Panama is a major center of commerce, culture, and tourism. It also has a sophisticated legal system. And while I have had the chance to speak with lawyers from other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, like Peru, Mexico, and Spain, I only recently was able to add another country to the list. Thankfully, Jose Carrizo, a partner at Morgan & Morgan in Panama City, took some time to share what litigation is like in Panama.

Why should you continue reading this post about litigation in Panama?

You want to hear about a jurisdiction with no motions to dismiss and where defendants may have to wait until trial to argue that there is no personal jurisdiction or that the statute of limitations has expired.
You want to see a picture of a Panamanian court because there aren’t any on Wikipedia.
You are curious about the growing use of electronic filing.

Jose Carrizo is a partner at Morgan & Morgan in Panama City.

Can you tell me about the kinds of disputes you handle in your legal practice?
At Morgan & Morgan, we handle commercial and civil disputes. We do so both in the Panamanian judicial system and in arbitration. We handle both contract and tort cases, including fraud claims. We also handle insolvency, bankruptcy, and probate matters.

What type of clients do you generally represent in disputes?

Many of our clients are domestic and international banks and financial institutions. We also represent companies in the energy industry and government contractors. For arbitration cases, we are frequently co-counsel to law firms in United States and Europe that need advice about Panama law because that is the applicable law to their dispute.

Besides Microsoft Office, what software do you use in your practice?

Besides Microsoft Office, we use Microsoft Teams and Zoom. We also use software called Amadeus to record our time for billing purposes.

What books and websites do you use for legal research?

As a civil law country, we use books from experts and scholars to cite the law in our closing arguments. We cite books from authors in Colombia, Argentina, Spain, or Chile, since those are countries with a similar system.

It is also mandatory for us to always consult our local legal publications, which we can find on the local judicial system’s website. But, at times, the website is not completely accurate. To confirm the law, we can do manual research by sending paralegals to the Supreme Court of Justice to see what they can manually find out. The Supreme Court does not have a really big library, but they do have an office with clerks that can help you get more information. But to be efficient, you need to be specific with your requests.

For discovery issues, we normally use the Manual de Derecho de Probatorio by the Colombian jurist, Jairo Parra Quijano, among others.

And we also cite the local author Jorge Fabrega, who wrote about procedural law, among different topics.

Image credit: https://www.organojudicial.gob.pa/uploads/blogs.dir/1/2018/08/406/fachada-640x416.jpg

Do you electronically file pleadings with the court? Or must you send paper copies of them to the courthouse?

In the past, there was no way to submit pleadings over the internet. But the Supreme Court of Justice is promoting a new plan to allow it. Some courts in Panama City have already implemented it, but it is not finished yet.

Does Panama have specialized courts that only hear commercial cases?

There are two specialized courts in Panama for commercial cases; one for intellectual property law and another for consumer law. Separately Panama has specialized courts that deal with labor law.

Does Panama have amparo proceedings?

Panama permits parties to initiate amparo proceedings to review the constitutionality of other courts’ decisions. These arise frequently in commercial and civil disputes. Attorneys use them not only to win decisions, but also to delay the litigation at times.

Who decides the facts in a commercial case? Is it a judge or a jury?

A judge decides the merits at the trial court level. Then, when you go to an appeal, a panel of three judges decides the matter. Intermediate appellate judges can also review the facts, not just the law.

Generally speaking, how many pages are the complaints or initial pleadings you see in your work?

The law only requires a complaint indicating the names of parties and setting forth the facts on which the plaintiff bases its claim. And so normally, complaints are not too long. I would be surprised to see complaints are longer than twenty pages. They generally just lay out the facts; parties go deeper at later stages.

Generally speaking, how long does it take for a case to go from complaint to judgment?

From the time a complaint is filed to the time a circuit court issues a judgment, it normally takes between three and five years. After that, there can be an appeal and that phase could be a year or two. Then the decision on the appeal could go to Supreme Court of Justice and that could take three more years.

Is it true that there is no accelerated judgment procedure in Panama?

There is no summary judgment or motions to dismiss. This is true, even if you challenge a lawsuit on the grounds of the statute of limitations or similar defenses. Instead, a defendant needs to litigate a case through its conclusion.

Litigants can raise the lack of personal jurisdiction as an initial defense, but it is not mandatory for a court to consider it before judgment.

Generally speaking, how is evidence exchanged between the parties before trial? Do you get to interview the opposing witnesses before the trial?

Litigants generally need to have their own evidence to present in a lawsuit. There is no exchange in discovery like in common law jurisdictions.

Still, a litigant can ask the court to order another party to disclose evidence. It is normally not hard to get such an order, but the litigant needs to timely request it and justify the reason. And courts have narrowed the scope of information litigants can obtain this way; they do not permit “fishing expeditions.”

There are normally no depositions. Litigants need to wait until trial to examine witnesses. But expert witnesses need to disclose a report before trial, summarizing their testimony.

Are the courts in Panama open to the public? Can ordinary people watch a commercial trial?

Yes they are. But normally, litigants must as for the consent of their adversaries for third parties to be present, but there is no rule that says that this is required. But in practice, audience members and journalists only attend if there is consent.

Do you believe that courts in Panama have a particular strength for resolving commercial disputes? How about a weakness? What are they?

As a weakness, there are too many cases. There are only fourteen circuit judges, and this is why lawsuits take so long. The judiciary needs some government and economic support and training.

As. a strength, the court system is good at specific procedures, like attachment or injunctions, that it normally can grant with relative ease in a month or two. This is relatively quick given the time it takes to obtain a judgment. It is common to get an attachment to prevent a defendant from dissipating assets: the first step is to determine the bond the plaintiff needs to post and that could take 3-4 days. After that, the court could issue an attachment in a week or two.

How often do you go to the courthouse?

I usually go on a monthly basis.

I normally go when the hearing phase starts. That is after the written answer and the request for evidence. It is the time when the evidence is ready to be presented and witnesses examined.

The length of these “practice de pruebas” hearings vary. Hearings in Panama take longer than a day; they can take in some cases weeks. People normally try to settle cases before them. In fact, the best time to conduct peaceful negotiations is before a hearing.

When you are there, do you need to wear a special robe or wig?

No

Litigation in Panama