OUR TEAM
LAWYERS IN MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. TWO COUNTRIES. ONE FIRM.
Mauricio Leon de la Barra, LLM
Business, Corporate and Real Estate Law
Licensed to practice law in California, Texas and Mexico
Mauricio Leon de la Barra is one of the few attorneys licensed to practice law in California, Texas and Mexico. He concentrates his practice in business, corporate and real estate transactions. Having practiced law for over twenty years at premier boutique and AmLaw 100 law firms in Mexico City and in Los Angeles, Mauricio has an extended network of resources, an unparalleled ability to understand and achieve the client's needs and goals, and first-hand knowledge of complex legal matters involving varied deal and jurisdictional contexts.
Mauricio is a graduate of the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico, where he obtained a degree in Law (summa cum laude) and a degree in Business Administration. In 2006, Mauricio obtained a Master of Law in Dispute Resolution degree from Pepperdine University School of Law, Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution. He is also an active member of the State Bar of California and of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, where he served as Chair of the International Law Section.
In 2013 and 2014, Mauricio was chosen for inclusion in the Southern California Rising Stars lists, an honor reserved for those lawyers who are 40 years old or younger and exhibit excellence in their practice (less than 2.5% of the lawyers in California are selected to receive this honor). From 2015 through 2021, Mauricio has been included in Super Lawyers list, an honor also reserved for those lawyers who exhibit excellence in their practice (less than 5% of the lawyers in California are selected to receive this honor).
Mauricio's recent publications and speaking engagements include:
- Speaker, Legal implications of U.S./Mexico transactions, Los Angeles County Bar Association, September 9, 2014.
- Speaker, Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Estate, Beverly Hills Bar Association, February 11, 2014.
- Planning Committee, International Arbitration in the Pacific Rim, LACBA, ICDR, CiArb, Los Angeles, November 2012.
- Speaker, Starting a Law Practice, Beverly Hills Bar Association, Los Angeles, October 2012.
- Speaker, Global Trade Conference, LACBA, Long Beach, May 2012.
- Planning Committee, IP Meets the Pacific Rim, LACBA, Los Angeles, September 2011.
- Chair and Moderator, Cross-Border Distressed Transactions, Los Angeles, March 2011.
- Cross-Border Distressed Resort and Hotel Transactions, Mexico Update, ABA Section of International Law, Issue 33, August 2011.
- Moderator, Baja California Investment Forum 2010, USMCOCCA, Los Angeles, September 2010.
- Speaker, Pathways to Employment: Careers in International Law, presented by the Los Angeles County Bar Association International Law Section, the American Bar Association Section of International Law and the State Bar of California International Law Section. Los Angeles, February 2010.
- The Benefits to Secured Parties of Real Estate Transactions in Mexico, Los Angeles Lawyer (the magazine of the Los Angeles County Bar Association), February 2010, Volume 32, No. 11.
- Regulation of Timeshare Products in Mexico, Developments magazine, American Resort Developers Association, October 2009.
- Speaker, Ethical Challenges for Lawyers Who Leave and Those Who Are Left Behind, 34th Annual Convention and 1st Judicial Summit, Litigation Track, Hispanic National Bar Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 2009.
- Speaker, Mexico as a Near Shore Destination, Investing in Real Estate in Mexico, Health Services in Mexico, Legal and Tax Incentives on Buying a Second Home in Mexico, 12th Annual Mexico Economic Review and Political Outlook 2009, U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles, May 2009.
- Challenges and Trends for Fractional Projects in Mexico, MV Consultants, January 2009.
- Investing in Mexican Real Estate: Outlook, Legal Framework and Special Considerations, California Real Property Journal, Volume 26, No. 4, 2008.
Sergio M. Martin-Sanchez
Licensed to practice law in Mexico
Sergio is a Mexico licensed business and real estate attorney. For more than three decades, Sergio has acted as an attorney for American and Mexican clients in all sorts of domestic and cross-border matters involving Mexican business, commercial, agricultural, and employment laws.
He started his legal career in 1979 as an attorney for Grupo Industrial Alfa, then Mexico’s largest private company and the only Mexican company in the Fortune 500 list of the biggest companies outside the United States. By the age of 30, Sergio was appointed General Counsel for the Mexico Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores), Mexico’s only stock exchange. Sergio then moved to NRM Communications, a leading radio broadcaster, where he also served as General Counsel. During the boom of the maquiladora and other industries in Tijuana and the rest of Baja California, he accepted a managing partner position at a prominent Mexico City law firm, together with the challenge of opening and running its Baja California office. With almost 40 years of practice as an attorney, Sergio concentrates his practice in agricultural, corporate, commercial and real estate transactions and litigation. During the course of his career as an attorney, Sergio has successfully litigated more than 1,500 cases and advised clients in the formation, sale or acquisition of over 250 companies. His experience and knowledge as an attorney, together with his extended network of friends and colleagues throughout Mexico, gives him unparalleled resources to accomplish the client’s needs in the most efficient and effective manner.
Sergio obtained his attorney degree from the Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City. He is an active member of Tijuana’s Economic Development Corporation, also known as DEITAC, and other premier business organizations.
Sergio’s speaking engagements and attorney publications include:
- Professor of Commercial Law, Banking and Securities Law, Universidad Panamericana. Mexico City.
- Professor of Securities Law, Mexican Stock Exchange Institute, Mexico City.
- Speaker in Business and Real Estate Law Seminars, University of San Diego, San Diego, California.
- Speaker in Business, Real Estate, Labor and Employment Law Seminars. Colegio de Contadores Publicos. Tijuana, Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado.
- Mexican Employment Law, a Guide for American Companies Doing Business in Mexico, Employers Group Services Corp., Los Angeles, California
- Unconstitutionality of Representation in Trial in the Labor Procedure, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City