THOMAS S. HEATHER IS OF COUNSEL OF CREEL, GARCIA-CUELLAR, AIZA Y ENRIQUEZ S.C., AND ACTIVELY PARTICIPATES IN THE RESTRUCTURING, ARBITRATION AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AREAS OF THE FIRM.
Mr. Heather obtained his law degree from the Escuela Libre de Derecho in 1978 and in 1979 he obtained his Master of Laws degree with a major in Financial Law (MCJ) from The University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Heather joined Creel, Garcia-Cuellar, Aiza y Enriquez S.C., in 2021. Prior to joining the Firm he consolidated a multidisciplinary career of more than 40 years during which he was a founding member of the International Insolvency Institute, was a co-founder and president of the Mexican Institute of Mediation and of the Financial Law Committee of the Mexican Bar Association; he is an international fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and also a member of the Mexican Academy of Arbitration and of the Best Practices Committee of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE).
Mr. Heather has obtained several recognitions and distinctions as a leading lawyer from prestigious publications and institutions in Mexico and Latin America, including Chambers and Partners (Star- Performer, banking and capital markets), The Legal 500 (Hall of Fame, restructuring and insolvency), IFLR1000, LACCA, among others.
In addition to his studies in Law, Mr. Heather also pursued graduate studies in Business Administration from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), which have complemented his practice as a lawyer, offering a unique insight to companies and their processes, contributing to the highest level of specialization that he handles in the practice of restructuring and insolvency.
He has been an international lecturer and has participated as a guest professor in several prestigious universities in both Mexico and the United States; he has also published more than 100 articles and has co-authored several textbooks.
Currently, in addition to his professional practice, he has also focused on lecturing, on active participation with the Mexican Business Council, as a mediator and international arbitrator, and in his work as an independent director and member of the Audit Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee of Grupo Financiero Banorte and subsidiaries, GRUMA, and Afore Siglo XXI, as well as Secretary of Corporate Practices and Audit Committees of Grupo Televisa. He has also been a member of the Advisory Council of Harvard University’s International Financial Institutions Program and has been a delegate to the UNCITRAL (United Nations) in international conferences related to corporate group insolvency issues. In 2022, he was invited to the Audit Committee of the Central Bank of Mexico as an independent director. Mr. Heather has completed 20 assignments as conciliator in Mexican insolvency proceedings and has acted as bankruptcy trustee (sindico) and as foreign representative in US bankruptcies.
Mr. Heather also has extensive experience in ESG practice. He was an active member of the drafting committee of the Code of Principles and Best Corporate Practices of the CCE, and authored the Code of Integrity and Ethics in Business and its Appendices in both of its editions. He has counseled several public corporations in respect of corporate governance, risk analysis, prevention, and anticorruption, and in the development of corporate codes of conduct and governance policies.
Mr. Heather is fluent in Spanish and English.