© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo – (Aug. 4) – Squire Patton Boggs recently scored a boost to its energy practice in Houston with the addition of Fernando Cano-Lasa, who brings with him more than 12 years of experience in-house with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).
When Cano-Lasa was studying at the University of Houston Law Center to obtain his LLM eight years ago, he realized there was a significant opportunity to counsel U.S. and international companies on Mexico-related matters. He said the timing was right after the Mexican government approved a constitutional amendment for energy reform last year.
Cano-Lasa said he thought Squire Patton Boggs was a good fit because the firm had a “need to have local knowledge of the Mexican market” and the firm provides a “solid infrastructure.”
“Whatever comes out of this legislation will have a strong Mexican nature,” he said. “I understand the complexities of the market and how the international market interacts with the Mexican market.”
The new Squire Patton Boggs of counsel believes the energy reform in Mexico has progressed well and is extremely good for Mexico and the industry, though he says the industry needs to wait a little bit to see the final outcome of the legislation before seeing exactly how it will play out and how it will affect suppliers and Pemex.
“It was a 180 degree flip moving from a completely monopolized market,” he said. “Having the constitutional amendment was a huge milestone. The proposed amendments from the Senate look very good.”
The firm’s move to bring on Cano-Lasa comes a little more than a month after Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs officially merged and is consistent with the firm’s plans to use its Texas offices to focus on the energy sector and clients with operations in Latin America.
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