Inspiring Women in Law Q&A: Mariana Herrero, Partner at Galicia Abogados and Founder of Abogadas MX  

LATIN COUNSEL has spoken with the inspiring lawyer Mariana Herrero, Partner of the Environmental and ESG practices at the prestigious Mexican law firm Galicia Abogados, Member of the Executive Committee and the DE&I Committee of the firm, and one of the founders of Abogadas MX, a non-profit association that seeks to positively impact the professional trajectory of women lawyers in Mexico through a model of care based on the principles of diversity and inclusion.

After sixteen years with the firm, Mariana looks back at a professional life in which she combines being a brilliant lawyer with being on the Board of Directors of this admirable institution. 

LATIN COUNSEL: What made you decide to become a lawyer?

Mariana Herrero: I would be lying if I told you that I was attracted to the idea of justice. At 18, you have very little information and maturity to decide what you want to do for the rest of your days, but maybe I was influenced by the fact that my mother worked all her life with lawyers, without being one herself. On the other hand, since I was very young, I had this clear idea that anything I could get in life, in terms of material resources, would depend on me, and no one else. It seemed to me that law would give me that possibility. Truth be told, I was never good with numbers either.

LC: As an inspiring female leader, how would you describe the evolution of women in the legal sector since you began your professional career? Are we achieving equality?

Mariana: There has certainly been an evolution, at least in generating awareness in the private legal sector about the undeniable reality that there is a significant gender gap in the sector. It is the duty of all of us to work to close this gap. When I started my career, and even when I became a partner, the number of female partners in law firms in Mexico was very limited, there were no flexible work schemes, and maternity and paternity leaves were also very limited, but above all, no one questioned the reasons why there were so few women in leadership positions in the legal sector. Today, firms and companies at least understand that doing nothing is no longer an option, and it is increasingly difficult for organizations and firms to explain why they have no female partners, or why there are only 1 or 2. However, there is obviously still much to be done. The business model of law firms was designed by and for men and with the understanding that the "duty of care" corresponds to women. Therefore, it is still necessary to work on changing these structures to allow women to compete on equal terms within the legal profession.

LC: Since you helped found Abogadas MX, what have you enjoyed most about your experience? Have you encountered any major challenges?

Mariana: Abogadas MX has undoubtedly been one of the best experiences of my life. I got involved mainly by instinct, but I didn’t really understand much about the challenges or the implications of diversity, nor was I aware of the challenges I had to personally face to reach out to society. The challenges have been many. Abogadas MX started as a group of 20 professional women who wanted to change, if not the world, the legal market. We never expected that the project would have the acceptance it had, so quickly. There was a great need for such a project, and the number of people who wanted to be part of it was overwhelming, so much so that we could have been paralyzed. We managed to organize ourselves, and with many hours of work, discussions, disagreements, agreements and also a lot of laughter, we managed to evolve and stay active. Today, almost 10 years after its formation, Abogadas MX is an institution that continues to evolve and that will outlive us, its founders.

LC: What can you tell us about the evolution of Abogadas MX?

Mariana: Abogadas Mx started as a mentoring program and grew with various initiatives, including our annual workshop. The next step was to open a membership system, and from there, we were able to plan many more initiatives, programs and workshops. A very important point of our evolution has to do with the reach we have today thanks to our Scholarship program, a program with which we have been able to benefit and reach out to students from public universities and from underprivileged sectors who were difficult to reach at the beginning. This "Social Mobility" program will continue to grow to benefit as many law students as possible in all corners of the country. Also today, we already have enough new members in the firms to embark on new initiatives such as "Socias Avanzando" which aims to provide tools to the first or second year female Partners to have a successful career. Nobody tells you that reaching partnership is just the beginning of your career, and as an organization, our aim is that women lawyers not only reach partnership, but that they also become very successful in their new role.  

LC: How do you combine your work on the Board of Directors of Abogadas MX with being a Partner at Galicia?

Mariana: As well as I can! It is my second job, and I love it. Although it is challenging, it is also true that today the operating team of Abogadas MX, led by Antonia Rodríguez, is doing a spectacular job and has taken many tasks off the shoulders of the board members and founders, so they make life easier for us. It is also easy to do something that you enjoy so much, and it even serves as therapy and distraction from the day-to-day work.

LC: How would you define the diversity and inclusion strategy of your own firm, Galicia?

Mariana: The firm has a constantly evolving diversity and inclusion strategy. It is based on an institutional belief that diverse work teams are more creative, innovative and capable of generating better solutions for our clients. We also believe that diversity with inclusion generates much more enriching work environments from a personal point of view and helps to form more fulfilled professionals. More fulfilled and happier professionals are more productive and deliver better results, it’s a win-win. We know that we still have a lot of work to do, not only in terms of gender, but also in terms of sexual diversity and gender identity, disability, social mobility and cultural inclusion, among others. We know that it is no longer enough to reject all types of discrimination outright, but that we must also work to eliminate the barriers to inclusion. This will always make us a better and stronger firm. For these reasons, we have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee that works closely with the Talent and Executive committees to ensure that inclusion policies are also included in talent development and retention policies that permeate all areas of the Firm.

LC: As an example of a female leader, what advice would you give to the new generation of female lawyers?

Mariana: I would tell them to never believe that they are not capable of developing a professional career that satisfies them, and at the same time, have the personal or family life they want. Yes, you have to work very hard, and I am not saying that it is easy, but if the organization where they are does not create the conditions for them to fully thrive, what is failing is that workplace, and not them. In such cases, perhaps it´s time to question our workplaces, rather than doubt our capacity.