Mercedes has practiced international arbitration for eight years. She has acted as counsel, tribunal secretary and case manager-in-chief. She has gained special expertise in investment arbitration representing a major African State in a series of high-value disputes covering an array of strategic sectors. Prior to joining Laborde Law, she worked for leading law firms in Mexico and Paris.

 

Mercedes has practiced law in North America, Dubai and Paris.

 

As counsel, Mercedes has worked on arbitrations covering a full gamut of industry sectors, from complex investment arbitrations to run-of-the-mill commercial transactions. She has worked on disputes relating to the sale of goods, real estate, shareholder agreements, construction and engineering, and manufacturing. In particular, her practice has focused on investment disputes with state parties revolving around major infrastructure projects.

 

As case manager-in-chief, Mercedes was tasked with administering hundreds of arbitration proceedings at a prominent arbitral institution in the Middle East. She also managed and oversaw a full team of case managers. Most notably, she was in charge of reviewing, scrutinising, providing comments and eventually approving, on a regular basis, the draft awards of arbitral tribunals operating under the auspices of this institution.

 

As tribunal secretary, Mercedes worked for renowned international arbitrators, assisting with question of substance and procedure and with the overall management of the case.

 

Mercedes regularly speaks and publishes on international arbitration. She has been invited to speak at arbitration events in France, Italy, Ireland, Costa Rica, the UAE, and Qatar, among others.

 

In terms of jurisdictions, Mercedes has regularly applied and is well-versed in the laws of France, Switzerland and the UAE.

 

Mercedes is admitted to practice in England & Wales and in Mexico. She has earned law degrees, including two Masters of Laws, from top universities in Switzerland and Mexico.

 

Early in her career, Mercedes practiced human rights litigation before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. These cases raised important public international law questions about the right to life, freedom, slavery, torture, the right to work and access to education.