Our Counsel
James E. Ritch joined the firm in 1992 and has been a Counsel since 2016. He specializes in Competition and Antitrust, Mergers and Acquisitions and Pro Bono.
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
James E. Ritch has more than 30 years of experience advising Mexican and international clients in their business in Mexico. Throughout his long career at the Firm, his practice has evolved in line with the increasing sophistication of the financial, M&A (including in the energy field) and private equity practices in the Mexican market. He has been active in the area of competition and antitrust since 1992, particularly in merger control and in the last decade in investigations. He has also been very active advising investment funds in their investments in Mexico and has been an active participant in the evolution of the private equity industry in Mexico.James is part of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee, where he is very active as well as in the areas of solidarity economy and non-profits. In 1991, he worked as a Foreign Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York.
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RELEVANT TRANSACTIONS
- Represents companies active in the Mexican natural gas, hydrocarbons and renewable energy markets (such as Engie, Glencore and Orsted) in connection with Mexican competition law.
- Represented Linzor Capital Partners in its investments in UTEL and Universidad Insurgentes, which are Mexican universities, in their merger control processes before the Federal Economic Competition Commission.
- Represented UBS in the sale of its Mexican banking subsidiary to Grupo Financiero Afirme, in its merger control process with the Federal Economic Competition Commission.
- Represented Walton Street Mexico in its Mexican real estate and hotel investments, in their merger control processes with the Federal Economic Competition Commission.
- Represented Australis Partners Fund in its investment in Grupo Vitalmex, a leading Mexican medical service provider, in its merger control process with the Federal Economic Competition Commission.
- Represented a leading global provider of financial information services in the investigation by the Federal Economic Competition Commission of the market of intermediation of Mexican governmental debt securities.
- Represented Nexxus Capital in its investments in the cement pumping business and in the Mexican real estate market, in their merger control processes with the Federal Economic Competition Commission.
- Represented ACON Investments in the sale of its investment in Betterware, which is engaged in the sale of products by catalog, in its merger control process with the Federal Economic Competition Commission.
- Represented Linzor Capital Partners in its investments in the Mexican market of financing of transportation equipment, in its merger control process with the Federal Economic Competition Commission.
- Represents various actors in the Mexican market of commercialization of diesel and gasoline, in respect of Mexican competition law.
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AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
- Recommened in Legal 500, 2023 Competition and Antitrust
- Ranked as "Leading Individual" in Legal 500, 2021 Competition and Antitrust
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EDUCATION
- Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Diploma in Economic Competition, 2017 Mexico City, Mexico
- Capra Institute Systemic Design and Thinking, 2016 Berkeley, United States
- Duke University, Center for Documentary Arts Studies in Documentary Arts, 2013 Durham, United States
- Duke University School of Law Visiting scholar Durham, United States
- Universidad Autónoma de México Studies of Philosophy, 1996 Mexico City, Mexico
- Duke University Master of Laws (LL.M), 1990 Durham, United States
- Georgetown Law Center Orientation in the US Legal System, 1990 Washington, D.C., United States
- Escuela Libre de Derecho Lawyer, 1988 Mexico City, Mexico
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LANGUAGES
- English
- Spanish
