PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jorge Molina Mendoza and Alberto de Urriola Rubio, FABREGA MOLINO
2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding Since Panama does not have a regulatory framework regime that governs third-party litigation funding, there are no time limits for when a party to the litiga- tion should obtain third-party funding.
If the plaintiff wishes to do so, they may include the evidence with which they support their claim. If the claim is related to land, the details of the prop- erty must be included in the complaint. The plaintiff is permitted to amend the document after it has been filed only once, and before the ruling that starts the evidence stage has been notified to the par- ties. 3.5 Rules of Service In general terms, once a lawsuit is admitted by the courts, the defendant must be notified in person. The court is responsible for notifying the defendant. After that notification, all other notifications are made in the courtroom. When the defendant is in another jurisdiction, the court must seek assistance from the executive branch to carry out the notification. In such cases, it is necessary to verify whether there is an international treaty in force that governs notifica- tions between the states parties. 3.6 Failure to Respond If the defendant does not respond to a lawsuit, the plaintiff may request that the court appoints an attor- ney for the defendant in absentia so that the case may continue. 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Panama permits representative or collective actions, including class actions, but only in matters relating to
3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-Action Conduct
Panamanian law does not allow courts to impose any rules on the parties in relation to pre-action con- duct. There are no requirements on the potential defendant(s) to respond to a pre-action letter. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations There are statutes of limitations that apply to civil suits and statutes of limitations that apply to commercial suits. In civil suits, the statute of limitations for extrac- ontractual liability is one year; for contractual liability, it is seven years. In commercial suits, the statute of limi- tations is five years. There are special cases, but these are the general rules. The statute of limitations begins to run when the obligation becomes enforceable. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant There are no particular jurisdictional requirements for a defendant to be subject to suit in Panama. Any individual, legal person or government office may be sued, and this rule applies across all. 3.4 Initial Complaint As a general rule, the initial complaint that is filed to initiate a lawsuit must include: • the name of the parties and the type of proceeding at the top of the first page of the initial complaint; • the name of the court to which the complaint is addressed; • name and address of the plaintiff; • name and address of the defendant; • the thing, declaration or fact that is claimed; if this is money, the amount must be stated; • the facts that support the plaintiff’s claim; and • the legal provisions on which the claim is based.
consumer protection and related fields. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate
There are no requirements to provide clients with a cost estimate of the potential litigation at the outset. The Supreme Court of Justice approves a tariff that includes the minimum legal fees lawyers in Panama must charge.
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