Abstract
In this chapter, we describe the way in which stability and change have interacted in Mexico in recent years, and how they have modified some aspects of the practice of law in Mexico. To this end, we begin by reviewing the regularities represented in the formation and regulation of the legal profession. Next, we address changes in the profession, looking at the experiences of elite lawyers who were chosen for interviews for this study. In the final section, we present some conclusions based on our findings, with the intention of outlining the main characteristics of the legal market in Mexico.
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Notes
- 1.
The first serious attempt to open markets was in 1986 with the signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
- 2.
Fix-Fierro and López-Ayllón (2006) suggest a similar division in the legal profession.
- 3.
This increase in the number of educational programs focused on training lawyers has been supported by an extraordinary increase in the number of institutions that currently teach law. In fact, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Legal Teaching and Learning in Mexico, a private institution, the number of institutions teaching law grew from 691 in 2004 to 1608 in 2014.
- 4.
The following section allows us to verify the constancy of this tendency.
- 5.
Burgoa, Ignacio. El Juicio de Amparo, Porrrúa, México. First edition 1943 and most recent re-edition 2013.
- 6.
Fraga, Gabino. Derecho administrativo, Porrúa, México. First edition 1934 and most recent re-edition 2006.
- 7.
Tena Ramírez, Felipe. Derecho constitucional mexicano, Porrúa, México. First edition 1944 and most recent re-edition 2011.
- 8.
An example is the Federal Public Administration Law. This law sets norms that organize the entire federal government. The law was first published in 1976 and has been modified on 49 occasions. Between 1994 and the present date there have been 34 reforms that have included the creation of new public agencies and the assignation of new powers.
- 9.
In the area of criminal law, until the constitutional reform published on July 18, 2008, it was possible for those being processed to be represented by “persons of trust” in criminal trials. Evidently, as a person of trust, it was perfectly viable to offer legal services without a law degree.
- 10.
Articles 210 and 211 of the Federal Criminal Code.
- 11.
Here are three groupings which are relatively stable but are far from representative: The Mexican Bar, the College of Lawyers, the Illustrious and National College of Lawyers and the National Association of Business Lawyers. According to the Bar’s website (www.bma.org.mx visited in June 2015), they have 3000 members. The Illustrious and National has less than 500 members. The ANADE shared data on its lawyers in 2013 and had around 700 lawyers.
- 12.
As asserted by Meneses (2017), it is possible that this situation has changed recently in certain regions of the country, especially given the increase in the number of crimes and homicides that Mexico has experienced since 2006. However, in structural terms, it appears that the willingness of lawyers to form trade associations has not changed radically.
- 13.
On February 20, 2014, an initiative for a constitutional reform was presented to promote the organization and obligatory certification to practice certain professions, law among them. See http://www.senado.gob.mx/sgsp/gaceta/62/2/2014-02-20-1/assets/documentos/Inic_PRI_Reforma_Constitucional.pdf accessed in October 2014.
- 14.
See Cruz Barney, Óscar. “The reestablishment of obligatory association of the law profession in Mexico: a necessary step.” In Abogacía Española. General Council. International Section. http://www.abogacia.es/2014/09/19/el-restablecimiento-de-la-colegiacion-obligatoria-de-la-abogacia-en-mexico-un-paso-necesario/ visited in October 2014.
- 15.
CIDE Report: Justicia Cotidiana. In http://www.justiciacotidiana.mx/swb/JusticiaCotidiana/conclusiones visited in September 2015.
- 16.
Free trade and the modification of foreign investment regimes were fundamental for this change (Dezalay and Garth 2005: 314 and following).
- 17.
To illustrate the dimensions of the process of legislative transformation, it is worth noting that “to date, the text of the Constitution of 1917 has been modified 573 times by 214 reform decrees. Nearly two thirds of these reforms were after 1982 and nearly one fifth of all reforms were published just during the Administration of President Felipe Calderón (2006–2012). The government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office on December 1, has also begun his mandate with various constitutional reform initiatives, of which some have already been approved and published (education, competitiveness, economic, telecommunications, energy) and others are in the process of approval by the States (transparency, elections)” (Fix-Fierro 2014).
- 18.
This data comes from the directory http://www.martindale.com/all/c-mexico/all-law-firms-1.htm?ne=422&n=4294966079&c=N, and the list has been cleaned and systematized to exclude office of the same firm located in different cities of the same country.
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Meneses-Reyes, R., Caballero, J.A. (2018). Global and Traditional: A Profile of Corporate Lawyers in Mexico. In: Gómez, M., Pérez-Perdomo, R. (eds) Big Law in Latin America and Spain. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65403-4_7
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