Mexico City office, DLA Piper appoints a team of six partners from White & Case

Mexico City office, DLA Piper appoints a team of six partners from White & Case

In addition to current partner Diego Martinez, Alvaro Garza-Galvan is now joining the firm as a co-managing partner

White & Case has added six partners to DLA Piper's Mexico City team to strengthen the firm's corporate, finance and litigation practices.

As well as Garza-Galvan, the firm named two new office co-managing partners - Diego Martinez and Alvaro Garza-Galvan, who join from White & Case. In taking over for Eduardo Gallastegui, who becomes emeritus managing partner of the firm, the duo is taking over from the pair.

Gallastegui has held the role since his firm, Gallastegui y Lozano, was acquired by DLA Piper in 2015.

Following more than 15 years at White & Case, where he focused on M&A, banking, capital markets, and securities transactions, Garza-Galvan makes the move. In 2016, he was promoted to partner after joining the US firm in 2004 from local practice, Kuri Breña.

Having joined forces with DLA Piper, Gallestegui said his firm has "significantly grown" the Mexico City office and increased its ability to serve clients with operations in Mexico and those wishing to expand in Mexico. He also said growing the office will remain a priority as the firm continues to strengthen its capabilities across the Americas.

Together with Garza-Galvan, the firm is led by partners Mauricio Valdespino, Roberto Ríos Artigas, Antonio Cárdenas, Daniel González Estrada and Guillermo Aguayo.

Valdespino specializes in mergers and acquisitions, corporate and commercial law, while Artigas focuses on infrastructure, energy, and private equity transactions. Cardenas, on the other hand, specializes in using amparo procedures and ordinary defences in administrative cases, as well as regulatory matters and enacting government relations.

Advising clients on cross-border and domestic mergers, acquisitions, and corporate reorganizations, Aguayo also handles other complex tax disputes. Gonzalez Estrada concentrates his practice in commercial and civil litigation, bankruptcy proceedings, and amparo case law, with an emphasis on commercial and civil law matters.

Despite Mexico City's importance as a hub for economic activity, the firm believes that the combined strengths of the team will improve its position in the trade and investment markets there.

John Gilluly, the firm's managing partner for the Americas, said, "The expansion of our Mexico City office follows our strategy in the Americas and in the specific markets in the region." The firm has more than 350 lawyers in Latin America, "confirming our commitment to the region."

Besides the office in Mexico City, DLA Piper has seven offices all over Latin America, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina.

As a part of Mayer Brown's LatAm expansion strategy, it hired a five-lawyer team from Mayer Brown's Brazilian ally Tauil & Chequer Advogados in October 2021 to meet client demand for energy sector expertise in maritime, environmental and litigation matters.

Among other news in Mexico, the law firm Greenberg Traurig hired seven Holland & Knight lawyers to create a labor and employment practice in the city. Meanwhile, Littler opened an office in Saltillo, an industrial city in western Mexico, to go along with its existing offices in Monterrey and Mexico City.