La 5ª edición de la Conferencia LexMex tuvo lugar en Londres el 5 de octubre de 2017.

La 5ª edición de la Conferencia LexMex tuvo lugar en Londres el 5 de octubre de 2017.

LexMex is a yearly conference, organized by the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain (“MexCC”), with The Law Society of England and Wales and as of this year, the Bar Council.

LexMex gathers leading Mexican lawyers and experts to discuss the most relevant legal developments in Mexico highlighting opportunities for collaboration among Mexican and English and Welsh lawyers.

The 2017 LexMex Conference was divided in a morning plenary session at The Law Society and in the afternoon breakout sessions.

The Vice President of the Society Simon Davis opened the Conference by welcoming the speakers and attendees, among them, HE Julian Ventura Valero, Ambassador of Mexico to the UK and Judge Mariana Rodriguez Mier y Terán of the Superior Court of Justice of the State of Tamaulipas.

The plenary session included a special presentation by Kerma Partners explaining the development, trends and challenges of the Mexican legal market, followed by panel discussions with updates on capital markets by Nader, Hayaux & Goebel; energy by Norton Rose Fulbright; employment law by Marvan Gonzalez Graf y Gonzalez Larrazolo; environmental law by Haynes & Boone; commercial disputes by Malpica, Iturbe, Buj y Paredes; and tax litigation by Ernst & Young. The panel sessions were moderated by Tim Girven, editor on Latin America at Legal 500; and Simon Davis, Vice president of The Law Society.

The three main bars associations (colegios de abogados) in Mexico: ANADE, Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados de México and Barra Nacional, Colegio de Abogados were represented at LexMex by Angel Junquera whom had a lively and very interesting discussion with Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the International Committee of the Bar Council on the implementation of the National Anticorruption System in Mexico.

This year keynote speaker of LexMex was Judge Mariana Rodríguez Mier y Terán, President of the Criminal Collegiate Chamber and Judge of the Fourth Unitary Chamber in Criminal Law of the Supreme Justice Tribunal of the State of Tamaulipas. In a detailed and lively account of her personal experience in implementing the adversarial criminal law system in the State of Tamaulipas, Judge Rodríguez Mier y Terán explained the fundamental and radical changes implied in going from an inquisitorial system to an adversarial system in a civil law and federal country, the importance of such reforms and benefits it entails as well as the tremendous challenges that Mexico in general and each state, including Tamaulipas in particular, are facing to implement this completely new criminal procedure based on the following principles: transparency (publicidad), challenge (contradicción), concentration (concentración), continuity (continuidad) and immediacy (inmediación) within the framework of the Human Rights constitutional reform of June 2011.

Finally, the Chairman of the MexCC, Yves Hayaux du Tilly —a Mexican lawyer himself— gave the closing remarks making reference to the connections being created and required to improve the links and collaboration among Mexican and English and Welsh lawyers, laying out four ideas on matters in which Mexico and the UK could further collaborate: improvement of professional standards; organization of the legal profession; advantages and benefits in the administration of justice by having a Ministry of Justice; collaboration and exchanges among Mexican and British lawyers and the judiciaries; and best practices in the practice of the legal profession.

During the afternoon various roundtable were organized as follows: tax roundtable chaired by Clara Ramirez Senior Manager at EY; criminal adversarial system roundtable chaired by Andrew Langdon QC, Chair of the Bar Council; commercial litigation and arbitration roundtable chaired by Frederico Singarajah, Chair of the Bar Council Latin America Interest Group; and finally, employment law roundtable moderated by Pia Sánchez, Senior Associate at Lewis Silkin.

The LexMex has become a reference on Mexican law in London and year by year has made visible the increasing and reciprocal interest among Mexican and British lawyers and judges in working together and showcasing the many benefits and opportunities that such collaboration can bring to both countries.

For more information about the Lex Mex and other events organized by the MexCC, please contact its manager, Milène Hayaux du Tilly ([email protected]).

Speakers at Lex Mex 2017 Conference: Simon Davis, deputy vice president, The Law Society of England and Wales, Leopoldo Hernández Romano, KermaPartners, Dr. Héctor Herrera Ordoñez, Haynes & Boones GDG- LLP, Yves Hayaux du Tilly – Nader, Hayaux & Goebel,Sean McCoy – Norton Rose Fulbright, Héctor González Graf, Marván, González Graf y González Larrazolo, Tim Girven, editor on Latin America, Legal 500, Angel M. Junquera, Asociación Nacional de Abogados de Empresa, ANADE Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados de México. Amanda Pinto, QC, chair of the International Committee of the Bar Council, Carlos Malpica, Malpica, Iturbe, Buj y Paredes , Nora Morales, Ernst & Young, Judge Mariana Rodríguez Mier y Terán, Judge of the State of Tamaulipas, Yves Hayaux du Tilly, Chairman, MexCC.