Back with CISG Mexico-in English

After a long hiatus, I am back.

You will note something different this time around: After receiving some comments from my bilingual friends, I decided to publish this blog in English. I am sure, that most of my Spanish speaking readers are English Speakers, and we will hopefully reach a broader audience. Also, Spanish speakers that have questions as to what on earth we are writing about, can allways write.

I will not go much into the details as to why we kept silent for so long, but I will say that 2008 was an extremely busy year, filled with many personal and professional challenges. I am now the father of two sons. My second son was born in mid September of 2008, and we faced difficult personal challenges due to our discovery of our son's hearing problems. Luckily for him, these were detected early on, and he is doing well with his little hearing aid.

Also, 2008 was professionally challenging. I was actively involved in an international arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce rules that we just finished, and are anxiously awaiting for the award. I had to make the difficult decision of leaving my position as assistant dean at the Law School at Universidad Iberoamericana Tijuana, though I am still active teaching there, and I am involved in their mediation training program. \

To top it all off, I decided that in 2009 I would be "reinventing" my legal practice and now work as Osuna and Associates (See website in progress www.osunalegal.com). We hope to focus more on ADR and consulting on International Contracts, while not forgetting our other types of cases we usually take on (litigation, real estate, corporate law, etc). We will see how that goes, but so far so good.

What is new with the CISG?
Since my last entry in 2008, Armenia and Lebanon are contracting States. Belgium signed on to the Convention on the Limitations Period for Contracts on the International Sale of Goods, and I have many interesting stories to share on my experience litigating the Sales Convention before Mexican Courts. Some of the things I will add are probably anecdotal, but it will probably share some light on some of the difficulties we as attorneys face in arguing International Law before domestic courts. You know, Judges just don't like it!

An interesting note on the CISG in Mexico: It has been 20 years since this treaty came into effect in Mexico, and I have yet to read about a single seminar, symposium, workshop, or anything of the like on the Sales Convention to celebrate an important event. It is no wonder why most Judges and lawyers --and their clients, of course- are still in the dark when it comes down to international contracts. Soon I will be publishing a piece I wrote in Spanish about the cases I have so far identified governed by the CISG, that have been decided in Mexico. Just need to get it translated to English.