Mexico: Arbitration & Dispute Resolution

An ICC tribunal ruled that a public works contract's exclusion of early termination disputes from arbitration did not prevent arbitration over a subsequent bilateral settlement agreement. The decision clarifies when internal audit findings can override contractual payment obligations and establishes important boundaries between administrative acts and their contractual consequences.

A USD 2.1 billion NAFTA investment arbitration claim against Mexico was dismissed after the tribunal found insufficient evidence linking State conduct to the project's failure. The case demonstrates how commercially significant disputes fail as treaty claims when investors cannot prove causation between alleged breaches and recoverable losses.

Mexico's new Regulation of the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property introduces significant updates to trademark and patent procedures, including provisions for non-traditional marks, online infringement proceedings, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

As has been widely reported, Mexico recently adopted a constitutional amendment to overhaul its judiciary—most notably requiring popular elections for judges at all levels of the Mexican court system.

Dispute management is relevant in any merger and acquisition and to the extent it is in a cross-border transaction, several considerations must be taken into account whether as purchaser or seller...

Indefinite strike in federal courts and proposed reforms introduce significant uncertainty into Mexico's judicial landscape...

On May 8, 2023, Mexico enacted comprehensive changes to its mining and water laws. The changes reserve most new mineral exploration activities in Mexico to the Mexican state...

On March 24, 2023, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador introduced a bill to reform and supplement various provisions in the Mining Law (Ley de Minería), National Waters Law...

On March 24, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented an extensive reform bill to the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados), targeting 23 laws...