GP&H and its Digital Transformation

GP&H and its Digital Transformation

With the promise of an innovative law firm, Gloria Ponce de Leon & Hernandez has been in trend since its foundation, implementing the “Legal Project Management” work methodology in all its processes. In this way, it offers high quality legal services with an added value that cannot be compared to any other office in Mexico.

Taking into account the almost mandatory digital transformation for the whole sector, derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández, made efforts to complete its evolution, presenting Legafy to the public.

Legafy was created as a response to the development and search for perfection in the provision of services in the legal sector, through a synergy between technology and the experience of expert lawyers in different areas of the law. Through this platform, efforts for digitalization are added with the dynamism for which the Firm is recognized.

From contract automation to a menu that reminds us of the famous e.commerce stores, Legafy will be so simple and user-friendly, that its use will result in an experience that is not limited to the purchase of a legal service, but to the fulfillment of a dream, the solution of a problem or a timely response. Everything from the hand of a Firm that is based on three pillars: Innovation, Trust and Results.

As with all processes related to digital transformation, Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández puts the client at the center of the entire strategy and offers personalized solutions in accordance with the current times.

Genesis Moyeda Salazar

Gloria Ponce de Leon & Hernandez

The Electronic Signature in México

The Electronic Signature in México

Nowadays, technology solutions are essential to execute various transactions. Consumers and businesses are increasingly connected, and it is necessary to adopt quickly, taking care of the legal requirements that are needed to use digital technologies.

The Federal Consumer Protection, recognizes the use of technological solutions to ensure the consumer’s right to electronically approve any transactions.

Article 10 – Suppliers may not […] provide additional services to those originally contracted that have not been expressly requested or accepted, in writing or electronically, by the consumer, nor may they apply charges without prior consent of the consumer or that are not derive from the corresponding contract.

For its part, the Commercial Code mentions that when the law or the parties agree on the existence of a signature in relation to a data message, said requirement will be understood to be satisfied if an electronic signature is used that is appropriate for the purposes for which it is generated or communicated that data message.

Article 97.- When the law requires or the parties agree to the existence of a Signature in relation to a Data Message, said requirement will be understood to be satisfied if an Electronic Signature is used that is appropriate for the purposes for which it was generated or communicated. Data Message. The Electronic Signature will be considered Advanced or Reliable if it meets at least the following requirements:

  • The Signature Creation Data, in the context in which they are used, correspond exclusively to the Signatory;
  • The Signature Creation Data were, at the time of signing, under the exclusive control of the Signatory;
  • It is possible to detect any alteration of the Electronic Signature made after the moment of signature, and IV. Regarding the integrity of the information in a Data Message, it is possible to detect any alteration of it made after the moment of signing. The provisions of this article shall be understood without prejudice to the possibility for any person to demonstrate in any other way the reliability of an Electronic Signature; or present evidence that an Electronic Signature is not reliable.

 What is the Advanced Electronic Signature?

There is a simple distinction between the simple electronic signature and its advanced form. In Mexico, the electronic signature is required to be authenticated by a digital certificate. However, this type of signature is used mainly in specific transactions required by the federal government, such as the Secretaria de Hacienda y Crédito Público.

Therefore, most commercial and business transactions only need a simple electronic signature to ensure the legal validity of any contract.

The Advanced Electronic Signature Law bases its use and validity in Mexico. According to this law, any electronically generated document or data message may use this type of electronic form.

Article 7 – Electronic documents and data messages that have an advanced electronic signature will produce the same effects as those presented with an autograph signature and, consequently, will have the same probative value that the applicable provisions grant to them.

According to the Advanced Electronic Signature Law, the following characteristics are necessary for advanced electronic signatures:

  • Functionality: It effectively satisfies the requirement of the autograph signature and said signature corresponds exclusively to the signer (equally applicable to the simple electronic signature);
  • Authenticity: It allows to show that signer of the electronic document is who he claims to be. This can be guaranteed, for example, with the confirmation of tokens, IPs, identification documents etc;
  • Integrity: It allows to guarantee by technological means that the content of the document has not been altered after it was signed;
  • Neutrality: The electronic signature uses digital certificates and does not exclude or restrict any certifying authorities;
  • Non-Repudiation: Ensures that the issuer of the document cannot deny the authorship of the signed content;
  • Confidentiality: It guarantees that only the signer is able to consult the content of a document.

One of the most important requirements of advanced electronic signatures is the existence of a digital certificate. This tool establishes the possibility of a transaction between a public key and a private key.

Giselle Villanueva

Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández

The Lawyer of the Future: The Benefits of Legaltech

The Lawyer of the Future: The Benefits of Legaltech

Technology plays a leading role today in the provision of legal services, both for law firms and for in-house lawyers, we detect it even in the authority itself that has been forced to depend on technology in order to continue with their labors.

As lawyers, we must understand that technology is an advantage over the already competitive legal services market and an innovative, reliable experience with more tangible and immediate results for Clients, those days when the use of technological tools could be considered as an unnecessary luxury in the provision of services, are over, the constant innovation and use of this type of instrument is a must that should be considered when comparing the legal offer by the Clients.

In addition to the above, we find the boom for just over two years in the “Tech” sector in Mexico in all areas from electronic commerce, software development companies to the new era of financial entities that we know as Fintech; Undoubtedly, if the legal professional you hire to carry out your project as a technology company makes use of tools that simplify legal processes that, in many cases can be tedious and complicated, gives added value to their service, even more so if the lawyer knows terminology, processes, etc., in this way the lawyer will be able to understand better the specific needs of this type of company whose core is often quite disruptive.

The lawyer of the present has to learn to automate with the help of virtual tools that are more accessible today, so he can dedicate his time to tasks of greater value for his Client.

Lic. María Galaviz

Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández

Legal Project Management: efficiency, savings and results in law firms

Legal Project Management: efficiency, savings and results in law firms

Legal project management it involves the active management of the project participants, its scope, its risks, frame time, communications between collaborators, as well as the technology and knowledge required, in order to deliver a high quality service in a timely manner and with a specific budget.

The intention of this method is to seek the efficiency of the total process by eliminating losses, that is, activities that do not add value to the project. This is achieved by adopting a management principle that systematically eliminates waste from a process and thereby increases its productivity flow. The above can be construed in six simple steps:

1)  Establish objectives focusing on the customer’s needs.

2) Define the scope of the project, that is, the budget, execution deadlines and possible risks.

3) Make a specific plan for the project: identify the ordinary and extraordinary tasks, the delegation of each of them to the team, the chronology and the route that the team must follow.

4) Execute the plan according to the frame time and budget previously established.

5) Constantly monitor the management of the participants as a human factor through active communication and feedback, as well as the management of change in applicable cases as the main variant.

6) Examine the project continuously with the intention of progressively optimizing its execution.

The advantages of adopting the Legal Project Management method are indisputably notorious in the reduction of unnecessary costs, reduction of risks due to predictable factors and in the improvement of organizations reflected in their results.

Cost reduction

Legal projects tend to be expensive, however, increasing efficiency within the project reduces expenses. By creating a Legal Project Management strategy, the necessary tools are obtained to fragment and manage the project in order to deliver the best results with a specific budget from the beginning.

Risk reduction

The planning of any project from the beginning to its conclusion guarantees that the team at all times is in contact with the client’s needs and active communication is achieved between all participants where all the necessary information is shared during the course of the project, reducing malpractice and activities that have no value to the project itself.

Better results

Being in a constant focus on deliverables and realistic time frames for its achievement, allows to predict the possible obstacles that could be faced during the project and the total benefit that will be obtained once its finished. Therefore, a clear strategy based on the careful definition of objectives, a planning process and a correct management of a project allows to deliver better results to the client.

In the field of the legal profession, the essential thing when providing services is to satisfy the client, however, if the quality of the service is not measured, it is not possible to verify if a good job is being done, or if the expectations of the client are being met.

If law firms seek to remain competitive in a market where alternative technology and sophisticated service providers are now also their competitors, then they must adapt and apply lean management as part of their services in order to use the technological tools that today’s market has to offer, in the understanding that these technologies will only continue to eliminate activities that lawyers previously carried out in areas such as legal research, drafting, management of legal documents, among others.

Today’s clients continue to demand innovation through technological approaches and in their businesses, which is why they require quality services that can be executed in a diligent and efficient way at a low cost. Being the Legal Project Management method the most effective way to achieve this, Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández is a legal firm that has successfully adapted this methodology, achieving an excellent quality of services without neglecting savings for the client, with a high rank of successful results.

María Fernanda Ortega

Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández

CISERUS: The new way to automate your legal documents

CISERUS: The new way to automate your legal documents

Increasing productivity and reducing costs are two of the top priorities for all companies. Today, technology has greatly promoted new and better forms of productivity that generate great savings and simplify processes and time reduction. In the legal field, the tools have become relevant for lawyers to perform better in the practice of their profession.

This, Mexico, like other countries mainly in the European Union, is in the middle of a renewal in the legal practice, due to the increase in legal technology tools (legaltech). Among its main characteristics is the development of functions that allow cost and time savings, as well as risk reduction.

CISERUS is a platform for the automation of contracts and legal documents designed on the web, which in a very user-friendly way anyone can generate a contract or various documents, accessing with a username and password from a computer or Tablet.

This technological tool known as “legaltech”, helps to solve the execution of professional services and processes with higher quality, lower costs, but with greater efficiency.

The main benefits that CISERUS offers are:

  • Time savings of up to 80% when generating a legal document contract.
  • No more bottlenecks, allowing other areas or internal clients to be enabled in the generation of their contracts.
  • Minimize errors or omissions, by automating legal criteria and filters.
  • Among many others.

Innovation in the legal sector is a fundamental part to enhance the services that lawyers offer, which is why lawyers must associate with technology, so that as our clients become more sophisticated we are obliged to create and design solutions and tools that enable process automation.

 

Javier Estrada Vega

Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández