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Firm
Coto & Associates is
currently composed of six attorneys, with three associates and
two special counsels, with two paralegals and a staff of
approximately 10 persons. The firm was originally formed in
January 1999, when Ramon Coto-Ojeda separated from the local
corporate firm of McConnell Valdés, Puerto Rico´s largest law
firm, after over fifteen years in that practice. As can be
discerned from our individual and firm profiles, and from our
representative client list, Coto & Associates practice is a
multi-disciplined corporate full legal services firm.
We grant our clients a streamlined staffing of cases and
matters, directly through one of the experienced partners,
rather than through tiers of associates or junior partners. In
addition, all the attorneys strive on accessibility and agility
in responding to clients’ requests in a results oriented
fashion. We seek to address issues rapidly yet maintaining
control of legal expenses for our clients. We attempt to make
our client’s issues and concerns our own.
Coto & Associates is
engaged in the following practice areas: general civil,
commercial, securities, tax and environmental litigation,
petroleum marketing practices, liquid petroleum gas industry,
warranty and products liability, food claims, bids and
government procurement, corporate, real estate, commercial
banking, telecommunications, trusts and estates, bankruptcy and
workouts, collections and foreclosures, antitrust and trade
regulation, alternative dispute resolution, trademarks and
copyrights, distribution and franchising, labor and employment
law, and Cuba matters.
We have substantial experience in practically all facets of the
petroleum industry having represented Shell, Esso, and Gulf. We
currently represent Tropigas de Puerto Rico, Inc. in the liquid
petroleum gas industry.
We have and currently handle warranty and product liability
cases and matters for several clients in the food processing
industry and appear regularly before the Department of Consumer
Affairs (“DACO”, for its Spanish acronym) on these and other
enforcement proceedings related to the petroleum and automotive
industries. We also handle our corporate clients’ consumer
affairs issues, claims and regulatory affairs involving such
varied areas as labeling, deceptive advertisements, unfair trade
practices, advertisements, contests, and promotions all of which
fall under the DACO umbrella.
Another one of our strongest practice areas is distribution and
franchise law and, in particular, Act 75 and Act 21
consultations, contract preparation and relationship
documentation, mediation (both as advocates for clients and as
mediators), arbitration (both as advocates and as party
appointed arbitrators or selected by peers as the third
arbitrator or the sole arbitrator), and litigation. Our firm has
been named to the Puerto Rico Best Lawyers© listing for five
straight years in the practice areas of Franchise Law (that
encompasses distribution law), Intellectual Property Law, and
Litigation. We have handled diverse matters of distribution and
sales representation relationships involving hundreds of goods
and services in numerous industries including food, confections,
and food services, distilled spirits (including beer and wine),
medical devices, pharmaceuticals, automotive, tobacco,
advertising sales, telecommunications, and bicycles, among
others.
The firm also has handled securities industry customer claims
against the firm’s securities clients, including arbitrations
and mediations, over allegations of churning, lack of
supervision, compliance, unauthorized trading, and selling away
cases, before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
(FINRA), which is the largest independent regulator for all
securities firms.
We have worked with several corporate clients´ Caribbean,
Central and South America initiatives in developing and
overseeing specific projects.
We are also involved in real estate work, including negotiations
of shopping center leases and other projects, for several
clients in the retail, telecommunications, construction, and
petroleum industries. We have worked in the past with several
title insurance companies and successfully litigated or resolved
numerous claims arising under title insurance policies.
We believe that the attorneys vast alternative dispute
resolution experience-both as mediators and arbitrators- is key
to any process of ascertaining early on the least cost vs. best
case outcomes of claims and disputes.
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