Miguel Ángel González Félix
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Founding Partner of “Global Legal Services, González Félix, Dager and Associates Law Firm.
Miguel Angel González Félix is one of the founding partners of “Global Legal Services, González Félix, Dager and Associates Law Firm” and is considered one of the most experienced international lawyers and negotiators in Mexico.
As a career Ambassador for the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) he lived and worked in Europe and the United States, and has more than 27 years of diplomatic and legal experience. Miguel Angel González Félix has represented Mexico in some of the most complex and difficult legal and political negotiations of recent years, both bilateral and multilateral. He has participated in international negotiations in Washington D.C., New York, Ottawa, London, Paris, Geneva, Vienna, Madrid, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Santiago de Chile. Besides his profound knowledge on private and public international law, he is an expert US legal system and legislation and has handled matters such as lawsuit, contracts, torts, commerce, energy and criminal law in US courts.
From 2002 to 2007, he was the Coordinator of International Matters and Legal Offices of the Attorney General of Mexico, where he was the main Mexican negotiator on law enforcement and cooperation matters with the Department of Justice of the United States, and Ministries of Justice in Europe and Latin America. He directed the Program of Cooperation between Mexico and the European Union for the Strengthening of Justice in Mexico, and was the negotiator of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Switzerland and other nations.
From 2001 to 2002, as an Ambassador, he was the Deputy Representative before the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in Paris, France.
From 1994 to 2000, as the Legal Adviser of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE), he was the main international lawyer for the federal government, negotiating and/or supervising the negotiations of treaties and international agreements reached by the Government of Mexico with other nations. As the highest-ranking lawyer at SRE, he directly supervised the work of more than 50 lawyers on international legal matters that involved the Federal Government and other governments and foreign companies, as well as the formulation of legal political strategies for litigation and international negotiation. Additional responsibilities as Legal Adviser included being the point person with other branches of the government, both the Legislative sector and the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice. He also chaired the Private International Law Advisors Commission for seven years.
Among the relevant matters recently handled by Miguel Angel includes:
From 1998 to 2000, he was the negotiator of the maritime delimitation with the United States, concerning the Western Zone of the Gulf of Mexico. Due to the petroleum potential of the area, this has been one of the most important energy- related negotiations held with the United States over the last 70 years. This extremely complex negotiation involved the Office of the Secretary of Energy, Mexican Petroleum (Pemex), the Office of the Secretary of Navy and various US law firms.
During 1996 and 1997, he undertook the elaboration and supervision of the legal strategy of the Mexican Government towards mitigating the effects of the American Law Helms Burton, towards Mexican investments and sales of goods and services to Cuba. Due to the complexity of this matter, this matter required extensive coordination, along with the Mexican Business Coordinating Council, other governments and Mexican, US and Canadian law firms.
From 1994 to 1997 he was responsible for the design and coordination of the last reform regarding nationality, and handled all aspects of the strategy proposed by the Mexican government on this matter including the political and legal conception to the legislative strategy in order to seek the approval of by Congress which included a constitutional reform and the review of 50 federal laws.
In 1999 he was in-charge of the legal strategy for a "class action" suit supported by the Mexican government in which 1000 Mexicans sued an American company in Portland, Maine, where a mediator was called-in to help resolve this matter.
Through out the years, as a high ranking government lawyer for the Mexican government, he worked with some of the most important law firms in the United States and Europe, including Arent, Fox, Kinter, Plotkin & Kahn (Washington); Bracewell & Patterson (Houston); Baker & Botts (Houston); Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton (New York, Washington and Brussels); Curtis, Mallet, Prevost, Colt & Mosle (New York); McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Emerson (San Francisco); Mayer, Brown & Plats (Washington); Hadley & MsCloy (Washington); Paul, Hastings, Janoffsky & Walter (Los Angeles) and Vinson & Elkins (Houston).
Additionally, he has contacts with lawyers all over the world. In 1994 and 2000, he chaired the consultations of the Legal Advisers of the member countries of the United Nations, with the participation of 80 representatives and Judges of the International Court of Justice. Between 1997 and 2000, he was a member and participated in meetings of the Commission of International Law of the Counsel of Europe in Strasbourg, Berlin and Vienna.
He has litigated matters at various courts and forums around the world including: the International Court of Justice, the Supreme Court of Justice of the United States, the Interamerican Court of Human Rights, the Federal Court of Appeals in the United States in the First Circuit in Washington, the Second Circuit in New York, Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, Ninth Circuit in San Francisco and the Federal District Courts in San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Washington and New York.
From 1982 to 1986, Ambassador González Félix lived and worked in Washington, D.C. and Houston, Texas. Since then, he has acquired extensive working experience with different agencies of the US government and the US legal system including the State Department, Department of Justice, Department of Energy, Department of Defense and State Authorities.
As the Coordinator of Litigation Abroad for SRE from 1986 to 1989, he was responsible for the international litigation in matters involving different Mexican agencies and state companies, representing Pemex, Mexican airlines and national banks. His responsibilities included the presentation of arguments and representing the government itself in federal courts of the United States.
Among others responsibilities performed by Ambassador González Félix, was the formulation of policies and negotiation strategies in law enforcement human rights and immigration matters. He was the Coordinator of Human Rights and Drug Trafficking Issues at SRE from 1992 to 1994, and Coordinator of Migratory Matters from 1990 to 1992.
Miguel Angel González Félix is also a recognized professor of international law and diplomacy. He has given conferences, published articles in Spanish and English, and taught in some of Mexico’s most prestigious law schools.
He obtained a Masters Degree in International Dispute at the University of Houston in 1985 and received his law degree, with honors, at the Universidad Iberoamericana, in 1979. Ambassador González Félix is fluent in three languages and has handled legal matters in Spanish, English and French. |
Associates
