Mexican Law across the World with Oscar Valdez

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Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Dominate Law Podcast show. I'm super excited to have Oscar Valez with me. I am Nareen your host. Oscar is with a London law firm, uh, by the name of Cobalt Law. He's a partner there, and he's responsible for Latin America and specifically Mexico. So, um, before we get into what this law firm does and what Oscar does, I want to welcome Oscar to the show, and I want Oscar to kind of tell us a little bit about himself. How did he end up in London, uh, as a, as a lawyer from Mexico? What, what's the story? So, Oscar, welcome and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Thank you, Noreen. Thank you for, uh, the invitation to participate in the podcast. Um, yeah, I, I've been, um, you know, 16, 17 years living in London. Originally I came to study a master's degree, and while I was, um, studying, um, I wanted obviously to continue working. Um, as a lawyer, I was a fully qualified lawyer nearly 10 years before I came to do my masters. So obviously, um, I was in, uh, a person who just finished my, my, uh, degree in Mexico. I, I had, as I said, nearly 10 years of, uh, professional experience. Therefore, um, I was eager to join. Um, I was eager to join, uh, a firm here that I can participate and help with, uh, Mexican affairs. I personally had, uh, experience, uh, when I was in Mexico in, um, many aspects of, um, uh, financial law, um, with, uh, obviously, uh, civil and commercial cases.

And, um, I thought that the banking and, um, um, economic, economic law that I have, um, uh, you know, experience, uh, will gimme a job here. But, uh, I realized that, um, you know, after few months, uh, looking, um, I realized that there were no firms, uh, uh, uh, that they offered any positions, uh, uh, for a Mexico lawyer. They, many of them, they were interested, but they, they need an international aspect of Mexico. It was related more to shipping, uh, to insurance, reinsurance and, uh, certain aspects of financial, international financial operations, global operations financially. And I didn't have that experience. Um, so, um, I was thinking, well, um, how strange, uh, that this happened. And, um, uh, somehow, I don't remember now, uh, somebody asked me if I could act as an interpreter, uh, a translator, interpreter, uh, for a will, a Mexican will in, in, in the court.

They told me, well, there is not just the, the, the, the, the translation, but how, uh, you know, we, we could understand this will, uh, you know, in terms of Mexican law. The judge is very, uh, keen to know. So I, I, I participate in that. That was, was like my first, um, involvement. Uh, and then through that firm, I said, well, look, I, I know all this expertise, you know, about Mexican law, especially, you know, this was very simple for me to explain how the inheritance process works in Mexico compared to the British one. And, um, they, they, they, they, um, recommend me with other firms and they say, oh, well, we need your expertise in this. We need your advice in this, uh, uh, we need an affidavit for this, for that. So little by little I start realizing that there was a niche, uh, on, on this, uh, uh, specific side of the Mexico laws, more, as I say, less global, less international, more local. And, um, uh, that's, that's, that's was, uh, I will say that was the beginning of, of, of me in the uk.

That's amazing. So when did you get your first, uh, this, uh, translation gig? Uh, what year was that?

I think it was in, um, 2004, um, 2003, 2004, I don't remember. And, um, you know, as I said, I started involved, uh, getting involved in affidavit, all the translation, legal translations of Mexican document. And that leads me to meet, uh, Stefano, Stefano Luca, who is the, uh, senior partner in, in Cova law. So, uh, Stefano, um, he, he, he had, um, a very big firm with many European lawyers working for him in London. And, uh, they were assisting clients buying properties in Europe. And he has like six or seven different jurisdictions at that time. I remember Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, et cetera. And, and he said, well, Mexico is, is is very important for us because there are many products, many people, many English people are buying properties in Mexico. There are investments, you know, little, uh, boutique hotels in Mexico from British people.

So they need, uh, someone who help us. Will you join me? And I said, uh, obviously I am interested. And I joined as a consultant. I never wanted to, to, to work as an employee. I, you know, I wasn't in Mexico. So in, uh, as a consultant, I, I joined him, and then we start developing, well, the, the, the, the aspect of the, the firm to towards Mexico, and then we expand to Latin America. And, um, uh, yeah, I mean, he identified this the same opportunity that I saw, uh, you know, that's, uh, yes, 11 years ago. And obviously once we start, um, uh, developing, uh, this, um, side of the business, the Mexican law, we realized that there were other firms doing it, um, as well. But still, uh, they were, they, they, they were two or three. And today, there's still very, very few nowadays as well.

I have to confirm that, uh, the reason there are not many or hundreds of them is because as well, there are not many cases. And, um, that's, that's what it is. Uh, but that's the, that was the origin, uh, of the, uh, Mexican, um, department in, in Coval. And then from Mexico was expanded to other parts like Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Argentina, uh, Venezuela, and, um, Panama. So we have, um, uh, associated lawyers that work with us cobalt in all these, uh, uh, countries. And, um, that's, that was the origin of, of, of, of the angle of the, the firm.

Right. It's an interesting business. So your firm, cobalt Law helps British, I mean, UK businesses to do, to buy property, do things in foreign countries, and you focus on Mexico specifically and Latin America at large. And the way you do it is, um, you have relationships with local, local lawyers, uh, when you need their, you know, expertise. But you are a British law firm. So people in London, business people in London can come and see you get things done, and they're dealing with somebody local who they know and trust.

Exactly. Um, I mean, one of the things obviously for British people is that, um, as, um, many other countries, I'm sure, uh, they are regulated. So here the lawyers are called solicitors, and, um, we belong to, I mean, the firm belongs to the solicitor regulation authority. So we are are there to certain protocols and certain standards. And, um, uh, the British people are used to do that. I used to, uh, use obviously a, a proper regulated solicitor because, um, they, uh, they have a lot of confidence in, in, in, in them majority of people. And, um, if they engage, uh, law or a, a British law firm that is regulated by the solicit solicitors regulation authority, although the job is, is made, uh, sorry, is made, is is done in, in other jurisdictions still. We, we will respond to the clients here in England because obviously we engage the, the, the, uh, the job here in England.

And we, we were reliable here in England, uh, to towards a client. And that gives them, uh, to them an enormous security rather than they just obviously call someone from internet, from Jello pages in the country, that they have an affair, that they have a problem, and try to see if obviously, that the firm or that solicitor, that lawyer speaks English, understand the mentality of the British people and explain and represent them properly. So the facility that we offer to them is that you are dealing here in London, uh, the, the lawyer who is in charge of your case is here, and he is fully qualified in the jurisdiction with the UK case is done. He's the supervisor of this, um, of this case. So that's, that's, that's the, that's the, the difference, say the, the amazing thing that we can, we can do. Yeah.

Right, right. Um, I was, um, so did you actually, I mean, I know in the US you have to get a, get your boss. So did you, I mean, did you have to do that in the UK as well,

To do, sorry, what?

I mean, do you have to be qualified as a lawyer and passed the bar?

No, obviously, no, we are international firm. I mean, in order to practice, uh, English law, I, I, I should have be, I should, I, I, I have to be qualified, uh, uh, uh, British solicitor, um, uh, if I wanted to practice here, but to obviously to practice in my country, I need to be qualified in my country, Mexico. Therefore, um, I'm not apply here to any, any, any sort of qualifications other than obviously I, I prove, uh, before, um, Naik is the institution that, uh, my degree and all my studies, obviously I'll fully recognize. Uh, so I have full, uh, uh, qualifications from, from, from Mexico, and because the, the, obviously the work is done in a different use in

Mexico, right? Right. That

Is where I need to be qualified. And here obviously is the firm that responds for me in terms of the standards, uh, the, the protocol that needs to be done, how the case has to be handled, all the documents, uh, the files, et cetera, the information that is handled by the firm. And, uh, the technical part is handled by, by myself and by my teams of solicitors, you know, in other parts of the world. But, um, uh, the, the, the technicalities, uh, is, is, uh, is is something that we deliver and the formalities, if you want to call them a, something that the firm, uh, the, uh, alt, uh, uh, British firm, they deal with that. So they organize that. So it's, is properly done and, uh, according to British standards.

Right. So tell me, when you first joined this team, I, I bet they didn't have a large Mexican slash Latin American business, right? So how did you go about developing that business?

It was chance. It's, it is, no, obviously it's not a strategy. And the chance became recommendation. You know, one client recommend another and another and another, and, and it, it was that because, um, as I said, there is no, there is no, um, one place that you can say, well, I will for, I will do marketing in this sector, uh, to get cases. Um, there is no, there is, uh, you know, majority of British people, they've still buying in Spain, in the, in the south of Spain, south of France, in Italy, in Greece, in, uh, Cyprus, uh, majority 90% or more than 90%, they buying properties, holi holiday, uh, for holiday there. And a very, very tiny Minot percentage. They decide to go to the Mexican Caribbean normally, or the Pacific, but very few people. And so there is, there are scatters, there is no a niche, there is no place where you say, well, we'll market here in Mexico, uh, to do the conveyancing or to, to help the investors to do that.

It's not, so we obviously, we just rely on our, um, how we did, uh, perform in a case and, and that client sometimes or many times, connected to the next case that we get. And, um, that's, that's, that's, that's the way that, uh, uh, we've been going along. And we've been busy. You know, we, I mean the, the department has 10, 11, sorry, 11 years, uh, active and, and, and growing. But, um, unfortunately, as I said, there is no, um, because it's, it's, it is the, I, me, I'll try and run now to think if I want to target some sort of industry or sector to find cases for Mexico. I don't, I don't have, because I have from all backgrounds, from all sites, uh, from many parts of the, the, the uk. Um, so, which I cannot say, well, the cases will maybe come from this sector. If we marketing here, we will find them. I, I, I, I cannot identify because it's all right scattered. Yeah,

I understand. So it's all about relationships and word of mouth. Yeah. And even without, even within Mexican, um, uh, legal work, you focus a lot on property. Is it like what percentage of

Comes from property? I'll say that, uh, our firm focus on, on 75%, uh, on, on property. Uh, right on.

So like, I buy a home in Mexico. My friend, friend is interested in Mexico. I tell my friend that I used your firm, and that's how you, you get the business.

Yeah, exactly.

Right, right.

The other 25%, we do other type of, of, of, um, Mexican, uh, law, uh, like, um, we do inheritance quite a lot. We, we as well do quite a lot of, of, uh, family law. Um,

So help me understand. So inheritance, meaning, uh, a British citizen bought a property and he passes away, bought a property in Mexico, and he passes away. How do you move that property to the sun? Is that what you mean?

Yes, exactly. Or yeah. Yeah. It's exactly what somebody left a property, uh, with a wheel in Mexico without a wheel in Mexico. So we do the legal procedure in Mexico to dispose the asset or to, uh, adjudicate to the new, uh, I mean to the, to the, to the kids, uh, the children of, of this person or, or according to the will. Uh, we do that, that is, uh, is something that is, is happening, uh,

Right. And then when you said family law, is it the same thing? Like let's say, uh,

No, we do a lot custody, custodial agreements, um, divorces, we got, um, eh,

So divorces, meaning one of the people live in the uk, one person lives in Mexico. Why would you

Exactly, uh, <laugh>, the thing is, uh, a lot of, a lot English people go on holiday, right? Find a Mexican girl or, or a Mexican boy, uh, fall in love, married, live a little bit in Mexico or living here in the uk, right? One of the parties doesn't like, and, and then, and you know, maybe they bought a property in Mexico and uh, one of the parties go, the other one remains here and say, look, I have a new partner. I need to divorce that person. It didn't work out. Uh, can you help me? Or, you know, my wife have one, one, we have a children, and uh, and, uh, can you please do, or, you know, all the paperwork to be divorced and, you know, the alimony custody study, uh, will be, you know, in Mexico, et cetera. So that, that's, uh, something that is happening as well. So we deal with, uh, quite, uh, some, um, cases, uh, related to that. Yeah.

Right, right. Um, so Cobalt Law, how old is the company or the firm?

Co Cobalt Law is about 13-year-old, uh, I think, or, or 12, because when I joined Cobalt, um, um, well, COBA Law, I mean, uh, the owner, he had a, uh, another business, another firm, um, for, I don't know, 20 years. And then he transformed that other firm into Coval Law. So I, I mean, if you ask him what the name, how long has been as a Coba law, I, I don't remember, maybe eight years. Okay. Uh, but as, as, as the, the firm, uh, you know, with a different name, with, with all the different senior partners, um, it has been, um, nearly 30 years.

Right, right. Yeah. Right. And so I see that you have a Portuguese lawyer, you have an Italian lawyer, you have lawyers for different areas or countries where I know a lot of British people buy property in Portugal, so I assume that's why you have a Portuguese lawyer, right?

Yeah, we have in Brazilian as well, we have Brazilian lawyer.

Alright.

We have, we, I mean, as I said, um, the recommendation for us is our key marketing, um, right. Uh, is, is, is, is, is is the way that, uh, I think we, we, uh, promote our, our business.

Right, right. That makes sense. Um, what do you think are keys to success? Like what do you think are some of the things you had to do in your practice to make it grow?

Well, obviously the expertise, um, is, is one of them. Uh, and to have a very specific, uh, spec, you have a specialty. Um, and, um, that's for us, you know, maybe has been the, the,

So what you're saying is the more niche you are, the more successful you, you are. Well,

Obviously yeah. This is the, the, the view of the, the senior partners. Yeah. Uh, um, because obviously they, they want to, to vocalize in a global, um, um, uh, advice in global advice. And they found that one of the ways to do it is, is through property. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, um, uh, the second thing probably that they identify is to have these, uh, lawyers in house, uh, from these different jurisdictions where they provide the advice mm-hmm <affirmative>. And rather than, uh, as I said, contact somebody who is there and you maybe don't have a relationship face to face. Yeah.

I mean, you're taking a lot of risk, right. So if I contact somebody in Mexico mm-hmm <affirmative>. And if something goes wrong, I have to literally fly to Mexico to fight with this lawyer, right? That's correct. And when I do go to fight with this lawyer in Mexico, I don't know what the Mexican law society is, and I don't know what their rules are. I'm like a blind man now. Exactly. If I hire you guys, you guys are in the uk, you have to play by the UK rules. So I know if something goes wrong, nothing will go wrong because you, you understand the UK mindset and you have a reputation in the uk and you have to comply by the, the solicitor group in the uk. So that, um, I I I feel warm and I feel confident, I feel secure.

That's correct.

That my interests are gonna be taken care of and I I can sleep at night.

Yes. That's

Correct. And, and UK especially in England, I mean London being a money in a market with a lot of, uh, you know, wealth, I mean, to buy a property in London, it's going to be 10 times or five times more expensive than buying it in Mexico, I'm assuming. So people will say, Hey, why not? I I, you know, I have, I I like Mexico, I've been there, and why not buy a property in Mexico? Why not buy a property in Portugal?

That's correct. That's correct. So,

So you, I

That's, that's the view of, of probably the senior partners. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. They, they think, um, we offering, you know, um, uh, a service in, in, in England according to England English standards. Yeah. Uh, we performing all the job in all jurisdiction and we taking that risk away. Right. That's correct.

And also you understand the, the mindset of the English client, so you know what they're looking for.

Now, nearly 17 years here, I am being involved in all this. Obviously, I now understand much more the mentality of them, how, uh, uh, they, they like to approach, uh,

Things,

Things exactly right. And I send things for them that like, that, you know, when I translate them, when I prepare documents, when I prepare reports are, uh, uh, they look more like a solicitor from Bri, English solicitor than a Mexican lawyer that they will read. Well, I don't understand any of this is, is more, um, is easier for them to Right. To understand and to give you instructions based on that. Yeah. Right.

Absolutely. And um, I, I see that you do, uh, you have, uh, Turkey, is Turkey a big area where a lot of British people are buying property and doing things?

Yes. And, and exactly. And as I said to you, we do as well British English law. So, um, a lot of people from that part of, um, the world investing in, in, in England, uh, buying properties, uh, or opening companies. So we, we help them as well. A lot of people in the, in, in, in the firm there is, um, the, uh, British solicitor, uh, British notary or English notary, uh, and, uh, they, they, they help all these, these investors come into London. Mm-hmm. Uh, from all countries. Sometimes it happened to me that I am working on a case in Mexico and somebody from Mexico decide to, to do something in London, and I just pass the, the contact to my colleagues and they look after this person. Um, and, uh, he also trusts me because I am Mexican, I am working, uh, uh, here. So yeah, that's, that's another aspect of the

Firm. Right. What percentage of your business is, uh, foreign companies or foreign people trying to do business or do things in London?

Oh, it's, um, I don't know, maybe 30%, 40%.

Alright. And do you, do you, like, would, would a British client who you are helping to do something in London, uh, in Mexico, come and say, can you do something for me in England? Yeah,

Yeah. It's very common. Yeah. Yeah. They can, they approach us because of something in Spain, and then they end us give, uh, giving us something in, in, in uk Yes. Yes. Right. Common. Yes. So

It's really like once they trust you, they, they will let, they'll let you do more things for them, and you have the different lawyers who can do the different things for them. So they're within the same firm. Yes. Right. Uh, you have an app. Can you tell me more about the app?

Uh, no, <laugh>, you are new, the app and, uh, I downloaded recently, but I haven't played with it. Alright. Yes. Um, I, I know that there are some videos. There's some, some, yeah. Ma major is, is general advice on, on a few things. Right. No, I, i, I haven't played enough with it. Now

Let me ask you another question. What kind of technology do you use? Because I bet you do a lot of meetings with people who are not physically sitting across your table in your office.

Yes.

Do you, do you use Zoom or how do you, like, how do you do those things? We

Obviously, I mean, the majority of conferences, uh, we, we do, uh, uh, internet. Uh, so there are many portals that you obviously use, uh, for meetings and or we, in, in, in our conference room, we have, um, um, facility that, uh, a number of staff can be present or other clients. And then we connect it, uh, uh, through a telephone conference and on a speaker. And we, we, we conduct a meeting like that. And, um, the problem with the video meetings is, um, sometimes you have to, to deal too much with the signal, uh, from all, all, all these ju jurisdictions, they don't have as,

As a strong sign, like sometimes here. And, uh, we thought, you know, we, if we go for the audio, either internet audio or te telephone is, is better. Uh, you, you, you have a little bit more of, um, of, uh, uh, a straightforward connection than sometimes with the video you lost it and you're reconnecting. Um, and sometimes it's not, it's nothing obviously here because we have very, very strong, um, uh, internet connection, but sometimes from all other jurisdiction it doesn't work like that, especially certain countries. Um, and, but yes, we, we, I mean, you, we, as until very recently, we were using the Skype. We all, in our business Skype, we have a Skype address. And now as I said, there are many, many portals, many other ways that you ask the client which one you use, which one are you comfortable to, and they, they tell they or they say, no, I prefer, you know, telephone conversation, uh, rather than a video conversation because as well as they need to be in an environment that they feel comfortable, uh, in a video conference. And if they are at home, well, they sometimes don't want to show you their home. Um, so that's why still I think audio is, is, is is the very best. Right,

Right. No, that, that makes, uh, total sense. Anything else you wanna share with our listeners who are, you know, I think what I learned today is, uh, about somebody who goes into a foreign country and how you created an opportunity for yourself by taking something you're good at and finding a niche, and you look, you, you, you searched for it and you couldn't find it easily, but eventually you found it and you actually created it along with your Sydney senior partner.

Yeah. One, one of the things is obviously, um, the, the languages, um, is very important to, in a law firm, I think now base, um, that, uh, you have different people, uh, I mean, not different, different languages. Uh, obviously it comes normally with different people from different backgrounds, uh, that they are able to speak a number of languages because that, I think broaden the, the, the, the, even if you just vocalize in, um, English law, if, uh, a client, uh, who is from, I don't know, Brazil, uh, lives in the UK speak good English, found a solicitor or a lawyer that can do the job here in England and is speaking their own language, that's an advantage. Um, right. Uh, many of my client, or I mean all the clients in the, in the firm, they have been established here for 10, 20 years. So English is not a problem.

Uh, but when they know that I am there, I speak Spanish, and sometimes I explain them the same things in Spanish of what, you know, the case in, in, in English law is happening, they feel more reassured. I mean, sure that, uh, that they understand it better. They, they question, you know, deeper, uh, than if they have to look for the term, uh, terminology, uh, or, or the, uh, of, of the tech, the technical words that you use in, in, in, in English law. So because they know they, they are fluent obviously in Spanish, they, they ask me, and then I, I said, look, well, this is similar to this, so, uh, you make it to understand. So obviously in the firm we speak about 16 or 17 languages.

Oh, wow. Speaking the local language is a huge plus, especially for a company like yours. Yeah, exactly.

As you know, we speak Arabic, we speak, uh, Turkish, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, um, Bulgarian. Um, so yeah, we have a lot, and, and as I said, we try to, when a client visits as an even is, is a matter, uh, regarding English, uh, law still. The, the, the, the, the lawyer who speaks the, the, the, the language of the client, we make them to welcome and have a little chat. So they, they, they found a different connection rather than just to go to an English law firm. You speak in English, everything is in English. Um, that's, that's I think a, a plus for any law firm, uh, to, to give, um, to the client, uh, advice in, in, in their own language. Yeah.

All right. Thank you very much for talking to me today. Uh, I really learned a lot from our conversation today. Um, if they, do you mind if somebody has a question for you or get a hold of you? Uh, how can they do that? Should, should I just, um, give them your email or the website or the

Best, the best way is the email. Obviously the best way is the email and, uh, if it's any, any, anybody wants to ask something, uh, yeah. With, uh, pleasure, we will answer. And, um, I think the, the best way to, to approach it will be the email or, or Right. I think you have it.

I, I, I have your email. It's Oscar v at Cobalt, K-O-B-A-L-T law.ceo.uk.

That's correct. Yes.

Right. We'll put that in the call notes. I really thank, thank you for your time, Oscar today, and, uh, you taught us something different, something, uh, that I usually don't get to talk about. Uh, so thanks for your time and, um, I appreciate it and I also appreciate everyone listening. If you like this podcast, please write a review for us on iTunes and share it with your friends. You can also access this podcast by going to the website dominate law.com. Uh, have a wonderful day, and thank you for listening, and thank you, Oscar, for taking the time.

Thank you, Noreen. Thank you very much for an invitation. Thank you.

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