Blackstone Law PLLC

Jesus Ramirez

A former federal congressman who served as deputy leader for legal affairs, and member of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committees. He was chairman of the Canada-Mexico parliamentary friendship group and member of the US-Mexico group. Before his term in Congress, Mr. Ramirez worked for the President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, with the President’s Chief of Staff, as General Director for Institutional Relations. In Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), he was advisor to the Corporate Director of Administration, and in 2001 he was Coordinator for International Relations for the Speaker of the Mexican Congress.

In the private sector, he is the founding partner of Blackstone Law PLLC, law firm based in Texas and specialized in Mexican Law. He is also part of the Maltos Law Firm, a personal injury law firm based in San Antionio, Texas. He supervises business development and the legal impacts of the cases with Mexico and Mexican Law. Mr. Ramirez worked for the Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas as Secretariat Director for Mission and was a partner at VBCSR Abogados, law firm specialized in Public Policy and Energy Law.

Jesus Ramirez is an attorney from the Anahuac University School of Law in Mexico City. He has a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Master of Law in American Legal Studies (LLM) from St. Mary’s University School of Law. He is licensed in Mexico and as a Foreign Legal Consultant by the State Bar of Texas.

María del Carmen del Rio

Mexican attorney with more than 20 years of experience, specialized in Administrative, Immigration, Real Estate and Corporate Law.

For 10 years she worked in the legal departments of different Mexican federal government agencies and offices, including the Mexican Embassy in Washington D.C., the National Immigration Institute, where she served as General Counsel, the Secretary of Governance, the Secretary of Public Administration and the Office of the President of Mexico.

As General Counsel of the National Migration Institute she coordinated the government working group with members of Congress and civil society that drafted and promoted the current Federal Immigration Law, and its rules.

She advises foreign companies and individuals and their families in obtaining the immigration status required to visit, invest, open bank accounts, reside temporarily or permanently in Mexico, acquire, or sell real estate, as well as to obtain the Mexican nationality.

She has experience in the strategic coordination with specialized law firms and attorneys, in order to provide a comprehensive and personalized service to domestic and foreign companies who want to be incorporated, relocated, invest or do business in Mexico.

Mary Carmen graduated with honors from the Universidad Panamericana School of Law in Mexico City. She has a Master’s Degree in European Union law from the Carlos III University in Madrid, Spain.

Bernardo Leon

Mr. Leon is a public policy expert and a trial attorney specialized in criminal, civil, and administrative law. He was Head of Innovation Projects at the Presidential Office for Government Innovation, under President Vicente Fox. He led the working group that designed and drafted the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Comprehensive Reform that was introduced in March 2004 (approved in 2008). He also led the drafting and approval of the Civil Service legislation, unanimously approved by both chambers of Congress. During his time in the office of the President of Mexico, he also served as Secretary of both the National and Public Security Councils.

After serving in the federal government, Mr. Leon accepted an invitation to become Police Commissioner in the city of Morelia, Michoacan. His successful service was featured in the New York Times and recognized by many organizations both nationally and internationally. Read Article.

In doing this, he worked alongside USAID Mexico, the British Embassy, and other national and international organizations.

While in Morelia, he collaborated with the Supreme Court of the State of Michoacan, where he wrote the bill to reform the Public Safety and Criminal Justice System of the state, which included: Constitutional Reform, Criminal Procedures Code, Reform to the Organic Law of Public Administration, Reform to the Public Safety Law of Michoacán, Creation of the Organic Law of the Attorney General’s Office, Creation of the Organic Law of the Judicial Branch, and drafted the Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions.

Bernardo Leon is currently advising many state and local governments with planning, restructuring, and execution of new models of public safety and criminal justice. He consistently collaborates with many academic institutions and international organizations on matters of public safety and criminal justice, among them, Management Systems International (MSI), Development Alternatives International Inc., Chemonics International Inc., Kaseman International, National Institute for Criminal Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, the Supreme Court of the State of Michoacan, the state governments of Mexico and Campeche, and the city of Leon, Guanajuato.

Mr. Leon has also worked for the National Council for Arts and Culture, the Fondo de Cultura Economica (National Fund for Economic Culture), he has advised many private companies in their reorganization process, and he loves to run marathons.

Cesar Hernández

For six years, he served as Director for Intergovernmental Relations and Secretary to the Head of the Presidential Office for Government Innovation, under President Vicente Fox.

He was a partner at Sociedad de Abogados, Consultores y Estudios Socioeconómicos (SACBES), a legal, political, communication, and public relations consulting firm.

He currently specializes in commercial projects withing different industries, which include strategy, branding, planning, design and execution, administrative, fiscal and labor matters, marketing of information technology, and investor advisor for housing development in Texas.

He has advised the City of Puebla, the Science and Technology Committee in the Senate of the Republic, Syrium (company that develops cutting-edge technologies), Bardahl (manufacturer of automotive oils and lubricants), Cuadro Rojo (construction company), MexIndus Capital (business developer and investment fund), Imagia Comunicación (Editorial), and public works with different construction companies.

A native of Mexico City, he is married and father of three children. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, State of México Campus, graduating with honors in 1994. He has attended various seminars and diplomas among which are those organized by The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., in Political Communication and Marketing.

Emmanuel Carrillo

Attorney specialized in Constitutional, Electoral, and Administrative Law, he is the Public Notary No. 70 of the State of Aguascalientes. Former President of El Retoño Technological University, and former Representative of the Government of the State of Aguascalientes in Mexico City.

Mr. Carrillo was legal advisor for the Presidential Campaign of President Felipe Calderon, Technical Secretary of the National Committee of the National Action Party and served as advisor to the Speaker of the Mexican Congress and the Senate of the Republic.

He holds a master’s degree in Management and Direction of Education Centers from the Universidad Panamericana in Aguascalientes, bachelor’s degree in law from the Universidad Panamericana School of Law in Aguasacalientes, bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City, and diplomas in Human Rights, Administrative Procedures in Industrial Property and Copyright, and Government and Corporate Ethics.

Gerardo Villavicencio

Gerardo Villavicencio is Partner at CIKA Consulting LLC, where he leads the financial services practice, which includes corporate governance, tax planning and forensics assistance. He has 28+ years of experience in advising on business transformation, profit and loss, management and executive leadership, business processes, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, as well as financial planning and analysis. He has held various management and CEO positions in multinationals such as The Dow Chemical Company, General Electric, and most recently SGS. In addition, he has participated as an independent Director in Holcim in Chile, through its subsidiary Polpaico.

He began his career in sales which spanned around 10 years, focusing on areas such as banking, petrochemicals and the railway industry. In the last 18 years, he has held management roles in Mexico and Latin America with international assignments, such as government affairs, chemicals, healthcare, oil and gas, power generation, and the TIC industry-Industrial, EHS, food and beverage, mining, and auto markets. In addition, he has experience in fuel retail start-ups with the ability to manage divestitures.

Gerardo Villavicencio holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana.

He speaks English and Spanish.

Odilisa Gutierrez

A former Chief Magistrate of the Mexican Agrarian Court and Magistrate of the Unitary Agrarian Tribunal. She also served as General Counsel of the National Migration Institute and General Coordinator of Liaison with Agrarian Representations. Odilisa Gutiérrez Leads our Agrarian Law practice as a consultant and trial attorney.

Mrs. Gutiérrez holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Guadalajara, a Master’s in Public Law from the Universidad Panamericana, a Ph.D in Law by the UNED, Madrid, Spain and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Spain and Mexico. She is currently enrolled in the Senior Management Program at the IPADE Business School in Mexico City.

She is a former Professor of Agrarian Law at the National University (UNAM), and Agrarian Amparo Law at the University of Guadalajara. In 2015 she was recognized with the “Carlos R. Moreno, Judicial Excellence Award” from the Mexican American Bar Association (MABA), in Los Angeles, California.

She was a member of the Mexican Association of Female Judges A.C., IAWA, International Association of Women Judges, Mexico Chapter, Distinguished and National College of Lawyers (Mexico), National Association of Doctors in Law (Mexico), Mexican Bar Association and the Mexican American Bar Association (MABA), Mexico Chapter.

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