Effective and Enforceable Dispute Resolutions in U.S./Mexican Commercial Trade

Gardere Partners Geoffrey H. Bracken and Peter Scaff recently authored an article “Effective and Enforceable Dispute Resolution in U.S./Mexican Commercial Trade” for The Houston Lawyer.  Here is an excerpt from the article:

“Since the 1994 implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, commerce has steadily increased between the signatory countries. The International Monetary Fund reports that total trade among the three NAFTA signatories has more than doubled, increasing from $306 billion in 1993 to almost $621 billion in 2002.1 As would be expected, increased trade brings greater pressure on these countries to provide effective and enforceable resolution of commercial disputes. For local practitioners, an increasing need exists to advise U.S. and Mexican clients regarding cross-border transactions.

…[Q]uestions confronted when U.S. and Mexican companies cross swords in a commercial dispute. Is litigation within the courts of either Mexico or the United States a viable option? If so, which forum is preferred? If the parties have contracted to resolve their disputes through arbitration, is the arbitration clause enforceable? And, perhaps most importantly, does the arbitration clause provide for a proceeding that will allow the eventual award to be enforced and collected in the relevant jurisdiction?"

The complete article can be viewed here.