Announcements

  • Founding Partner Ignacio Alvarez Named Chief Legal Officer of Popular, Inc.

    Ignacio Alvarez, one of the six founding partners of the Firm, will join Popular, Inc. as its Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President. This appointment is expected to become effective on or about June 21, 2010. Recognized by Chambers Global as “one of the best lawyers in Puerto Rico,” Ignacio is a brilliant lawyer and practical problem solver who has been an integral part of the Firm’s success for the past 18 years. Ignacio has had a diverse corporate practice, with an emphasis on corporate finance, banking, and general corporate representations. Jaime E. Santos, the Firm’s Managing Partner, said “We are very excited for Nacho as he takes on this important position at Popular. We will miss his many talents and key contributions. We are certain that Popular has acquired a great asset in Nacho.”

  • Néstor Méndez Receives Recognition from the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association

    During the Federal Bar Association’s National Mid-year Meeting held in Washington, DC on March 26-27, 2010, the Fellows of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association held their annual Fellows Dinner. At the dinner, Foundation president Carl P. Gilmore gave Néstor Méndez a special recognition for his contribution and service to the Foundation’s Fellows Program and its Board of Directors.

  • Partner Néstor Méndez Participates in Economic Development and the Judicial Branch Forum

    Partner, Life Fellow and member of the board of directors of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association (FFBA) Nestor M. Méndez recently participated in the forum: Economic Development and the Judicial Branch. The event was held on March 18, 2010 and was organized by the FFBA and the Historical Society of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (HSSCPR). The panel was composed of the Honorable José A. Cabranes, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Dr. Diego Iribarren, David Lewis, Vice-President Global Taxes for Eli Lilly, and Mr. Méndez. The panel was moderated by Miguel A. Soto-Class, President of the Puerto Rico Center for the New Economy. The FFBA and HSSCPR have also organized a conference on Judicial Independence by Justice Stephen G. Breyer and various activities with Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her first trip outside the Continental United States after being sworn in as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

  • PMA Receives Top Rankings by Chambers Global 2010 Edition

    We are proud to announce that in its 2010 Global edition, PMA received a top Band 1 ranking in the Corporate Commercial and Dispute Resolution (Litigation) areas by Chambers and Partners.

  • PMA Listed Among Top Underwriters’ Counsel for US Municipal New Issues

    Thomson Reuters issued its U.S. Municipals Review for the First Nine Months of 2009. In it, PMA was ranked seventh among US underwriters’ counsel firms for new issues of US Munis. In ranking the firms, Thomson Reuters takes into account proceeds of the issues, market share and number of deals.

  • US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico Dismisses Adversary Proceeding

    Litigation Partner Jorge I. Peirats and Associate Giselle López Soler recently obtained a judgment from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico dismissing with prejudice an adversary proceeding filed by debtor Life Flight of Puerto Rico, Inc. against Humana Health Plan of Puerto Rico, Inc. The Hon. Brian K. Tester, Bankruptcy Judge, agreed with defendant in that qualitative distinctions between air ambulance providers do not require payment of different rates under applicable law and regulations. Life Flight of Puerto Rico, Inc. v. Humana Health Plan of Puerto Rico, Inc., Case No. 08-08870 (BKT), Adversary No.09-00057.

  • Partner Néstor Méndez Plays Key Organizing Role in Events Hosting Hon. Sonia Sotomayor’s First Visit

    Partner Nestor M. Mendez was part of the committee that organized the Hon. Sonia Sotomayor’s first visit to Puerto Rico after being sworn in as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the first Latin American and third woman in our highest court. This visit was co-hosted by the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association (FFBA) and its Fellows Program, of which Néstor is a director and Life Fellow and by the Historical Society of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (HSSCPR).

  • Favorable Ruling Obtained in Preliminary Injunction Proceeding for Trademark Infringement

    Litigation Partner Jorge I. Peirats and Associate María Dolores Trelles recently obtained a preliminary injunction barring defendants from infringing client Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters LLC’s Café Yaucono and Café Rico trademarks in the United States. The preliminary injunction was issued by the Honorable Gustavo A. Gelpí, United States District Judge for the District of Puerto Rico in the case Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters, LLC et al v. Coffee Partners International Corp., Civil No.09-2243 (GAG).

  • PMA Represents University of Puerto Rico in Preliminary Injunction Hearing

    Litigation Partner Oreste R. Ramos and Associate Maritere Colon recently represented the University of Puerto Rico and its President in a preliminary injunction proceeding brought by two students claiming that the University’s decision to declare a five day recess constituted an unconstitutional prior restraint of speech. After an evidentiary hearing held the day after the case was filed, the Court denied the preliminary injunction and dismissed the complaint with prejudice.

  • Donald Hull inducted as Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys

    Partner Donald E. Hull was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA). ACMA, founded in 1974, is comprised of a select group of attorneys in the United States and Canada who are experienced in lending transactions secured by real estate. ACMA’s Fellows include private practitioners, in-house counsel, government attorneys and members of the academic community. Fellowship in ACMA is by nomination only.

  • PMA Receives Top Rankings by Chambers

    We are proud to announce that in its second edition and for a second year in a row, PMA received a top Band 1 ranking in the Corporate Commercial, Dispute Resolution (Litigation), and Real Estate practice areas by Chambers and Partners’ Latin America 2010. The publication referred to the Firm’s Corporate/Commercial practice group as “consistent across the board and with good overall strength with a range of transactional work and experience in M&A, MBOs, and financing and securities.” The litigation practice group is “renowned for a range of expertise that encompasses bankruptcy and securities litigation, constitutional law and antitrust work.” The Real Estate group was described as “a step above the rest.”

  • PMA Successfully Defends Enforceability of Forum Selection Clause in Medical Malpractice Context

    In the case of Florentino Rivera v. Centro Médico del Turabo, Inc. ____F.3d ____, 2009 WL 2343132 (1st Cir. 2009), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently affirmed Chief Judge Fusté’s dismissal of a patient’s medical malpractice claims on the basis that the patient signed a mandatory forum selection clause by virtue of which he agreed to submit any claims as a result of the medical proceeding to the Puerto Rico Court of First Instance. In what is surely a ground-breaking decision, PMA Attorneys Heidi Rodriguez and Giselle López Soler, representing the defendant hospital, argued that the case law applicable to forum selection clauses is equally applicable in the health care industry and that the forum selection clause was valid and enforceable. The First Circuit upheld the District Court’s decision, holding that, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, when a patient and a health care provider agree on a forum selection clause the same is binding and enforceable. The appellate court also affirmed the dismissal of the claims by the patient’s wife (a non-signatory party) since her claims were contingent on the patient\'s and grounded on the same nucleus of facts. In an interesting twist of events, while the case was pending, the Patients’ Advocate adopted a regulation prohibiting forum selection clauses in this context contrary to a similar regulation adopted by the Puerto Rico Health Department. PMA Attorneys are also handling the regulatory challenge.

  • PMA Attorneys in Key Roles in Federal Bar Association’s Puerto Rico Chapter.

    Oreste R. Ramos was elected Vice President and Janitza García was elected for a second term as Director of the Board of the Hon. Raymond L. Acosta Puerto Rico Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Katherine González-Valentín will continue serving the Board as Immediate Past President.

  • Katherine González delivers introductory remarks at an event in honor of Justice Sotomayor

    PMA Special Counsel Katherine Gonzalez, who recently became the President of the Hon. Raymond L. Acosta Puerto Rico Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, introduced the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor during the inaugural session of the University of Puerto Rico Law School Chapter of the FBA held on April 30, 2009. In attendance were the Honorable Emmalind García of the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge Honorable Gustavo A. Gelpí, Law School Dean Roberto Aponte, distinguished members of the law school faculty, and numerous students.

  • IN MEMORIAM: TCHERINE ANDÚJAR

    The PMA family grieves the loss and cherishes the memory of our partner, and above all, friend, Tcherine Andújar. Tcherine was a true giant in the Puerto Rico legal community. While a tax lawyer by training, specializing in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation areas, Tcherine’s practice spanned across all fields of commercial and civil law. A lawyer’s lawyer, no area of the law was foreign to him. He was a “think outside the box” professional, whose counsel was eagerly sought by clients and colleagues. Tcherine had an uncanny ability to befriend his clients and provide wise and practical advice. As one of six founding partners of the Firm and its first tax attorney, he is largely responsible for the Firm’s success, shepherding his practice group growth to one of the largest and most respected in Puerto Rico. An avid race car enthusiast and accomplished driver, Tcherine lived his life with the strength of the revving engine of his beloved racing Porsche. No one could ease the tension at a meeting like Tcherine; no one could tell a story or a joke like “el Maestro”, as the younger attorneys at the Firm dubbed him. Tcherine was a devoted son and brother, the proud father of Lucerito, Tatiana, and Mía and the loving husband of Jeanine Calderón. A standard-bearer of PMA’s core values, with a work ethic second to none, there will never be another Tcherine.

  • PMA represents Triple-S in its acquisition of La Cruz Azul de Puerto Rico

    PMA represented Triple-S, the largest managed care company in Puerto Rico, serving approximately 1.3 million members, or about 30% of the island’s population, in the purchase and integration of certain managed care assets of La Cruz Azul de Puerto Rico, Inc., which closed on July 1, 2009. In addition, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association also granted Triple-S the license for the Blue Cross brand in Puerto Rico and the Blue Cross Blue Shield brands in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a result of this acquisition, Triple-S acquired the exclusive right to use the Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and marks throughout Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

  • PMA acts as Underwriters’ Counsel in One of the Largest Sales Tax Bond Issues in US History

    PMA acted as counsel to the underwriters in a bond issue by Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation in an aggregate initial principal amount of approximately $5.3 billion. Of the $5.3 billion bond issue, approximately $4.1 billion were sold in the US tax-exempt market, while approximately $1.2 billion were sold to investors in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. PMA represented Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as representative for the underwriters, in connection with the bonds sold in the US tax-exempt market. PMA also represented UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico, as representative for the underwriters, in connection with the bonds sold to investors in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. These transactions, which closed in June 2009, represent the largest municipal bond offering by a Puerto Rico issuer and one of the largest sales tax bond issues in US history.

  • PMA Attorneys Collaborate in Product Liability Report

    PMA was invited to collaborate on the revised and updated second edition of Getting the Deal Through – Product Liability, an annual report published by Law Business Research Ltd. to provide comparative international analysis in the area of product liability law for legal practitioners and business people. Néstor M. Méndez Gómez, Heidi L. Rodríguez and María D. Trelles co-authored the section on the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico in its inclusion in this important publication for the first time. For more information, please refer to the chapter on Puerto Rico reproduced with permission from Law Business Research. This article was first published in Getting the Deal Through Product Liability published in March 2009, contributing editors Harvey L. Kaplan and Gregory L. Fowler. For further information please visit www.GettingtheDealThrough.com.

  • The Puerto Rico Supreme Court Names Litigation Associates to Committees

    The Puerto Rico Supreme Court appointed Litigation Associate Maritere Colón to a fourth consecutive term as an official grader of the Puerto Rico General Bar Examination and Litigation Associate María D. Trelles Hernández to the Board of the Continuing Legal Education Program.

  • Dealer and Distribution Practice Group Obtains a Favorable Ruling on Behalf of Client

    In the pending arbitration of National Flour v. Santiago, Partner Jorge I. Peirats and Associate Giselle López-Soler obtained a favorable ruling on behalf of a claimant that is a principal to a distribution agreement. Under the parties’ agreement, the law of Alabama, rather than Puerto Rico’s Act 75, applied. Oftentimes, distributors will invoke Act 75, even when the terms of the contract state that the law of another forum will govern, in order to benefit from the statute’s “for cause only” termination or impairment provisions. Respondent claimed that Act 75’s strong public policy and ban on the application of foreign laws ought to have invalidated the choice of law provision. The Arbitrator held that Alabama substantive law controlled.

  • PMA Sponsors XV Miguel Velázquez Rivera Debate Competition University of Puerto Rico Law School

    PMA was proud to be one of the sponsors of the XV Miguel Velázquez Rivera Debate Competition held by the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Law. One of the Firm’s Partners, Heidi Rodríguez, judged the competition’s final round together with Hon. Anabelle Rodríguez, Associate Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, and Luis Román, Esq., Director of the Legislation and Opinion Division at the Department of Justice (and a former associate of the Firm). After the teams from the different law schools in the Island debated issues of a woman’s right to choose and the local statute suspending living wills during a patient’s pregnancy, the panel of Judges declared the team from the Eugenio María de Hostos Law School as the winner. The Firm congratulates all of the participating teams and the Editorial Board of the 78th Volume of the UPR’s Law Review for a successful endeavor.

  • PMA Represents Hospital Before Joint Commission

    PMA represented a hospital in a review petition filed and argued before The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to obtain a reversal of a notice of preliminary denial.

  • PMA's Dealer and Distribution Group Scores Victory for Client at Preliminary Injuction Phase

    Litigation Partner Jorge I. Peirats and Associate Maritere Colón recently achieved a favorable outcome for one of its clients against which a request for preliminary injunction was filed under Act 75 (dealer's act) and Act 21 (sales representative's act) and in the alternative for a provisional remedy under Rule 56 of the Puerto Rico Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court of First Instance, San Juan Part, dismissed the Act 75 and Act 21 causes of action and denied the request for a provisional remedy. The Opinion and Order was issued after a seven-day evidentiary hearing.

  • Partner Néstor Méndez chosen as a Member of the National Board of the Foundation of the Federal Bar

    Litigation Partner Néstor Méndez was appointed to serve a three year term on the Board of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association. The Foundation is a non-profit, Congressionally-chartered organization that is separate, but works closely with the Federal Bar Association. Its mission is to promote and support legal research and education; advance the science of jurisprudence; facilitate the administration of justice; and foster improvements in the practice of federal law. The FBA Foundation also runs the FBA Fellows Program.

  • Governor Elect Fortuño Taps PMA Partner for Economic and Fiscal Reconstruction Advisory Council

    At the request of Governor Elect Luis Fortuño, Partner Manuel R. Pietrantoni has joined a group of fourteen prominent Puerto Rico business leaders to recommend solutions to address and tackle the Island’s fiscal and economic challenges. As reported in the Tuesday November 11, 2008 edition of The Puerto Rico Daily Sun, the “work of the . . . [Economic and Fiscal Reconstruction Advisory Council] . . . is intended to guide the Fortuño administration after it takes office [on] January 2, 2009.”

  • PMA successfully defends Banco Popular de Puerto Rico in antitrust case,

    Ticket Center Inc. v. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Case Num. 04-cv-20621. On October 31, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico granted Banco Popular\'s motion for summary judgment and dismissed a $45 million Complaint for Ticket Center’s failure to provide any admissible evidence to prove that Banco Popular engaged in any anti-competitive activity in violation of the Bank Holding Company Act or the Sherman Act.

  • Néstor M. Méndez Gómez participates in induction of Federal Judge Hiram R. Cancio as FBA Life Fellow

    The Firm congratulates Néstor M. Méndez Gómez, a Life Fellow of the Federal Bar Association Foundation, for his contribution to the Historical Portraits Project undertaken by the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Néstor helped to organize a July 10, 2008 ceremony to unveil three portraits of former judges of the Court, including that of its first Article III Judge, Hiram R. Cancio and was the spokesperson during the induction of Judge Cancio as a Life Fellow at the event.

  • PMA Represents Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corporation, in the establishment.

    A team of PMA attorneys led by Jaime Santos, assisted Pratt & Whitney in the establishment in Puerto Rico of Axon Puerto Rico, a new joint venture entity dedicated to the business of providing information and technology services to commercial enterprises, primarily in the aerospace and defense sectors.

  • PMA Acts as Underwriters’ Counsel in Largest Equity Offering in Puerto Rico’s History.

    PMA acted as counsel to UBS and Popular Securities in a $400 million public underwritten preferred stock offering by Popular, Inc. This transaction which closed in May 2008 represents the largest public offering of equity securities in the Puerto Rico market.

  • PMA Represents Local Developer in the Financing of the New St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort.

    A team of PMA attorneys, led by Ignacio Alvarez, Antonio Santos and Antonio Molina represented Bahía Beach CH Development, LLC in the successful closing in June 2008, of a $119 million financing for the construction of the St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort, Puerto Rico’s first five star hotel. PMA has been assisting this client in the overall development of the 600 acre Bahía Beach Resort since its commencement.

  • PMA Continues Active in M&A Transactions.

    PMA recently represented the purchaser in the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Puerto Rico’s largest coffee enterprise, Yaucono, which closed in June 2008. PMA also acted as the lead counsel to the seller in the sale of Borschow Hospital & Medical Supplies, Inc. to a subsidiary of Cardinal Health, Inc., which closed in August 2008.

  • PMA successfully defends client in an Act 75 (PR Dealer’s Act) termination claim.

    The Puerto Rico Court of First Instance, Mayagüez Part, dismissed the dealer’s claim with prejudice after two weeks of trial. Partners Jorge I. Peirats and Oreste R. Ramos were counsel for the successful defendant.