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Alexander Godínez Vargas

Alexander Godínez Vargas

Coordinator of the Counseling and Advisory Area

  • Studies:

     University of Costa Rica, Faculty of Law. Law Degree (1988).

     Complutense University of Madrid. Department of Labor Law and Social Security. Ph.D. in Labor Law (1995).

  • Awards:

     Awarded the "Alberto Brenes Córdoba" Award from the Costa Rican Bar Association for the best legal work of 1998.

  • Publications:

     He has written 6 books and is co-author of a manual on Costa Rican labor law, which is part of the International Encyclopedia of Laws: Labor Law and Industrial Relations, whose last two updates (2012 and 2018) have been under his responsibility.

  •  Author of around 60 publications, some of them in specialized magazines and journals such as Labor and Social Security (Argentina), Labor Law Magazine (Argentina), IUSLabor (Spain), Labor Relations (Spain), Spanish Labor Law Magazine (Spain), Labor and Law (Spain), the Latin American Social Law Magazine (Spain), the Latin American Social Law Magazine (Mexico) and Labor Law (Uruguay).

     He has been hired to carry out research by different United Nations organizations, such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and UNICEF.

  • Experience:

     At the ILO, he has been National Specialist in Labor Relations of the RELACENTRO Subregional Project and Principal Technical Advisor of the Subregional Project for Strengthening Labor Justice in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

     For the Ministry of Labor of the Government of Canada, he prepared a diagnosis on the degree of compliance with certain minimum labor standards in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua (2001-2002), Belize and the Dominican Republic (2003) within the framework of the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement of these countries with Canada.

     He participated as a consultant in the ILO work team that was in charge of preparing a diagnosis of the labor relations system of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic (2003), and Panama (2004), within the framework of the negotiation process of a Free Trade Agreement between these countries with the United States of America; as well as in the diagnosis of the Labor Inspection of Honduras (2017) and the Dominican Republic (2018) and the update of the inspection manuals in the latter country (2020).

     He also prepared for the ILO a Study Guide on International Labor Standards for labor judges and magistrates throughout Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti (2020).

     He has been a judicial official and served as Labor Judge of San José, Judge of the Labor Court of San José (currently the Court of Appeals); and he also held the position of Alternate Magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica.

     He has been invited as an instructor in courses organized for judges and justices from all over Central America and the Dominican Republic, and in 2020 he participated in various training activities organized by the Judicial School of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica, the Judicial Organism of Guatemala and the Council of the Federal Judiciary of Mexico.

     He works as a professor of Labor Law at the Law School of the University of Costa Rica, and he was coordinator of the Master's Degree in Labor Law and the Doctorate in Law at the Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica.

     He was president of the Costa Rican Association of Labor Law and Social Security.

     He is a member of the Ibero-American Academy of Labor and Social Security Law.


Contact information


Recognitions



Testimonial

What our clients say

Chambers and Partners (2025)

Highly respected department co-head Alexander Godínez Vargas is a leading practitioner on labour and employment subjects in Costa Rica."Alexander Godínez Vargas is a pre-eminent labour lawyer who offers assertive and timely advice. He is the kind of external counsel you want to have by your side forever." "Alexander Godínez is a strategic lawyer who offers alternative solutions to problems and makes sound decisions. He has a broad business perspective."

Chambers and Partners (2024)

Highly respected department co-head Alexander Godínez Vargas is a leading practitioner on labour and employment subjects in Costa Rica.Strengths: "He provides very good judgement, service and accompaniment. It fits our needs and he is easily accessible, which is very important for our emergencies.""Alexander provides timely advice and keeps us updated on any changes in the subjects that he manages with us."

Chambers and Partners (2023)

Highly respected department co-head Alexander Godínez Vargas elicits praise from key market onlookers, with one noting: "Alexander Godínez Vargas is an authority in labour law. He has vast knowledge, experience and intuition, and I would not change him for anything." Another commentator reports: "He is a great lawyer in the Costa Rican labour law field, and shows commitment to the client. He also keeps on top of market updates."

Chambers and Partners (2022)

Prestigious co-head of department Alexander Godínez Vargas is approved by an impressed client, who declares: "He is very knowledgeable in all labour law issues. He is very up to date and has good interpersonal skills," before going on to hail him as "a good listener and negotiator." Another endorses Godínez Vargas's expertise, stating: "We work with him in cases of large impact for strategic executive advice."

Chambers and Partners (2020)

Alexander Godínez Vargas is well regarded by market sources for his specialism and expertise in this field, with a peer emphasising that "he is a prominent labour lawyer."

Chambers and Partners (2021)

Acclaimed partner Alexander Godínez Vargas "has a lot of technical knowledge," according to a client. Another source adds: "He understands how to mitigate risks and always gives us a plan of action." Peers also value his presence in the market, with one describing him as "respectable and reliable." Godínez Vargas regularly assists clients with individual and collective disputes, as well as advising on employment contracts and compliance.

Chambers and Partners (2019)

Alexander Godínez Vargas of Bufete Godínez y Asociados is widely admired by peers in the labor and employment field, with one describing him as “an authority on labor matters.” Others further comment that “he is an excellent lawyer with respectable legal judgement and important clients”