The Court of Appeal sided with Aguila’s argument stating that, “the plain language of this contract expresses an unmistakable intent to make the forum provision exclusive…[and that] there was no ambiguity.”  The Court of Appeal concluded that the forum selection clause, as written, was mandatory, exclusive and unambiguous and, thus, the case should be litigated in Brazil. The Third District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court order on October 17, 2018.

About Rivero Mestre LLP

Rivero Mestre, with offices in Miami and New York, represents clients from investigation to verdict and appeal in complex business disputes in U.S. federal courts, state courts, and domestic and international arbitration proceedings. The firm’s practice focuses primarily on representing corporate and institutional clients in a broad range of complex commercial disputes including financial institution matters, intellectual property disputes, and litigation and arbitration relating to Latin American trade and investment.

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About the session:

This roundtable discussion considered the recently reignited Havana Club rum litigation, a case study in the opportunities and challenges of intellectual property litigation related to Cuba. Since the 1980s, Bacardi, the distributor of Havana Club in the U.S., has been embroiled in on-and-off lawsuits against Cubaexport and Pernod Ricard, the joint venture that owns the Havana Club mark in Cuba. With the recent opening of commercial relations with Cuba and the PTO’s renewal of the Cuban-owned mark in the U.S., this litigation has reached uncharted territory. Using the example of the Havana Club case, the panel explored how U.S. firms should litigate intellectual property disputes with Cuban entities. The panel focused on both the U.S. and Cuban intellectual property regimes, the international players involved, and the role of the embargo in U.S.-Cuba commercial litigation.

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• Daniel R. Alonso, Exiger, New York, NY
• Guillermo S. Christensen, Baker Botts LLP, Washington DC
• Ana Irene Delgado, Socia de Solis, Endara, Delgado & Guevara, London, UK
• Adria Perez, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Atlanta, GA

About the session:

The “Panama Papers” exposed financial dealings of some of the world’s richest and most powerful individuals including a number of high ranking officials in Latin America. The papers include financial records, legal documents, and correspondences dating back over 40 years. These files reveal secret offshore accounts of current and former world leaders as well as individuals with close ties to political and business figures around the globe. A number of Latin American leaders are allegedly implicated in this corruption. The Panama Papers leak will likely raise legal issues for years to come. The panelists discussed the legal ramifications of the Panama Papers, including issues of law relating to cyber security, white-collar crimes, international litigation and finance.

The post M. Paula Aguila Served as Chair and Moderator of Panel for ABA International Law 2017 Spring Conference in Washington D.C. appeared first on RIVERO MESTRE LLP | Miami + New York Attorneys | International Law | Commercial Litigation.

Panelists included: Enrique Gonzalez, Uber Latin America, Irene Velandia, Google Latin America and Fernando Rodas, Suramericana, S.A.

The American Bar Association Section of International Law sponsored the American Forum. The ABA is the leader in the development of policy in the international arena, the promotion of the rule of law and the education of international law practitioners with over 20,000 members in over 100 counties.

For more information, click here.

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1. standing under Article III;
2. mootness;
3. judicial estoppel; and
4. international comity.

This decision has significant implications for cross-border litigation and is worthwhile reading for practitioners in the area. Click HERE for the trial court opinion and HERE for the appellate court opinion.

Rivero Mestre participated in a series of U.S. discovery proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to collect evidence for the criminal defense of Chevron executives in Ecuador, including the proceedings that obtained the outtakes of a film about the Ecuador litigation—Crude—directed by documentarian Joseph Berlinger. On June 17, 2010, the Ecuadorian court dismissed the criminal charges based on the U.S. discovery materials obtained. Rivero Mestre subsequently participated in the investigation that led to key evidence underlying yesterday’s ruling.

The post Second Circuit Upheld Ruling in Chevron’s Favor appeared first on RIVERO MESTRE LLP | Miami + New York Attorneys | International Law | Commercial Litigation.

Mestre was a guest lecturer at the Spanish-language Master of Business Administration (MBA) course “Legal and Ethical Implications in Executive Decision Making,” part of the Global Executive MBA program. The course discusses business and public administration cases that highlight legal, ethical, and social elements.

Mestre’s practice is focused exclusively on commercial litigation, including international arbitration and litigation.

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Mestre’s practice is focused exclusively on commercial litigation, including international arbitration and litigation. He has litigated domestic and international arbitration matters in both English and Spanish.

The post Jorge A. Mestre spoke at the University of Chicago Law School appeared first on RIVERO MESTRE LLP | Miami + New York Attorneys | International Law | Commercial Litigation.

NAMWOLF was founded in 2001 and promotes true diversity in the legal profession by fostering the development of long lasting relationships between preeminent minority and women owned law firms, and private and public entities.

Mestre’s practice is focused exclusively on commercial litigation, including international arbitration and litigation. He has litigated domestic and international arbitration matters in both English and Spanish.

The post Jorge A. Mestre appointed Ad Hoc Chair of the National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firm’s Advocacy Committee on Asia and Latin America appeared first on RIVERO MESTRE LLP | Miami + New York Attorneys | International Law | Commercial Litigation.

The committee focuses on diverse issues related to Latin America and the Caribbean. The committee provides practitioners in those regions with relevant legal information, which helps its members better serve their client’s international needs while also promoting substantive international knowledge.

Active in the community, Mestre serves as a member of the board of directors of the Hispanic National Bar Foundation and the American Bar Association Coalition of Racial and Ethnic Justice.  In the past, he served as vice-president of the Cuban American Bar Association and as a member of the board of directors of the Dade County Bar Association, two of the largest voluntary bar associations in Florida.  He is also an adjunct professor at St. Thomas University School of Law, where he teaches international arbitration.

Mestre’s practice is focused exclusively on commercial litigation, including international arbitration and litigation.  He has litigated domestic and international arbitration matters in both English and Spanish.

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I. Introduction

You are sitting in your office in Miami, a hotspot for litigation related to Latin American trade and investment, when your client comes in with a problem. A foreign corporation has infringed upon your client’s valid copyright in Florida. In an attempt to beat your client to the punch, the foreign corporation has already sued your client in a Latin American court to obtain a declaration that it is not infringing. The foreign court has not yet rendered a judgment. Understandably, your client prefers to litigate his claim close to home in a federal court in Florida. Should you bring the claim here, or will the federal court merely abstain from hearing the case based on the pending foreign case?

The federal court will base its decision on the Eleventh Circuit’s international abstention doctrine in the case. 1 So, if you are going to advise your client about whether to bring the case, you must know how this doctrine works.

II. Abstention Began as a Response to Parallel Domestic Litigation

To understand international abstention, one must first understand its genesis. Federal courts initially applied the abstention doctrine to situations of concurrent jurisdiction between a state court and federal court (both courts being within the United States). But for a federal court to even consider abstaining, it first had to determine that the cases were parallel.

So what makes a claim parallel? Proceedings are parallel if “substantially the same parties are contemporaneously litigating substantially the same issues …

Complete publication available from LexisNexis®

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