By Ana Gomez Salcido 
Antonio Maldonado never planned to end up as an attorney in two countries, but it was an opportunity that came up after becoming licensed to practice law in both Mexico and the United States.
Maldonado is the founder and principal of the Maldonado Law Group, a law office that focuses on and solves disputes that take place between businesses in the United States and Mexico.
Maldonado studied at Colegio La Paz, a private elementary and middle school in Tijuana, before transferring to the University of San Diego High School.
When he finished high school, Maldonado already knew he wanted to be a lawyer, but couldn’t wait the four years required in the US before studying law. Maldonado was accepted into Mexico’s prestigious Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in law.
“In the United States, law school is something you study for three years after you earn a bachelor’s degree,” Maldonado said during an interview with La Prensa San Diego. “When I graduated from high school, I had the opportunity to go to the University of San Diego, or to other local and out-of-state universities, but those were going to be four years with a major like political science or business but not law,” Maldonado recalls.
“My idea was to study in Mexico for four years to be a lawyer instead of doing the four year US degree and doing law school later.”
When Maldonado was close to completing his degree in Mexico, he started researching law schools in the United States and learned about a Master of Laws (LLM) degree program.
“I had the option of either studying three years in a law school, or only one year in an LLM program,” said Maldonado, who earned his LLM degree from American University in Washington, D.C. “I saved two academic years, and that gave me time to do my bar exam in New York.”
Maldonado passed the New York Bar exam, and the California Bar exam, which means he can practice law in those states, in addition to being able to practice throughout Mexico.
“When I was in high school, I didn’t imagine working in this particular niche of cross-border business”, Maldonado recalled. “My idea was to study in both countries, but not to focus on businesses between the United States and Mexico. This happened because I always liked business issues.”
Maldonado opened his first law firm, Maldonado & Markham LLP, along with lawyer William Markham back in 2005.
“Markham is a great lawyer. I learned a lot from him,” Maldonado said. “The firm grew from two lawyers up to seven lawyers, but in 2012 we dissolved that firm and I created the Maldonado Law Group.”
“The lawyers that now work with me not only speak both languages, but also know the culture, and the law and practice of both countries,” Maldonado added.
Maldonado also mentioned there is a need for lawyers in the United States that speak Spanish and know the law in Mexico, as well as a need for lawyers in Mexico who speak English and know about the law in the United States.
“The United States is Mexico’s number one business partner, and Mexico is the United States’s third most important business partner,” Maldonado said. “All the commerce between the two countries is not only in products, but also in services. There is a lot of investment and all of this means there is a necessity for lawyers that understand the business between the two countries and the legal action that can happen between them.”
Maldonado mentioned that there are only a little over 20 lawyers in the world that can practice law in Mexico and the United States; in San Diego, there are only 10 of them.
“We are only a few, but here we are. I know that this number is going to grow, so we can have more lawyers practicing law on both sides of the border,” Maldonado said. “This growth reflects the increase in business transactions between the United States and Mexico.”
Over the last four years, the Maldonado Law Group has grown with the arrival of more lawyers, more cases, and now is recognized in the business community.
Besides his work as a lawyer, Maldonado has been a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), comprised of over 400,000 members worldwide, since 2003. Maldonado is also a vice-chair of the ABA Mexican Committee, where there are over 800 members.
“I joined the ABA when I practiced law in New York. I could have been part of the international law section when I became a lawyer in Mexico, but I didn’t do international business back then,” Maldonado remembered. “I joined the ABA because it was the biggest lawyer organization, and is full of resources, publications, and conferences.”
Maldonado first became part of the ABA Mexican Committee to learn more about the work the committee did. He later got involved in their community events, and is now one of five vice-chairs.
“This is the group in the ABA that focuses on issues related to Mexico. We have monthly conference calls, we exchange e-mails, we have a quarterly publication, and a forum about law issues between the United States and Mexico,” Maldonado shared.
Maldonado is also President of the Mexican Entrepreneur Association (AEM) in San Diego.
Maldonado mentioned that he worked to increase the forums held by the chapter in the last year.
The AEM is currently getting ready for a Leadership Summit, one of their biggest annual events, which will be held in Washington, D.C. from October 3rd to 5th. The summit includes a White House Keynote Address from Vice-President of the United States Joe Biden.
Maldonado has been recognized by regional publications in California as one of San Diego’s best attorneys in the areas of international law and business law. Maldonado has also been rated with a Superb score of 10 out of 10 by Avvo.
Maldonado has served many times as an expert witness on Mexican law in United States litigation matters, having been a court-appointed expert on Mexico law by the Supreme Court of California in Los Angeles County.