Drawing on the support of a strong litigation and arbitration practice group for judicial and/or administrative representation as necessary, Galicia Abogados S.C.’s full-spectrum environmental practice has considerable experience in transactional work and associated due diligence, regulatory matters, compliance, litigation and ESG issues, and acts primarily for clients drawn from the energy, real estate and regulated industries (including, ports, roads, water projects and pharma). The nine-strong practice group is co-led by Mariana Herrero, who has in-depth knowledge of the full range of environmental legal matters and who is accustomed to multidisciplinary approaches to such issues; and Carlos Escoto -who was raised to the partnership back in early 2021- and brings sophisticated regulatory and sustainability experience to the group, particularly in relation to the development of infrastructure, renewable energies, oil & gas, mining, manufacturing and tourism industry projects. At associate level, key support is provided by seniors Lucía Manzo and Lourdes Lozano – who both primarily attend to the regulatory and environmental aspects of infrastructure and energy projects; and associates Verónica Palacios (a former director of hydrocarbons regulation at the Comisión Reguladora de Energía), and Guillermo Garza (who rejoined the firm in June 2022 after four years at Vera y Asociados). Recent matters include involvement in the filing of constitutional amparos concerning various government reforms, advisory concerning carbon credit generation projects, and matters arising from the financing of a water treatment and desalination plant.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Galicia Abogados has a robust team for environmental legal issues, giving practical and timely advice. For environmental legal matters that result in administrative litigation, they combine their practice with their litigation team.’

  • ‘From the environmental legal team I'd highlight Carlos Escoto, Guillermo Garza and Gabriela Espir: they have provided detailed and practical advice for specific issues. From the litigation team, Sofía Jurado and Gilda Velásquez, have linked environmental legal issues with a defense at the administrative level.’

  • ‘I consider that the benefit of the Galicia Abogados' team is its specialisation in environmental issues, knowledge of the regulations and good relations in general with the authorities. This allows quick and direct responses to problems.’

  • ‘Foremost is the excellent quality of the team's professionals. I find it very useful that those in the environmental field all have different specialties, that is, each one within their specialty manages a specific branch such as circular economy, wildlife, etc.'

Key clients

  • KfW IPEX-Bank
  • Abertis Infraestructuras & GIC Special Investments
  • KPS Capital Partners
  • Cargill
  • Nishimura & Asahi
  • International Finance Corporation
  • New Fortress Energy
  • Grupo Farmaceutico Somar
  • Guardian Industries
  • Lyondell Basell
  • Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior
  • Equinox Gold
  • Silver Wheaton
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
  • Credit Suisse Securities
  • Promecap
  • Citigroup Global Markets
  • JP Morgan Securities
  • Banco Santander
  • Banco Sabadell
  • New Fortress Energy
  • Contour Global
  • Korean Export-Import Bank
  • Baywa
  • OMYA
  • Ericsson
  • Canadian Solar
  • Institución de Banca de Desarrollo
  • Balam Fund
  • Bunge Foods Mexico
  • Grupo Bimbo
  • Desarrollos Mira
  • Repsol
  • World Bank
  • Grupo Sordo Madaleno
  • Actis
  • Vertex Real Estate and Grupo MRP
  • Carrier
  • Consorcio Industrial
  • Deloitte
  • Ignis
  • El Puerto de Liverpool
  • EDP Renováveis
  • Fermaca
  • Prana Power
  • PremierTech
  • Advent International
  • Green Tank
  • Jumex
  • The World Bank Group
  • Tamsa
  • Termolita

Work highlights

  • Retained by Termolita, Cargill and New Fortress Energy (among others), to act as the companies' on-going, legal environmental counsel for all issues related to Mexican environmental legislation.
  • Retained by Costco Wholesale Mexico - as of 2022 - to act as the company's environmental regulatory counsel for Mexican environmental legislation updates applicable to its retail stores nationwide.
  • Ongoing environmental regulatory advice to EDP Renovaveis (EDPR) for the development, operation and expansion of the company's renewable energy projects in Mexico.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Mariana Herrero, Carlos Escoto