Montero, Palazón & Asociados advises private clients who do business with the Government, or to the Government itself as consultants.
Our advice is based on an analysis which focuses on first identifying the standing administrative system, using appropriate means for the achievement of legal success backed in recent jurisprudence and the doctrine on solution of common conflicts arising between the State and individuals, aiming at preventing abuses by the State, or for the purpose that the administrative authority use their tools properly and apply the legal regulations correctly.

By way of illustration, we provide the following services:

• Sponsorship of administrative procedures before State institutions (inquiries);
• Analysis of decrees, resolutions or regulations issued by the Administration;
• Administrative proceedings before municipal authorities;
• Contentious-administrative proceedings;
• Binding consultations before the various State entities.

With the enactment of Law Nº 4.956/13 "On the Protection of Competition", and like most countries, the legal and economic order of Paraguay is mainly based on two regulations: the competition law and the consumer protection law.

Law 4.956/13 is based on the premise that competition is a mechanism that generates an efficient allocation of resources. For that reason, the regulation seeks to develop and promote free competition in the market; therefore, the conquest of the market obtained through permitted practices or derived from the efficiency of the agents, does not imply a conduct or practice rejected by the regulations. To this effect, the law defines the prohibited behaviors and their weighting criteria, since when rating the practices or behavior of the economic agents, it will consider their particular effect on the market.

In this way, even though an agreement or an abuse of a dominant position is prohibited, the situation (and damage) caused by the subject can be evaluated from the result produced in the market by their conduct. If we extend the scope of this concept, we could even mitigate the damage generated with a benefit to consumers, which is an admission for this type of situation of the doctrines of the protection of efficiency (efficiency defense = compensation of benefits and costs for the competition) and the passing-on requirement (the transfer of these benefits to the consumers).

We provide advice on this matter, analyzing behaviors that restrict competition, situations of position of dominance, predatory pricing and concentrations among other issues.

We have experience in legal advice in various fields, both at the level of consultancy and in the structuring and execution of operations.

We are able to answer questions on issues related to the financial system regulation and the operations made by the companies in this sector. This includes advice on the interpretation and application of the different legal standards and those issued by the Superintendence of Banks and the Central Bank of Paraguay.

We know the banking business, the operations carried out and the routine problems that bank officials have to face.

Montero, Palazón & Asociados advises public and private companies and institutions. It acts in representation of natural persons addressing issues such as compensation for damages, rescission and termination of contracts, inheritance cases, divorces, dissolutions, evictions, etc.

Our advice to companies involves not only the preparation and analysis of contracts and agreements of various kinds, but also a study of the operation of the company in specific aspects, including Board minutes, corporate assemblies, by-laws, modifications of by-laws and other commercial documents related to the company business, as well as suggestions as to how to implement them to its best performance.

Commonly in our field, the advice, in case of any conflict or difference, is to recommend directly the client to resort to Court before discussing other alternatives, which often is not the best solution.

Our firm clearly steps away from that line of thought, which we often deem alien to the best interests of our clients.

Reception of Loan Portfolio
Our firm receives all the information about the debtor and introduces it in the database. Within 48 hours of receiving the portfolio, the debtor receives a formal notice or a telegram, which we follow-up to obtain a specific report that indicates whether or not the debtor has received or not.

Telephone calls
Simultaneously, between the first and second day of receiving the portfolio, all the debtors are called trying to locate them using the telephone numbers provided by the client.

Meetings with debtors
Depending on the profile of the collection and acting in accordance with the parameters defined in conjunction with the client, we try to arrange a personal meeting with the debtor.

Cash payment
If the debt is canceled by the Client or if he makes partial payments, once the deposit has been made, staff authorized by our firm deliver the deposit certificate to the person appointed by the client.

Negotiated settlement
Our collections department has two areas:

• Attention to debtors with which the company relates regularly, with particular emphasis on the continuity of the relationship of the defaulting debtor with the company. Thus, while the final goal of the negotiations is the recovery, special emphasis is placed in the task of reconstructing the link.
• Attention to massive debtors, has a profile focused basically on the recovery. This does not preclude the definition of parameters to the assigned agents to try to capture the debtor as a new customer. This sector would be assigned the management of the debtors that the company has no interest in keeping as its customers. Both sectors are integrated by agents trained internally and externally with specializations in the field of negotiations.

We propose the following structure of extrajudicial management, adaptable to your needs:

Judicial management
For those cases in which the recovery of the debt at the negotiation stage has not been reached, we shall pursue all legal actions which are at our disposal to obtain the collection of the debt.

Judicial Enforcement
From the beginning of our relationship with the client a direct link is established with the lawyer responsible. The policy of the firm in these cases is to have at least two lawyers related directly to the customer and their affairs; this allows us to maintain the quality of the service that we provide and the information to the client.

In the different processes involved, the Department has methods and enforcement controls that allow us to minimize formal errors, which in the end substantially shortens the time of judicial executions for the benefit of the customer.

In periods of judicial recess, our Collections Department continues to operate fully regarding the collections of extrajudicial nature, and with two lawyers and two attorneys in the judicial sector ready to respond to any inquiry.

Our Law Firm has experience in providing advice in legal aspects that affect the ordinary course of their business in civil, commercial, corporate, contractual, customer relationship, labour, regulatory, and administrative issues. By way of example, we list some of our services:

• Provision of legal services, including routine legal consultations on aspects related to the above areas, which may be made by our clients in Paraguay;
• Review of advertising material and mechanisms of promotion under the rules governing the business;
• Analysis of contracts, letters of intent and agreements in which the company takes part;
• Drafting and review of trade agreements;
• Development of negotiation strategies against third parties in cases of non-compliance, when the standard commercial procedures adopted by the company have been exhausted;
• Consultations on interpretations of laws, decrees and regulations that may affect your business or when it is required by the company;
• Accompanying to meetings or negotiations with distributors, customers, administrative agencies or third parties when you require the legal assistance of a lawyer;
• Drafting, analysis and recommendations on distribution, representation and agency contracts;
• Analysis and evaluation of all the information and documents that you require with regard to your business, determining any legal or fiscal risks and including their quantification when possible;
• Assistance on labour issues and response to consultations on legal obligations set out in the Labor Code and its complementary standards, as well as the social security laws and regulations.

Our firm is committed to providing personalized service in all subjects, whether ordinary or extraordinary in nature. In that sense, the partners of the firm will deal directly with each of the issues raised by the client.

Our advice covers all aspects relating to this type of contractual relations, both from the point of view of the foreign company or the local firm.

The main topics that we usually deal with are:

• Preparation of distribution, representation and franchising contracts;
• Contract negotiation for the establishment of a franchise or representation;
• Quantification of termination of business relations on the basis of Law 194/93 (calculation of an eventual compensation);
• Strategic advice for the closure of negotiations based on Law 194/93;
• Drafting and negotiation of agreements of shareholders, statutes, and other associated contracts in the event that the foreign company has involvement in the local business.

We also offer legal audit services or Due Diligence. Through a detailed analysis of the social, labour and social security books, Board of Director minutes, contracts, tax submissions and other documents of the company, we can determine the degree of compliance with the various rules and regulations the firm is subject to, and prevent or quantify possible contingencies (civil, labor, tax, and administrative) in which it might be involved.

As a result of this process, you get a detailed and objective report. In other words, a legal x-ray of the company where, besides pointing out at contingencies, we suggest ways of solving the existing and prevent the future ones.
This is the best way to have a comprehensive picture of your company in view of a potential takeover or merger, going public on the stock exchange market, or simply to properly assess risks.

This specialty of public law is mainly about the economic performance of the State, the guarantees aimed at protecting economic initiative and the resulting private property of citizens. Includes rules and principles that have been reflected in the Constitution and have a wealth effect for the State, the individuals, or both.

Our law firm has a vast experience in analyzing and identifying the constitutional legal elements - principles and guarantees - that play an important role in the business, systematize them, interpret them and offer them as an alternative to the client, in such a way that its genuine application allows our clients to consolidate their economic activity.

The principles of legality or proportionality, the freedom to exercise legal economic activities, among others, constitute limits that must be respected by everybody.

Our firm understands the importance and the risk of taking the decision to invest in a foreign country, with legal systems, commercial customs and cultures different from those of the client.

We embrace such challenge by providing complete and personalized advice, from the most basic to the more complex. In this sense, we provide an all-inclusive doing business material with the main aspects of interest that are normally taken into account by a foreigner for investing in Paraguay, generating specific queries adapted to the concrete investment plan.

We accompany our clients from the initial migratory aspects (permanent, temporary or precarious residence, identity card), as well as the incorporation of companies (branches or subsidiaries), the acquisition of idle companies, and the main aspects related to the capital inflows to the country, the applicable tax and strategic benefits (investment laws), as well as the outflow of capital in the most efficient way possible. Likewise, with a corporate counseling of the day-to-day movement that the subsidiaries could generate.

Similarly, in cases of loans or capitalization of local firms by foreign capital investment, we analyze all the necessary aspects prior to the closing of this type of transactions (due diligence, negotiation of contracts, collateral security, equity loan, etc.).

The Law Firm has a department specialized in issues of industrial property and copyright, with professionals who assess, advise and inform the way in which the trademarks, patents, domain names, computer programs, etc. should be protected Also, the department protects and represents the interests of its clients in any proceedings or litigation, whether administrative or judicial.

We have specialists in the area of labour and social security law. It is important to highlight that the field of labour possesses a series of rules and no written procedures that make the intervention of a professional with experience in preventive or day-to-day counseling essential, or, if that were the case, in labour lawsuits. Only by joining both ends we will be able to provide efficient advice. Our firm is fully prepared to carry out this task.

In that sense, our experience will help you mainly with:

• Consultations and opinions in general, interpretation and application of Labour and Social Security Laws, preparation of notes and common administrative instruments, such as letters of admonition, warning, notice, administrative inquiries, etc. and elaboration of individual and collective labour contracts.
• Internal regulations, personnel administration, payment of salaries, compensations, implementation of sanctions and disciplinary measures in general, review of mandatory labour books, organizational structure and manual of duties, selection of staff, application of working hour control systems, verification of compliance with labour standards by offices and/or personnel officers, organization of personnel cards and files, procedure for the modification of work systems and working conditions, Trade Union problems.
• Advice, representation and procurement in labour litigation, in the character of claimant or respondent.
• Advice, representation and procurement in litigation conducted in the jurisdiction of the contentious – administrative Court.
• Strategic analysis of layoffs of high ranking executives or officials with managerial positions.

Our law firm has experience in developing the corporate strategy to take over other companies as well as acquire other assets. The decision to carry out a merger or a takeover is a decision of the financial type which has legal and tax impacts.

An appropriate legal and tax strategy will save costs, generate synergy values and detect potential conflicts on time.

We provide advise on the procedures and standards established in Law No. 2051/03 "On Public Procurement" and their respective regulations.
Our law firm has experience in the following issues:

Basic analysis of calls for tender, review of bids, consultations and clarifications.

• Analysis of Bidding Terms and Conditions and recommendations thereof;
• Review of the bidding documents to be presented to the correspondent authority, including procedural services and procurement of legal instruments;
• Final analysis of offer portfolios and subsequent presentation to the organising entity.

Preparation of queries, clarifications and reports. Analysis of procurement and contracts – price adjustment:

• Further analysis of contracts, review of comparative tables of offerings to determine the origin of them;
• Review and analysis of awarding contracts corresponding to awards made within the legal framework;
• Based formulation of requests for adjustment of prices in accordance with the law.

Conduct of protests and administrative summaries with the Dirección General de Contrataciones, Públicas (DNCP) (Public Procurement Authority):

• Preparation, conduct and follow-up of protests and/or administrative summary proceedings with the DNCP, if applicable, either as claimant or respondent;
• Further developement (where applicable) of lawsuits in the contentious-administrative jurisdiction (Administrative Court of Appeal).

In everyday life, and especially in all stages of business, taxes are present, from the beginning of a project or idea of investment until the merger or business transformation, creating a variable that may be crucial in the decision-making for a company pursuing the maximization of the profitability for its partners or shareholders.

With this in mind, from the beginning to the end of the investment, all the elements should be visualized from a tax perspective to get the desired result.

Therefore, we help to choose the best investment vehicle, decide how and when to build-up the assets and know the effective rate of taxation or tax obligations of each business before cost overruns are incurred. We also collaborate to prevent or minimize the possible contingencies arising from the business. This is just one part of what an administrator or manager must understand and analyze before taking a decision, which must necessarily go hand in hand with the vision of a tax specialist.

Montero, Berni & Palazon Attorneys offers a differential service of the highest quality in the legal tax field, whether preventively or when a problem should be solved in the Organization.