Interview with: Diego Martínez and Álvaro Garza, Co Managing Partners

1) What do you see as the main points that differentiate [law firm name] from your competitors?

Diego Martinez and Alvaro Garza explained that DLA Piper Mexico (“DLA Piper Mexico”) unlike any other law firm located in Mexico, our Firm has presence in almost all countries and major cities, which allows us to provide a one-stop shop at a Global level. This is an important advantage vis-à-vis local firms and international firms and of course, local firms that have not such capacity and infrastructure needed to provide high-quality services worldwide simultaneously and in a coordinated manner.

The advantage of our Firm by providing IT solutions is a key factor that will benefit our clients. These solutions are to be implemented world-wide and shall comply with the maximum best practices and standards in the legal services industry. Having these benefits available for our clients should make a difference from our competitors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a tool that is useful for our work. AI is creating benefits not only for lawyers but for clients. DLA Piper is working on having the most advanced internal to duly use these benefits. While AI is an important tool, we must be sure that it is used properly avoiding any risks, especially those related to the ethic aspects of our profession, including the confidentiality of the information of our clients.

Additionally, our worldwide experience and the advantage of having first-hand innovative solutions resulting from the input of our clients demanding innovative legal services in many other manners and involving different practices related to a wide range of industries, allow us address clients new needs rapidly and in a comprehensive manner.

 

2) Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

Financing, refinancing and insolvency, matters, including Even with the Mexican economy performing better than expected and the upcoming Presidential election, we expect that matters related to cross-border reorganizations will still be present during 2024.

We also foresee opportunities in the real estate sector due to the change of the logistics of international commerce and the so-called “Near-shoring” phenomenon. Due to the proximity of Mexico to the US and the regionalization of the economy, our country is currently attractive to real estate investors, including foreign, and manufacturers of all kinds of goods. Investors from the US may delay some of their investment decisions due to the Presidential elections both in the US and Mexico, but it is inevitable that US investment will increase in the coming months as in the case of other foreign investors.

Many real estate developers are re-visiting their portfolios to de-invest from residential and office real estate assets and instead investing in industrial property. This has been seen in the Northern part of the country, such as Nuevo León and Chihuahua. Also, some states in Bajio, such as Queretaro and San Luis Potosí may be attracting investors that provide goods to the US.

Clients are also aware of the need of setting strict internal controls for their operations. Therefore, compliance and investigations matters are a trend now a days.

Controversies derived from new policies, particularly those related to the energy sector, make our litigators key to address our client’s needs. Mining laws and regulations continue to change. We expect the Mexican government will define certain criteria as it relates to those laws and that they will provide additional clarity for mining industry clients.

ESG is also a practice which importance has increased.

Finally, distressed M&A and tax opportunities are frequent, so this practice is important for DLA Piper Mexico. M&A, private equity and venture growth distressed transactions cannot be handled properly without legal and tax advice. Investors that have liquidity are investing in companies and assets particularly, investment in technology and digital services, among other industries. We anticipate this trend to continue through 2024.

 

3) What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

Change is constant and we are prepared to provide specialized legal services that are designed to better serve our clients.  Expanding our practices so we can address not only local but also foreign clients is a change that we continue to provide quick responses, address client needs, and reduce their legal costs.

As indicated previously, it is important for us to continue defining AI internal policies that will benefit our clients.

 

4) Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Absolutely. Recognizing that technology is a fundamental tool for any kind of services provider, including legal services, the Firm is recurrently investing in technology that will maximize our clients’ time.  We communicate with our clients mostly through technology instead of face-to-face meetings.

Our focus is now on implementing responsible AI internal policies  that makes our work more efficient.

 

5) Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

Our lawyers are specialized and have deep knowledge of our clients’ industries. This allows us to quickly and clearly resolve any legal need that our clients might have.

 

6) Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Yes. We foresee an even stronger influence of technology to help us provide legal services as clients expect constant contact with their outside legal counsel. We are dedicating important efforts to lead the legal services industry in AI. We also foresee AI advances in other industries that we believe will prove useful or necessary for the benefit of our clients. Long-time personal relationships build client’s confidence and trust that will never be replaced with technology. But as we anticipate less personal contact with our clients, we recognize their need to have us available to help them make decisions.