Jurisdiction: Costa Rica
Practice areas: Commercial arbitration, construction law
ILF member firm: ASEJUR (Costa Rica) www.asejur.com
Client profile and background
Asejur’s client, a construction company, was hired to build a major infrastructure project in Costa Rica. The contracting company failed to cooperate with the contractor, submitted a flawed design, and failed to pay all invoices for services rendered. Asejur was hired several years after the project’s completion.
Legal action and response by ASEJUR
Asejur filed an arbitration claim on behalf of its client before a renowned arbitration center to obtain compensation for damages. The arbitration was held in San José, Costa Rica. It was an extremely complex process from a technical and legal perspective. It required the participation of numerous experts who analyzed the project’s critical path, records, and communications between the parties. Asejur’s attorneys and experts had to reconstruct each stage of construction step by step to reveal the other party’s errors and breaches of contract. The case was led by Asejur partner Alejandro Bettoni.
Outcome
Thanks to several expert reports, Asejur was able to demonstrate the design defects that caused the project delay. The arbitral tribunal trusted Asejur’s experts more than those of the defendant. From a legal perspective, Asejur successfully succeeded in having the arbitral tribunal reject the other party’s request for dismissal regarding the statute of limitations. The tribunal favored Asejur’s interpretation of the statute of limitations rules applicable to breaches of contract and damages (on the Dies a Quo). The arbitral award upheld the claim. The arbitral tribunal ordered the defendant to pay a substantial amount in damages, which was enforced within a few weeks.