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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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