Avoid litigation… if you can

As a foreigner we can face several kinds of situations in other countries due to certain factors that

could be difficult for us to understand, but as a foreign person we must adapt them, in a certain way

we often hang on and agree in certain occasions so we can move on with our lives, as at the end of

the day we can say to ourselves that is a temporary situation and is better to settle down, but when

we are talking about situations that goes beyond economic standards or it is intend to produce

certain profits or favorable situations that due to the situation itself is an obstacle, then we must

evaluate if we go further to defend and get what we were looking for if we earn it and we are

legitimate to demand it and overall if it worths it.

 

Now, when we are in a disagreement that cannot be solved, and there is unfulfillment from one of

the parties, then we must assess how to proceed, how in the overseas country works the system

when we are talking about conflicts, what are the elements that produced those disagreements and

the circumstances of the context of the situation and the conditions that the country provides in

matters of justice…so what about Mexico’s private disputes? how are they solved? Does Mexico

grant me a fair treatment?

 

Mexico justices system provides to foreigners same treatment, in all truthfulness when we are

talking about conflicts between private parties, meaning in the private sector, yes, we consider that

it is a safe and equal territory, as we have a similar and general court system as in the United States,

as we have sectorized our justice court system by local and federal authorities, so every situation of

dispute can be solved by one of these two sectors, it will depend on the conditions and context of

your dispute. We also have arbitration procedures with chambers of commerce and also

intermediary institutions that also could work to solve the situation we are facing.

 

Then, if we have all these options and the foreigners receive same treatment why the name of

the article indicates to avoid litigation… simple, because of time, the bad side of the justice in Mexico is

time, and the element of time is essential in everything as it involves effort, money and health to

sacrifice. In our experience as litigator the court disputes generally have 3 phases, the first one is

the court trial where we have an average time to solve conflicts from 2 to 3 years in this phase

regularly (depending of course in the situation that we are facing and taking in consideration the

subsequent factors; type of dispute, addresses of the parties, amount and type of discovery, good

performance of the attorneys and else) the second one from 1 to 1.5 years in the appeal procedure

and the last one from 1 to 2 years in the constitutional procedure here so called amparo (a last

resort kind of a certiorari writ procedure). Taking to account that we of course are in the assumption

that all the parties go till the end of the road, and if the trial itself has been developed in a

consolidated way, as sometimes a judicial process can be declared void and restart due to

constitutional violations or lack of fulfilment regarding the formalities of the process itself, so do not

consider the frame of time told here as general rule but as a consideration of our experience solving

private conflicts in Mexican courts.

 

So what to do in case we are facing a situation that could step on to a legal conflict?...here I suggest

to consider to contact your attorney to evaluate the options you have so you can choose and know

the subsequent steps, not every time a lawsuit is the answer, we have to temper the situation

approaching them with some strategy that may work and avoid litigation, moreover if we are talking

about contracts or businesses that have certain consolidated bonds as the best way to solve the

situation is without spending much time on it, meaning expenses and stress. Of course, there are

situations where gradually and looking for an effective result could take as last resort a trial,

depending on every situation, but the main scope of this article is to suggest you that if you want to

go to trial in Mexico (or foreign country) consider this option once that you have tried with others

that could be more profitable for you.

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