The Latin American Lawyer September 2018 LATAM MAGAZINE SEPT18 | Page 32

Special report: Central America
Labour reforms in Costa Rica leading to increase in
employment litigation
It is anticipated ‘one or two’ global firms will take the step of opening offices in Central America, with
data protection and technology driving demand for legal services
Tomás Nassar
Recent labour law reforms in Costa Rica
has led to an increase in employment
litigation, according to Tomás Nassar,
senior partner at Central American law
firm Nassar Abogados. The reforms,
which came into effect earlier this year,
have had a significant impact in that it
has meant changes to approximately half
of the country’s labour code, including
aspects related to collective bargaining
as well as laws governing the employer-
employee relationship. Consequently,
it is vital that clients have a clear
understanding of how these changes
could impact on how they do business in
Costa Rica, Nassar says.
With regard to the wider Central
American region – which has a population
of more than forty million people across
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, as well as Belize
and Panama – there are a wide range of
business opportunities on offer, which in
turn, are generating significant work for
law firms, Nassar says. Countries with
skilled labour forces, a strong rule of law
and stable economies attract significant
investment and this leads to high demand
for legal services. Nassar also notes that
“non-traditional” areas such as data
protection, telecommunications and
technology are becoming increasingly
important in Central American markets
and this is also creating new opportunities
for law firms. “There is a significant
increase in demand for legal services
in areas such as environmental law,
compliance and regulatory matters,”
he adds. Besides Costa Rica, Panama is
another country where there has been an
increase in international trade and this
means demand for corporate lawyers is on
the rise.
Creative thinking
According to Nassar, in order to be able
to take advantage of such opportunities,
law firms in the region must partner
with clients and develop an in-depth
understanding of the clients’ business and
treat it “as if it were their own” in order
to be able to provide comprehensive,
fast, ethical advice, while offering a legal
product that has a “true tangible added
value for the client”. He adds that law
firms should also “align their personnel
with their values and objectives” and
encourage creative and innovative thinking
30 • THE LATIN AMERICAN LAWYER • September 2018
in the search for solutions for clients.
However, the political and economic
environment can be a challenge when
advising clients, according to Nassar,
and consequently, a “comprehensive
and integrated approach that involves
addressing the legal issues of clients from
a business perspective is fundamental”.
‘Passionate about work’
Nassar Abogados has sought to make its
practice groups homogeneous across its
five offices in Central America, with the
aim of developing a pan-regional service
in order to ensure that the firms’ clients
have the “same level of satisfaction
when working with any of our offices”,
explains Nassar. He adds that he
believes the firm’s success is due to the
“commitment of a team that is passionate
about their work and that translates into
ensuring the client receives services of
a high quality, which are timely and
uniform in each jurisdiction where
the firm provides services.” Nassar
continues: “For many law firms it is a
challenge to set up a structure that fits all
these aspects.”
Global firms arriving?
Legal markets around the world have
undergone a profound transformation
and Central America is no exception.
“We believe that more local firms
will be interested in expanding their
operations in Central America and,
as has been the case recently in other
jurisdictions in Latin America, new
boutique firms will be established,
some as a result of the departure of
senior associates from more established
law firms,” Nassar says. Likewise,
Nassar expects at least one or two more
global firms to open offices in Central
America in the short to medium-term.
New office openings?
Nassar says there is a possibility that his
law firm could expand and open more
offices in response to client demands.
He adds: “As we strive to be the law
firm of preference for our clients, we
constantly evolve and expand in order
to be a strategic ally of our clients – as
it happens, some of our most important
clients have invited us to establish
operations in two additional jurisdictions
and we are evaluating it.”
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