Cornejo Méndez González y Duarte
High quality legal services
THE FIRM
CMGD is a law firm specialized in a variety of practice areas with a team of highly trained and experienced lawyers.
The professional practice in CMGD has a strong business-oriented approach, always maintaining a proactive attitude. We advise our clients so they can achieve their objectives. We are strong promoters of preventive legal strategies. We believe that this is the best instrument to achieve a favorable environment for the development of our clients’ businesses.
We are a firm with global reach. We achieve this through several unique competitive advantages, which include our team’s linguistic skills and cultural familiarity with our clients, an extensive network of relationships with law firms, companies, multinational institutions and other contacts in Mexico as well as abroad.
- A practical approach, from a business perspective.
- Ability to adapt to the needs of our clients.
- Availability and response capacity.
- Bilingual, reliable, committed, highly trained and experienced attorneys.
- Efficient management of the legal and business needs of our clients, including worldwide through the strategic alliance with Ally Law.
How do we help clients?
Our practice group brings years of expertise in dealing with the legal and business issues affecting our clients.
SERVICES
Our industry experience spans automotive, government procurement, chemical and pharmaceutical, hospitality and tourism services, communications and transportation, manufacturing, construction, mining, administrative advice, and litigation and real estate.
The external service (outsourcing) is an effective strategy that consists in conferring on a third party the daily operations of the company in certain business processes, thus allowing the administration to focus on other critical processes of the business. Our services in this area consist of the following:
- Tax
- Services in Wages and Benefits
- Compliance and Obligations with the IMSS
We support our clients through a tax diagnosis, through which they can know their tax situation in terms of compliance with tax obligations before the IMSS.
Likewise, we help you review, control or even re-engineer your benefits to identify the most efficient way to remunerate your staff within strict compliance with the law.
A person with numerous assets needs to have a strategy that not only protects the acquired assets, but also allows them to take advantage of the applicable tax benefits. In this way, a unique structure should be designed, taking into account the particular case of each client, which may include operations or activities abroad and not only in Mexico. We have experience in the design and implementation of these structures that meet the needs of our customers, while providing a greater degree of protection to their wealth and seeks to maximize the tax benefits available.
In addition to general advice on selecting types of entities to incorporate, drafting of by-laws, corporate bookkeeping and corporate secretariat roles, our Corporate Group specializes in complex shareholding structures, corporate control structures, and protection of minority shareholders among others.
We also have ample experience in assisting clients in resolving issues surrounding conflicts between shareholders, buy-outs, enforceability of puts, calls and other types of options on shares.
The area of foreign trade and customs advises clients in everything related to foreign trade, from the planning of strategies for import and export transactions, to the identification of global business opportunities. We focus on directing domestic and foreign investors to take advantage of all the opportunities that Mexico and its network of commercial partners offer in the field of international trade.
Our advice includes custom audits of foreign trade, advice in Mexico’s network of free trade and trade agreements (analysis, compliance, rules of origin, preferential tariff rights, verification procedures, product negotiation, exemptions and exceptions, among others), anti-dumping, tariff deferral programs (IMMEX, Maquila, ECEX, ALTEX, PROSEC), strategic fiscal area, compliance with non-tariff barriers imposed on trade (for example, official Mexican standards [“NOMs”], import permits and registrations) determination of import taxes and countervailing duties, operation and registration of a certified company, classification of the harmonized tariff system, customs valuation, customs procedures, automotive industry and auto parts, and in general terms in the optimization of our clients’ foreign trade operations.
We have participated in the strategic planning and establishment of foreign trade operations and negotiations for several local, regional and international subsidiaries (mainly European and American) in Mexico; helped in the restructuring of foreign trade operations of Fortune 500 companies in electronics, household, steel, railways, oil and petrochemicals; we have also advised pharmaceutical companies and home accessories in anti-dumping proceedings; we have also obtained and applied the tax inspection system for one of the most prestigious automobile and truck companies in the world, and we have given continuous support in customs matters and foreign trade to foreign subsidiaries and Mexican companies in the aeronautical industry, energy , automotive, construction.
The services provided by our lawyers in this area are focused on developing a “preventive culture” in our clients in order to provide them with better strategies and in this way avoid possible work risks.
To this end, our labor and social security area focuses on those issues that could commonly cause future liabilities such as: the drafting of contracts for officers, directors, managers and employees; development and implementation of codes of conduct, procedures and manuals; development and implementation of alternative and flexible remuneration schemes, implementation of systems for expatriates; practical advice for all types of termination of employment contracts including the preparation and execution of the notice of termination, among others.
One of our strongest practice areas related to human resources is to assist our clients with regard to collective bargaining agreements and negotiations. In addition to providing our clients with experience in such negotiations, we provide them with personal contacts in the main unions and sections within those unions, which assist our clients in creating a better relationship with their employees, mitigating several of the possible contingencies could happen in the future.
With regard to social security matters, we provide a deep analysis and advice regarding the pensions of companies and / or retirement plans as well as for their execution, and for the application of multi-competency plans, this coupled with the advice we provide for compliance with social security laws and regulations, as well as for payments and presentation of required notices / writings.
Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Labor Law, Customs & Commercial.
We are aware that in many cases our clients are forced to defend themselves against acts of the authorities. It is for this reason that our firm has highly trained litigation attorneys who continuously provide legal services, advice and representation both in audits and in the procedures and demands that may arise from the application of administrative [public tenders, environmental, among others] and tax laws, including local taxes and federal, foreign trade, social security, INFONAVIT (Institute of the National Housing Fund for Workers), treaties related to double taxation, filing of appeals and other constitutional procedures such as the amparo to challenge the unconstitutionality of laws.
Although we strive to achieve a preventive culture, there are cases in which labor litigation is inevitable. Considering this, and in order to provide a better service to our clients, we have formed a strong practice in labor litigation, with which we represent our clients in local and federal labor issues throughout Mexico.
In addition to its normal practice and in accordance with our approach to preventive legal strategies, our litigation attorneys regularly advise our experts in commercial transactions and other areas to obtain a broader view of the issues involved and mitigate any possible contingency, in the event of that it will happen, in order to have our clients always in the best possible position to face it.
The real estate area focuses on advising clients in acquisitions and real estate developments in Mexico. The members of this area have extensive experience in acquisitions and real estate development in the different industries, as well as in commercial, residential and hotel properties, including those located within restricted federal zones or that are part of ejidos.
Our attorneys are also familiar with the new trends that have been incorporated in this area of practice, such as real estate investment funds and property title insurance, in addition to this, they have important experience throughout the Mexican Republic and have the necessary contacts at the local level to carry out the acquisitions or sales of properties in the respective area.
By advising our clients, be they national or international in the application of both federal and local legislation, as well as international double taxation agreements, we help them to implement and develop their operational and tax strategy, from its creation to the restructuring of the same, as in any other type of transaction, including mergers and acquisitions, completion of operations, securities and sales of shares and / or social shares, among others.
Our work is to facilitate entry into foreign markets of national companies, as well as facilitate the entry into Mexico of companies from other countries. With the ability to serve our customers in addition to Spanish, in English and German, combined with extensive experience in operations in the Americas and Europe mainly, we provide a global approach to our customers in terms of providing our services.
We serve our clients not only in aspects of international taxation and optimization of the tax base, but also in the following fields:
- Transfer Prices
- Expatriates
Being one of the main areas of practice of the firm, our lawyers have taken all types of commercial transactions covering one or several jurisdictions. We have assisted numerous clients in the planning, negotiation and implementation of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, joint-ventures, financing and guarantees, dissolutions and liquidations among other general business transactions. Our experience in this area ranges from multimillion-dollar mergers and acquisitions in different jurisdictions, international joint-ventures and financing agreements with creditors or third-party guarantors residing abroad, to national and local licensing agreements, distribution agreements, structures and assistance to our customers in their routine operations.
The types of guarantee rights provided for in Mexican legislation and the formalities for their improvement differ substantially from those regulated by the laws of the United States and the United Kingdom. Our team of securities and finance has extensive experience and a full knowledge of the complexity involved in a financial transaction that takes place on a daily basis.
This represents a significant advantage for our clients, since the procedures and requirements vary considerably depending on their jurisdiction, and they depend to a large extent on the nature of the guarantee involved.
CMGD provides services in different practice areas of law, through a highly trained and experienced team of lawyers who work together to provide comprehensive legal services to national and multinational clients. In each of the practice areas, we bring our experience as well as our knowledge with an international focus and extensive experience in negotiations in all major economic markets.
Ethics & Strength
We value the trust of our clients, for this CMGD maintains the highest standards of integrity and professional ethics.
OUR BILLING POLICY
We recognize the importance of the cost-benefit ratio required by our clients in the services we offer.
For this reason, we are flexible and we communicate in advance our billing policy. Billing is flexible and can be agreed as required.
- Hourly Rate
- Fixed fee
- Success fee
- By operation or project.
- Based on an agreed rate.
- Any other possibility that is implemented by mutual agreement
OUR TEAM
Our team is made up of professionals trained in all areas of law, with vast experience and skills to meet the most demanding legal and labor needs.
NEWSLETTER
Our staff remains at the forefront of the evolution of regulations that affect our clients’ businesses
We provide news and ideas across a variety of sectors through our newsletters that help clarify a particular issue and discuss the ramifications of such changes in the industry.
Increase in the minimum wage in the Mexican Republic as of December 1, 2025.
As a result of this review, on December 4, 2024 the National Minimum Wages Commission announced the increase in the general minimum wage, which is applicable to the entire Mexican Republic.
Second Modifications to the General Rules for Foreign Trade for 2024
Modifications to Mexcian Rules for Foreign Trade 2024. Modifications to some rule and updates to Annexs
Civil Code and the Housing Law of CDMX
On August 28, 2024, a decree was published in the Official Gazette of Mexico City amending and adding provisions of the Civil Code and the Housing Law of Mexico City (the “Decree”), to curb the excessive increase in the annual rental price of properties with residential land use.
Working hours above the Law are considered a crime
Working hours above the Law are considered a crime in accordance with the General Law to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Crimes in the Matter of Human Trafficking and for the Protection and Assistance to the Victims of these Crimes.
Decree that updates temporarily duties to imports
Establishes temporary import tariffs with rates between 5% and 50%, which will be applicable to 544 tariff items
National Code of Civil and Family Procedures
Collective Bargaining Agreements Legitimation deadline before Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration
Collective Bargaining Agreements Legitimation
Collective Bargaining Agreements Legitimation deadline before Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration
Tobacco Control
Amendment to the regulation of the general law for tobacco control.
Vacation days for workers
Decree that reforms articles 76 and 78 of the federal labor law
ILO Convention 190
Violence and harassment in the workplace
Montes Urales
Lomas de Chapultepec, México
+52 55 5540-4450
Cornejo Méndez González y Duarte
Montes Urales, Lomas de Chapultepec, México
+52 55 5540-4450