Administrative Law

Our Firm provides legal advice and representation to national and multinational clients on administrative, regulatory and interaction with government agencies in Mexico.

Services:

  • Legal representation and advise on authority inspections and regulatory action
  • Licensing , permits and authorizations before Federal, State and Local authorities.
  • Legal advice and defense in administrative procedures and government resolutions
  • Legal advice on expropiation cases (Eminent Domain)
    Administrative litigation

Contracts

We work closely with other practice areas, as required, depending on the scope, complexity and implications of each transaction. Our services include the drafting and negotiation of domestic and international agreements. We also review and amend diverse documents according to our client’s needs and interests.

Our services include, among others:

  • Drafting of Memoranda of Understanding, letters of intent, and/or preliminary agreements, legal due diligence, compliance of conditions, to the final agreement and related contracts and exhibits as well as post-closing matters.
  • Drafting any type of legal contract within our expertise areas
  • Contract interpretation
  • Advice regarding enforcability of foreign contracts in Mexico

Corporate Law

Our Corporate Law Practice includes a wide array of services, ranging from corporate and business planning, corporate restructuring, start ups, corporate governance, commercial contracts, and legal advice on day to day corporate legal needs.

Our services include:

  • Legal advice on international business transactions
  • Legal advice on the creation of Mexican corporation and defining which corporation suites the client’s particular needs .
  • Seting up a corporations in Mexico including: partnerships, limited liability companies as well as public or private corporations.

Legal advice with all the process involved in a corporation, such as:

  • Articles of Incorporation, calling and holding shareholders’ meetings, shareholders minutes and registration according to Mexican Law.
  • Search of corporate records within the Public Registry of Commerce or other registries.

Family Law

Our specialist in this area see matters regarding:

  • Marriage: Setting up comunal property, or division of property, legal issues regarding marriage with foreigners.
  • Divorce: Providing legal advice, drafting divorce agreements, divorce litigation, alimony.
  • Children’s rights: Including adoptions, guardianship, parental rights, child support.
  • Wills and Estates and Probate matters: Legal advice regarding the main aspects to take into consideration when making a will in Mexico. Design of estate planning strategy based on a prior analysis of the client’s family and estate situation. Asistance with claiming inheritence in Mexico, among others.

Immigration

Our office provides  legal advice and representation services related to the compliance of duties before the National Immigration Institute (INM). Our specialized attorneys can handle any process involving the legal presence of foreigners performing diverse activities in Mexico.

Our services include:

  • Processing and obtaining Mexican inmmigrant and non immigrant visas, within the different visa categories in Mexico.
  • Legal advice to foreinger nationals as to which type of visa is the most adequate one for them and their busines.
  • Legal advice to Mexican nationals on legal structures, corporations  and visas within NAFTA.
  • Procedures for obtaining  Mexican citizenship.
  • Assistance on the temporary importation of household goods, automobiles and other items.
  • Attendance of business, shareholders’ or other meetings
  • Repatriation
  • Entry denials into Mexico at port of entry, exclusion or deportations
  • Amparo trial

Intellectual Property

Our firm acknowledges the importance of protecting intellectual property rights and offers expert IP counsel to clients in Mexico and abroad. We advise our foreign and domestic clients so they can better identify, protect and/or enforce their intellectual property rights in Mexico.

Our firm’s expertise encompasses:

  • Patents, trademarks, copyrights in Mexico
  • IT-related rights and trade secrets in Mexico
  • Licensing, franchising in Mexico
  • Intellectual property litigation (unfair competition, nullity, cancellation, and infringement actions)
  • Legal advice for Mexican Nationals as to intelectual property regarding corporations under NAFTA.

Litigation

Our litigation team has wide experience in all the areas of law offered by our Firm. We represent domestic and international individuals and corporations, in business, civil, family courts. Our litigators are also very skilled in Appeals and in Amparo Trial.
Before going to court our team will discus other several out of court options such as administrative procedures, mediation or arbitration, the use of contract or notarial law among others.

Our firm is aware of the costs, time consuming procedures and risks of litigation, therefore we only take to court the matters that cannot be solved anyother way. Our experience in court however, has provided our clients with a very high rate of success.
It is important to mention that Mexico follows Civil litigation system rather than Common Law . Therefore most of the trial process is writen as oposed to oral in Mexico. This means that our clients will not need to appear before the judge as much, and most of the motions are presented and resolved in paper rather than in hearings or by oral arguments. This does not mean there are not any hearings but these are few.

Our litigation services include:

  • Advice on relevant actions or defenses
  • Preparatory means for trial
  • Locating defendants, key witnesses or other parties relevant to the trial and summoning them to trial.
  • Preparation and filing to lawsuits, counterclaims
  • Preparing discovery, preparing witnesses, conducting interrogatories
  • Submitting evidence
  • Answering and summiting motions and pleas and all appeals or filings necessary to address and follow the judicial process in all courts through its final conclusion.

Legalization, search and translation of Documents and Certificates

Mexico and the US are both members of the Hague Apostille Convention and any official document destined for inter country use requires an Apostille. Mexico joined the Hague Apostille Convention on August 14, 1995. (Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents).

Documents originated in the US must be Apostilled with the Secretary of State from the State in which the document was originated. US Federal Government documents are processed in Washington, DC.
Documents originated in any state of Mexico must be Apostilled with the General Secretary of State (Secretaria General de Gobierno) of each state. Federal documents must be Apostilled by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretaria de Gobernación)

We provide Apostille service for any state of Mexico including federal documents as well as Apostille of documents issued from any US State including documents issued by the US Federal Government.

Common documents we receive are:

  • Birth , Marriage and Death Certificates
  • Divorce Decree
  • Single Status Affidavit
  • Background Check (FBI, DOJ, Police)
  • Power of Attorney
  • Copy of Passport and Travel Consent
  • Copy of Driver License
  • Transcripts and Diplomas
  • Authorization Letter
  • Articles of Incorporation, Certificate of Good Standing, Certification of Free Sale, Certification of Origin, Commercial Invoice

Search of Public Documents

We also conduct searches of public documents in Mexico, which may include searches in:

The Civil Registry

  • Birth , Marriage and Death Certificates as well as divorce, adoptions or other anotations within the certificates.

The Public Registry of Commerce 

  • Public deeds or private documents given before  or attested by Notary or Public Broker (Corredor Publico)

Including but not limited to: Creation of corporations, shareholder’s meetings and other corporate acts.

  • Legal, judicial or administrative resolutions,  judgements or awards

The Public Registry of Property

  • Title of property, certificate of encumbrances or non-encumbrances,  or any other public deeds or documents regarding realestate property.

Including but not limited to lease agreements for a period of more than 6 years.

  • Catastro and other registries: Property tax payments, water or other utility payments
  • Legal and Judicial documents:  Search of judgements, awards, decrees, wills and other legal documents.

Translations:  Translations of documents presented in court or before judicial or legal authorities must be translated and stamped by a court or registry certified translator. Our office has certified translators in English, Spanish and French.

Notary law:

Our office works in close conection to well recognized Notary’s offices all over Mexico.  Due to this close work relationship we are able to obtain notarial services in an expedite, efective and less expensive maner for our clients. These services include:

  • Issuing and registring public documents and deeds. Such as: Corporate records, property titles.
  • Assistance during realestate process
  • Authentication, attestation or certification of documents
  • Notarial certifications or statement of facts
  • Serving process of legal or judicial documents in out of court procedures.

Medical Malpractice

Our firm provides legal advice and represents clients who have been victims of physical, mental, or economic damages caused by Medical professionals in Mexico, who have acted negligently while performing their duties causing the patient serious injury, illness or even death.

Our firm strives to:

  • Pursue compensation for damages by filing a medical malpractice claims
  • Present the client’s file and conduct out of court procedures before the diferent Medical boards and associations in Mexico.
  • Submiting expert testimonies before the proper medical authorities.
  • When needed press criminal charges.

Personal Injury

We provide legal advice and represent clients that have suffered a personal injury in Mexico because of the negligence of a resort, company, restaurant, shopping center or other type of business.

Our services include:

  • Getting in touch with the service provider that is directly or indirectly liable for the accident, and their insurance company to work out a solution and indemnization to the client.
  • Drafting letters of demand which include our client’s situation, needs and expenses
  • Any out of court procedures necessary to claim the out of pocket expenses incurred by the client
  • Only in very few cases do we recommend going to court on these cases

Real Estate Law

Our firm advises  foreign clients in all aspects of real estate transactions in Mexico, from acquisition of properties, including  purchase agreements, trusts, escrows, or other legal structures, to property divisions, mergers, subdivisions, condominium regime.

In addition we review public and private service agreements, agreements with authorities, and anticorruption requirements under the most up-to-date laws.

Buying or selling realestate in Mexico can be a complicated and delicate process specially when being confronted by diferent types of laws and practices.

The following are among some of the services we provide to clients purchasing or selling Realestate property in Mexico:

  • Due diligence for the acquisition of real estate, by reviewing various areas related to property ownership including but not limited to:
  • Revising the actual deed for the property including investigation of chain of title
  • Obtain and review municipal permits and licenses
  • Authorization from the municipality for  Condominium Regime or other legal structures
  • Certificate of non encumbrances
  • Updated cadastral Cedula.
  • Proof of payment of property taxes.
  • Receipt of payment of the current property tax of signing the deed referred.
  • Proof of payment of current water, utilities, HOA fees (HOA statement), municipal public works.
  • Reviewing or drafting purchase, sale, lease or other types of contracts or agreements related to realestate property in Mexico.
  • Setting up Escrow agreements for the safe transfer of the money and to avoid the risk of having to hand over down payments or total amount of purchase to the seller or to an agent.
  • Setting up a Trust with a financial institution (Bank) when the buyer is foreigner in order to be allowed to purchase property in Mexico within shorelines or borderlines according to Mexican Law.
  • Representing clients before the realestate agent, seller, notary and other parties involved in the transaction.
  • Setting up the purchase or sale process before the Notary
  • Verifying that the transfer of property is done before Notary and that the deed is registered in the Public Registry of Property.
  • Getting a final version of the registered deed and providing it to the client.

Tax Law and Financial Services

Our  team of financial advisors comprises not only Mexican lawyers but also of Licensed accountants and adminstrators in Mexico who have substantial experience in protecting our clients’ interests regarding tax related matters in Mexico.

Considering that tax regulations are frequently amended in Mexico, which increases the complexity of this particular area, we offer and upto date legal advise and representation and litigation on federal, state or local tax matters.

Our firm offers a wide spectrum of tax services such as structuring and designing tax complying structures for a variety of business and industries, investment projects and emerging businesses.

Some of the  Financial Services we provide are:

  • New business consultation to determine tax structure and tax consequences
  • Accounting & Bookkeeping
  • Tax preparation and Planning
  • Real estate taxation
  • Payroll
  • SAT (Mexican Taxing authority) Assistance
  • Cost Reduction
  • Business Plan and Proformas