Mr Derek Woodhouse > CMS Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow > Mexico City, Mexico > Lawyer Profile
CMS Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow Offices
PASEO DE LA REFORMA 115, 15TH FLOOR
COL. LOMAS DE CHAPULTEPEC
CP 11000, MEXICO
Mexico
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Mr Derek Woodhouse
Work Department
Energy, Oil & Gas, Electricity, Renewables, Projects, Infrastructure, Project Finance, PPP.
Position
Senior Partner
Career
Derek is a Mexican lawyer specialized in energy, infrastructure and public private partnerships (PPP). He started his professional career in 1992 as part of the Mexican Federal Government, where he spent 2 years in the Energy Ministry and 6 in the newly created Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). He became the Deputy General Director of Legal Affairs at CRE and then Chief of the Power Reestructuring Unit, working on the legal and regulatory reforms that allowed private participation in the Mexican natural gas and power sectors throughout the 90s.
In 2000 he was recruited by CMS in London, where he advised governments, banks and private companies on the design, financing and development of energy and infrastructure projects in Europe, Asia and America, incluidng the adoption in Mexico of the UK’s PFI in 2004 know as the PPS program.
He came back to Mexico City in 2005 to head the infrastructure practice of a New York based law firm. In 2009 he founded Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow SC, which is now part of CMS, and has been advising the Mexican Federal Government on power and PPP reforms and on pathfinder projects including the first wave of PPS, the Federal Prison Program, the electricity reform of 2013/2014 and the Mayan Train. He has also been advising sponsors, lenders, contractors and project companies in relation to infrastructure projects typically funded on a project finance basis in a variety of sectors including power, roads, health, transportation, education, custodial and national defence.
Languages
Spanish, English.
Education
- Escuela Libre de Derecho, Mexico City, Law Degree, 1988 – 1996
- George Washington University, International Law Institute, Washington D.C., United States, Postgraduate Studies, Introduction to the United States Legal System, 1997
- Harvard University, Center for International Development, Boston, Massachussets, United States, Postgraduate Studies, International Program on Privatization, Regulations and Corporate Governance, 1999.
Lawyer Rankings
Mexico > Energy and natural resources
(Leading partners)The energy and natural resources group at CMS Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow ‘knows the regulatory framework like no one else‘ and has a notable history in advising government entities on an overhaul of the country’s electricity framework. It is counsel of choice in Mexico for a host of international energy companies and investors in the country’s energy and natural resources sectors, assisting them with both the commercial and regulatory advice required throughout the full life cycle of project development. ‘An extraordinary lawyer expert in energy issues‘, co-leader of the practice and senior partner Derek Woodhouse is one of the most experienced figures in energy matters in Mexico, a dedicated specialist regarding power, infrastructure and PPPs. He coordinates the practice alongside Luis Fernández, who is the main contact for mining matters, as well as leading the transactional side of the energy and infrastructure department. The third of the leadership trio is Giancarlo Schievenini, whose practice focuses on oil and gas, and corporate and transactional matters in the energy and infrastructure segments. Raúl Zepeda is another experienced partner to note, and can draw on two decades’ in-house experience in the energy industry; his practice also covers banking and finance matters. Senior associate Gabriel Salinas is especially noted for electricity sector work.