HMH LEGAL SERVICES

HMH Legal assists foreign and national companies by helping them prevent and resolve problems of unpaid receivables out of international credit sales.

To prevent problems we will assist you by creating a SYSTEM OF SALES that will secure your transaction without adding major formalities that your sales department will easily reject. If you are planning a delicate one-time transaction or conducting major volume credit sales, our corporate department will assist you secure such transactions by providing a binding CONTRACT and SECURITY DEVICE that will be enforceable in Mexico.

If you have problems already, our team will pursue the DEBT COLLECTION process out of court until full recovery is made. However, should your debtor not respond to our amicably demands, we will immediate pursue LITIGATION (legal action) through our team of expert collection lawyers.

HMH Legal also assists foreign organizations with international judicial cooperation such as OBTAINMENT OF EVIDENCE and SERVICE OF PROCESS in Mexico for use abroad, and ENFORCEMENT of foreign JUDGMENTS and ARBITRATION AWARDS in Mexico. 

The core of our business is out-of-court collection and litigation. HMH Legal uses pre-legal collectors as well as litigation attorneys to collect your debt in a friendly setting first. Only when an amicable is not possible, we will recommend our cases to the litigation department to asses the possibility of bringing suit against your debtor.
 
HMH Legal handles only commercial claims from local, national and international companies abroad. Consumer claims are not accepted by the firm.

· Legal debt collection and complex litigation. Our litigation department will assure the best possibility of a successful outcome in Court and in the debt recovery process overall. Our litigation strategy is unique, brining in a team of specialized attorneys (both in-house and of-counsel) to handle every matter going to Court. Our local correspondent attorneys help us reach most major cities of Mexico by overseeing our cases locally on a daily basis.

· Enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards in Mexico. The scenario for enforcement of foreign judgments in Mexico is not an easy one to foreign parties. Mexico has signed only two international treatises for recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments of which only one is in effect between Mexico and other Latin American countries (not USA or Canada). Consequently, the procedure for enforcement is done according to Mexican Law, and it is a complicated one.

Our firm can help you complete this process in all phases, since preparation of the formal request until proper execution of your judgment by our local Mexican Courts. The same can be done with your arbitration award.

· Service of process and obtainment of evidence in Mexico for its use abroad. Service of process in Mexico has to follow very strict (or sacramental) formalities provided under our local procedure codes in each State of Mexico in order to be able to enforce a judgment resulting out of this service of process. The obtainment of evidence has to follow these strict guidelines also and special requirements in the formal requests from the foreign courts (letters rogatory) in order to be allowed by a Mexican Court. Our attorneys have wide experience in this area and can help you achieve either goal for proceedings overseas.

There are many different, easy and affordable ways of securing a credit sale heading into Mexico. Our staff’s experience in cross-border litigation and expertise in international commercial law guarantees you the best alliance for preventing an uncollectible.

· Open credit sales. If you are selling on open account credit terms our attorneys can help develop a secure system of sales by accommodating a proper credit application that includes essential terms and conditions of sale, and analyzing and implementing proper documentation such as purchase orders, delivery receipts, invoices, promissory notes, etc.

· Conditional sales. If you are selling heavy machinery, vehicles or high-priced industrial components or equipment on credit, a conditional sales contract could help prevent disposal of such goods by your customers until totally paid.

· Commercial pledge (prenda). Just as in the above situation, for sales of heavy machinery, vehicles or high-priced industrial components or equipment, well as raw materials or inventory, you can create a lien on the sold goods. That lien will extend to proceeds out of a sale to third parties by your debtor.

· Mortgage agreements (hipoteca). A security interest on the debtor’s real estate property is one of the most safest ways of securing a credit sale. Upon default from your debtor you can immediately foreclose on the property.

· Guaranty trust (fideicomiso). A guaranty trust will serve just as well as the mortgage agreement and the commercial pledge, but will allow for an immediate foreclosure proceeding out-of-court conducted by a financial institution acting as a trustee.