DLA Piper Raids White & Case to Hire Six Mexico City Partners

DLA Piper is adding six partners from White & Case to its Mexico City office as trade and investment activity encourage the firm to boost its presence in the region.

The firm also named two new co-managing partners of the office—Alvaro E. Garza-Galvan, who also joins from White & Case, and Diego Martinez, a DLA Piper partner. They replace Eduardo Gallastegui, who will be the office’s emeritus managing partner.

“Trade and investment across the western hemisphere are rapidly growing in significance, and Mexico City is a key hub for economic activity,” said John Gilluly, DLA Piper’s managing partner for the Americas, in a statement.

London-headquartered DLA Piper has—with more than 350 lawyers—seven offices in Latin America, including Brazil, Peru, Chile, Columbia and Argentina. The Mexico City office opened in 2012. The firm reported gross revenues of more than $3.1 billion in 2020, ranking it third in the AmLaw 200.

The six White & Case partners joining the Mexico City office are Mauricio Valdespino, Roberto Rios Artigas, Antonio Cardenas, Daniel Gonzalez Estrada, Guillermo Aguayo and Garza-Galvan. They are joining the corporate, finance, litigation and tax practices.

The additions are “the cornerstone of our expanded offerings,” Rick Chesley, DLA Piper’s co-U.S. managing partner, said in an interview. The firm is interested in financial services, telecom, banking, real estate, energy, cross-border investments, and efforts to improve supply chains, he said.

DLA Piper also named Kate Brown de Vejar, global co-chair of the firm’s international arbitration practice, as a deputy managing partner of the Mexico City office.