Coto & Associates


Headquarters: San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 The Best Lawyers in Puerto Rico award

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Coto & Associates is currently composed of four (4) attorneys, with a Managing Partner, two (2) Associates, one (1) Special Counsel, and one (1) Paralegal. The firm was originally formed in January 1999, when Ramón Coto-Ojeda separated from the local corporate firm of McConnell Valdés, Puerto Rico´s largest law firm, after over fifteen (15) 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 streamlined staffing of cases and matters, directly through one of the experienced partners, rather than through tiers of associates or senior/junior partners. In addition, all the attorneys strive for 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 clients' 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 has represented Shell, Esso, Gulf, and Tropigas de Puerto Rico, Inc. We have a 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 related 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 Puerto Rico Best Lawyers© listing for seven (7) consecutive 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 in the 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.

Management & Demographics
Clients
Clients
  • Acciona Infraestructura, S.A.
  • Artic-Kar
  • Banco de Sangre de Humacao, Inc.
  • Banco de Sangre de Servicios Mutuos, Inc.
  • Bermúdez, Longo, Díaz, Masso, LLC
  • Brightview Landscape
  • Clemens Foods
  • Clifford Chance
  • Correctional Health Services Corp.
  • Data Access
  • Dell Computer Corporation
  • Discover Financial Services
  • Dr. José Guillermo Amy
  • First Transit
  • General Auto Interior, Inc.
  • Gerald Christiansen Santaella
  • Grocery Manufacturers Association
  • Groopal Bank
  • Hogan Lovells
  • James River Insurance
  • Liberty Mutual Insurance
  • Los Cangris, Inc.
  • Mandys BBQ
  • McCain Foods
  • Metric Engineering of Puerto Rico, PSC
  • Metric Engineering, Inc.
  • Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc.
  • Nestlé Puerto Rico, Inc.
  • Payco Foods Corporation
  • Procore Technologies, Inc.
  • Progasco, Inc.
  • Quirch Foods
  • Stonecrest Partners
  • System One
  • Terumo Acquisition
  • Tire Group Inc
  • Transcaribbean Maritime Corp
  • Tropigas de Puerto Rico Inc.
  • Tyson Foods
  • Winnet Connection
  • World Films Inc.
Contacts
Contacts
Carlos G. Cabrera-Rivera
Law Clerk
787 460-1604
Vanellies Santiago-Rivera
Lawyer
787 460-1604
Gabriel A. Rosa-Cruz
Lawyer
787 400-0069
Wanda I. Mossetty-Meléndez
Office Manager
(787) 536-5634
Edna E. Pérez-Román
Special Counsel
(787) 501-0477
Ramón Coto-Ojeda
Managing Partner
787 460-1604
Vanessa Muñiz López
Paralegal
787 306-4954

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  • Administrative Law
  • Appellate Practice
  • Arbitration and Mediation
  • Banking and Finance Law
  • Communications Law
  • Competition / Antitrust Law
  • Construction Law
  • Corporate and M&A Law
  • Employee Benefits Law
  • Energy Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Franchise Law
  • Insolvency and Reorganization Law
  • Intellectual Property Law
  • International Arbitration
  • Investment
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Litigation
  • Personal Injury Litigation
  • Privacy and Data Security Law
  • Product Liability Litigation
  • Real Estate Law
  • Structured Finance Law
  • Tax Law
  • Technology Law
  • Trade Law
  • Transportation Law
  • Trusts and Estates

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Awards
  • Best Lawyers for Puerto Rico 2020

    -Franchise Law

    -Intelectual Property Law

    -Litigation

  • Best Lawyers for Puerto Rico 2019

    -Franchise Law

    -Intelectual Property Law

    -Litigation

  • Best Lawyers for Puerto Rico 2018

    -Franchise Law

    -Intelectual Property Law

    -Litigation

  • Best Lawyers for Puerto Rico 2017

    -Franchise Law

    -Intelectual Property Law

    -Litigation

  • Best Lawyers for Puerto Rico 2016

    -Franchise Law

    -Intelectual Property Law

    -Litigation

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