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Mauricio Leon de la Barra, LLM
E: MLB@LeonBarraLaw.com
T: (424) 257-0677
Licensed to practice law in Mexico and California
Mauricio Leon de la Barra is an international law attorney licensed to practice law in Mexico and California, and has more than 15 years of experience representing clients in cross-border business and real estate transactions and litigation involving international law, Mexican law, and US law. Having practiced as an attorney for more than a decade at premier boutique and AmLaw 100 law firms in Mexico City and Los Angeles, Mauricio has an extended network of resources, an unparalleled ability to understand – and achieve - the client's needs and goals, and first-hand knowledge of complex legal matters involving varied deal and jurisdictional contexts.
He started his legal career in 1997 at the law firm of Rocha & Ambrosi, S.C., a premier civil, business and constitutional litigation law firm based in Mexico City. Rocha & Ambrosi was formed by attorney Salvador Rocha, former Supreme Court justice, senator and congressman, and by Rafael Ambrosi, also a prominent attorney. After several years of practicing as an attorney in this law firm, Mauricio moved to White & Case, S.C., an AmLaw 100 law firm, where as an attorney he was able to combine his law and business degrees, and gain exposure to international business and corporate transactions. He later joined SAI Consultores, S.C., an investment banking and law firm formed by Jaime Serra, former Secretary of Trade and Industry and Secretary of Finance, and other government officials and attorneys involved in the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, to provide solutions in matters of antitrust law, arbitration law, corporate law, international trade disputes, international law, investment banking and strategic planning.
Mauricio moved to Los Angeles in the mid 2000s and, after obtaining his Master of Law degree and passing the California Bar Exam, joined the law firm of Ballard Spahr, LLP, also an AmLaw 100 law firm, where as an attorney he represented Mexican and American clients in diverse cross-border business and real property transactions and litigation matters governed by Mexico law, US law, and international law.
In 2011, he and Sergio Martin-Sanchez opened Leon de la Barra, LLP, a boutique law firm focusing primarily in cross-border business and real estate transactions and litigation, and currently concentrates his practice in domestic and international business, corporate and real estate matters and litigation involving international, US and Mexican laws. He also appears as an attorney expert in US courts in various litigation matters involving Mexican law.
Mauricio is a graduate of the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico, where he obtained a degree in Law (summa cum laude) and a degree in Business Administration. In 2006, Mauricio obtained a Master of Law in Dispute Resolution degree from Pepperdine University School of Law, Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution. He is also an active member of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, where he served as Chair of the International Law Section.
In 2013 and 2014, Mauricio was chosen for inclusion in the Southern California Rising Stars lists, an honor reserved for those lawyers who are 40 years old or younger and exhibit excellence in their practice (less than 2.5% of the lawyers in California are selected to receive this honor). In 2015 and 2016, Mauricio was included in Super Lawyers list, an honor also reserved for those lawyers who exhibit excellence in their practice (less than 5% of the lawyers in California are selected to receive this honor).
Mauricio's recent publications and speaking engagements include:
Planning Committee, International Arbitration in the Pacific Rim, LACBA, ICDR, CiArb, Los Angeles, November 2012.
Speaker, Starting a Law Practice, Beverly Hills Bar Association, Los Angeles, October 2012.
Speaker, Global Trade Conference, LACBA, Long Beach, May 2012.
Planning Committee, IP Meets the Pacific Rim, LACBA, Los Angeles, September 2011.
Chair and Moderator, Cross-Border Distressed Transactions, Los Angeles, March 2011.
Cross-Border Distressed Resort and Hotel Transactions, Mexico Update, ABA Section of International Law, Issue 33, August 2011.
Moderator, Baja California Investment Forum 2010, USMCOCCA, Los Angeles, September 2010.
Speaker, Pathways to Employment: Careers in International Law, presented by the Los Angeles County Bar Association International Law Section, the American Bar Association Section of International Law and the State Bar of California International Law Section. Los Angeles, February 2010.
The Benefits to Secured Parties of Real Estate Transactions in Mexico, Los Angeles Lawyer (the magazine of the Los Angeles County Bar Association), February 2010, Volume 32, No. 11.
Regulation of Timeshare Products in Mexico, Developments magazine, American Resort Developers Association, October 2009.
Speaker, Ethical Challenges for Lawyers Who Leave and Those Who Are Left Behind, 34th Annual Convention and 1st Judicial Summit, Litigation Track, Hispanic National Bar Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 2009.
Speaker, Mexico as a Near Shore Destination, Investing in Real Estate in Mexico, Health Services in Mexico, Legal and Tax Incentives on Buying a Second Home in Mexico, 12th Annual Mexico Economic Review and Political Outlook 2009, U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles, May 2009.
Challenges and Trends for Fractional Projects in Mexico, MV Consultants, January 2009.
Investing in Mexican Real Estate: Outlook, Legal Framework and Special Considerations, California Real Property Journal, Volume 26, No. 4, 2008.
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Sergio M. Martin-Sanchez
E: SMS@MexicoCaliforniaLaw.com
T: (52) 664-634-2701
Licensed to practice law in Mexico
Sergio is a Mexico licensed business and real estate attorney. For more than three decades, Sergio has acted as an attorney for American and Mexican clients in all sorts of domestic and cross-border matters involving Mexican business, commercial, agricultural, and employment laws.
He started his legal career in 1979 as an attorney for Grupo Industrial Alfa, then Mexico’s largest private company and the only Mexican company in the Fortune 500 list of the biggest companies outside the United States. By the age of 30, Sergio was appointed General Counsel for the Mexico Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores), Mexico’s only stock exchange. Sergio then moved to NRM Communications, a leading radio broadcaster, where he also served as General Counsel. During the boom of the maquiladora and other industries in Tijuana and the rest of Baja California, he accepted a managing partner position at a prominent Mexico City law firm, together with the challenge of opening and running its Baja California office. After more than 20 years of practice as an attorney, Sergio opened his law firm, concentrating his practice in agricultural, corporate, commercial and real estate transactions and litigation. During the course of his career as an attorney, Sergio has successfully litigated more than 1,500 cases and advised clients in the formation, sale or acquisition of over 250 companies. His experience and knowledge as an attorney, together with his extended network of friends and colleagues throughout Mexico, gives him unparalleled resources to accomplish the client’s needs in the most efficient and effective manner.
Sergio obtained his attorney degree from the Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City. He is an active member of Tijuana’s Economic Development Corporation, also known as DEITAC, and other premier business organizations.
Sergio’s speaking engagements and attorney publications include:
Professor of Commercial Law, Banking and Securities Law, Universidad Panamericana. Mexico City.
Professor of Securities Law, Mexican Stock Exchange Institute, Mexico City.
Speaker in Business and Real Estate Law Seminars, University of San Diego, San Diego, California.
Speaker in Business, Real Estate, Labor and Employment Law Seminars. Colegio de Contadores Publicos. Tijuana, Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado.
Mexican Employment Law, a Guide for American Companies Doing Business in Mexico, Employers Group Services Corp., Los Angeles, California
Unconstitutionality of Representation in Trial in the Labor Procedure, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City
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Juan Pablo Martinez, LLM
E: jmv@sai.com.mx
Licensed to practice law in Mexico
Juan Pablo is actively involved in the design and implementation of sophisticated legal structures for financing and investment projects in Mexico. He has participated in several working groups aimed at proposing legal and regulatory amendments, some of which have ultimately resulted in the existence of Mexican investment vehicles such as the Infrastructure and Real Estate Investment Trusts (FIBRAs), Private Equity Trusts (FICARs) and in the possibility of investments from AFOREs in private equity and development projects through CKDs and IPOs.
He leads the firm's private equity practice and is a member of the Business Law Group. Juan Pablo is also a partner at SAI Law & Economics, a boutique Mexico City law firm, which he joined in July 1999.
He has been a professor of globalization and the Mexican international trade legal framework in postgraduate courses with the Universidad Simón Bolivar (Mexico City) and the Universidad Latina de América (Morelia, Michoacán). In addition, he is a founding professor and researcher for the law department of the Centro de Investigación y DocenciaEconómicas (CIDE, Mexico City).
Juan Pablo Martínez is a graduate of the Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey. He obtained a Master’s Degree (LL.M.) from the Institute of Comparative Law at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and a Master’s Certificate in Music Business from Berklee College of Music.
He is a member of the Mexican Private Equity Association (Amexcap), where he chaired the editorial committee.
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