the current legal landscape for your practice area in your jurisdiction:

It is wide encompassing. Because of the many laws and regulations that Mexico has enacted over the years on environmental protection, we provide legal advice to clients in the area of environmental impact, air emissions, water quality, land use and zoning, sustainability reporting as well as hazardous and non-hazardous waste handling and disposal. We have the expertise to determine which regulators are the ones that have specific mandates to issue authorisations and permits, covering a number of industrial and service sectors, such as energy, automotive, steel, electronic, aerospace, mining as well as tourism and resorts.

2. What three essential pieces of advice would you give to clients involved in your practice area matters?

Identify how your specific activity is regulated from an environmental permitting standpoint. Some activities require federal oversight and some are regulated by state agencies. It is important to determine in advance which regulators have oversight over the operations of a client.

Be diligent on land use and zoning. The activities to be carried out at a site should have the proper permits in place allowing for specific industrial activities. Municipal urban development regulations should be consulted to identify those areas or industrial sections specifically zoned for light, medium or heavy industry. This same degree of diligence should be applied to clients that intend to construct housing or tourism developments in coastal areas where there are restrictions on the removal of plant life.

Prepare a checklist describing all of the permitting and compliance requirements that will have to be met prior to start-up, during construction and during operation, segregating it by specific areas such as (i) land use (ii) environmental impact, (iii) air emissions, (iv) water concessions and permits including wastewater discharge licences, (v), import of hazardous materials and (v) hazardous and non-hazardous waste handling, transportation and disposal

3. What are the greatest threats and opportunities in your practice area law in the next 12 months:

We do not envision any threats in the short term, because environmental laws and regulations continue to be enacted and updated and clients require lawyers with the required expertise to advise them. In the area of opportunities, there are important laws that have been enacted and amended, particularly on water rights and circular economy. New regulations will be enacted that will contain specific permitting and compliance requirements regarding the extraction of groundwater and the issuance of concessions. Regarding circular economy, there will be new standards that will contain reporting requirements for generators or producers of consumer goods as well as obligations to ensure that waste generation is minimized.

4. How do you ensure high client satisfaction levels are maintained by your practice?

By abiding by commerciality principles when giving legal advice. In depth knowledge of the law is not sufficient. There needs to be a pragmatic and business-oriented approach when supporting our clients’ needs. Knowing their business and what they hope to achieve is an integral part of the equation. Clients need answers that resolve their legal concerns in synch with the realities of where they are doing business. Different states and municipalities have their own laws and regulations. Some may be less cumbersome than other and our task is to identify them and help clients navigate through legal requirements that may be complicated and do it in a seamless manner.

5. What technological advancements are reshaping your practice area law and how can clients benefit from them?

The use of Artificial Intelligence is becoming widespread in all economic sectors of the world and legal services are not the exception. However, there is a need to have a proper balance on what AI can offer and what our experience as practitioners can continue to be critical to our clients’ needs. Interpreting the law and how to applies it in specific cases is something that in many instances requires human expertise, even though AI continues to make strides in helping navigate complex legal problems.