Mexico City, Mexico, December 12, 2011- Baker & McKenzie Mexico welcomes Salvador Fonseca as Partner and head of the Litigation and Arbitration Practice Group in Mexico City and Sergio Rodriguez-Labastida as senior associate in the practice, expanding the strong and recognized team of professionals in this practice area.
“The integration of Messrs. Fonseca and Rodriguez-Labastida is in line with our Firm’s growth and development strategy, as well as our commitment to provide highly sophisticated legal services in a market as important as Mexico City,” said Andres Ochoa-Bünsow, Managing Partner for Mexico; and Javier Navarro-Velasco, Litigation and Arbitration Practice Head in Mexico.
Salvador Fonseca brings more than 15 years experience in dispute resolution. He has participated in complex arbitration and litigation and arbitration cases, both domestic and international, and has extensive experience on Dispute Boards and other alternative dispute resolution methods. Mr. Fonseca has advised various clients in insolvency proceedings and financial restructurings, as well as in international and local matters relating to regulatory compliance (including FCPA investigations).
Mr. Fonseca is distinguished as co-lead counsel in one of the largest international construction arbitration cases in Latin America, with claims for over USD1 billion in connection with an oil and gas project in Mexico. He has obtained favorable rulings in Mexican courts when challenging government restrictions imposed on corn and fructose importations, based on the premise that such restrictions were contrary to NAFTA and GATT. He obtained an unprecedented favorable ruling for an international chemical company that had, until then, been penalized with the largest fine imposed by the Federal Competition Commission.
Mr. Fonseca is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration; is a member of renowned arbitration institutions and has acted as sole and presiding arbitrator in both international and domestic cases. Mr. Fonseca is a member of the Barra Mexicana Colegio de Abogados, A.C. He has also been a professor at the Universidad Panamericana and at the Legal Studies Division of the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas in arbitration and civil procedural law matters. He holds a law degree from the Universidad de Guadalajara, carried out graduate studies at the Universidad Panamericana, and obtained his Masters of Law degree from the New York University.
http://www.bakermckenzie.com/salvadorfonseca/
Sergio Rodriguez-Labastida has over 10 years of experience in litigation and commercial arbitration. He has also participated in a number of relevant compliance cases relating to anti-corruption regulation, including FCPA. Mr. Rodriguez-Labastida received his law degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and is a professor of civil procedural law.
http://www.bakermckenzie.com/sergiorodriguezlabastida/
Before joining Baker & McKenzie, Mr. Fonseca and Mr. Rodriguez-Labastida were with Chadbourne & Parke, S.C.