Litigation

Labor conciliation

Before filing suit, workers and employers must attend the Conciliation Center, whose procedure may not exceed forty-five calendar days. If the company fails to appear, it is fined 50 to 100 times the Unit of Measurement and Update (UMA) and is deemed to reject any settlement.

We attend with a representative authorized to bind the company and a costed settlement offer. If the parties agree, the settlement is signed and ratified at the same hearing; its wording determines which claims are released.

Disputes exempt from pre-suit conciliation include those over discrimination, sexual harassment, social security, freedom of association, and which union holds a collective bargaining agreement.

Dismissal

A termination requires written notice stating the conduct that justifies it and the dates on which it occurred, delivered to the worker at the time of dismissal or filed with the court within the following five business days. Without that notice, the law presumes the dismissal was unjustified.

The worker has two months to sue; the period is suspended during conciliation and does not run until the worker personally receives the notice.

Labor trial

If conciliation fails, the company has fifteen days from service of process to answer the complaint, offer evidence, and, where appropriate, counterclaim. If it does not answer in time, the plaintiff's claims are deemed admitted, except those contrary to law, and the company loses the right to offer evidence.

On receiving a complaint, note the date of service of process and gather:

• the individual employment contract and its amendments;
• payroll receipts and attendance records for the period claimed;
• the termination notice and proof of its delivery;
• the certificate of failed conciliation and any prior settlement with the worker.

Commercial litigation

When a debt is evidenced by a negotiable instrument, a judgment, or a public instrument, the creditor may bring an executory commercial proceeding, which begins with a demand for payment and, absent payment, the attachment of assets. Once assets are attached, the defendant has eight days to pay or raise defenses.

Other disputes are generally heard in oral commercial proceedings. Before enforcing or defending a contract, we review which document supports it; that determines the route and the measures available.

Administrative and civil proceedings, and amparo

We challenge administrative sanctions through administrative appeals and in court; if an inspection ends in a fine, we first review the order, the inspection record, and the decision. We also handle civil proceedings connected with the company's operations.

We file direct amparo against final judgments and rulings that end the proceeding, and indirect amparo, among other cases, against general rules and acts of authorities other than courts.

White-collar criminal matters: defense and complaints

A legal entity may be held criminally liable for the offenses the law specifies for legal entities, committed in its name, on its behalf, or for its benefit where it failed to exercise due control over its organization. That liability is independent of the liability of its representatives and directors.

We defend companies and, where their interests do not conflict, their officers from the first summons by the Public Prosecutor's Office. We set the strategy before anyone gives a statement or produces a document.

When a company is the victim of fraud, embezzlement, or theft by employees or suppliers, we file the criminal complaint and act as its legal counsel throughout the proceeding.