Dispute resolution in Dominican Republic

Noted for its 'excellent analytical capacity' and 'first-rate services', Headrick Rizik Alvarez & Fernández balances an active and broad dispute resolution practice, with expertise across a wide variety of cases, including civil, commercial, labour, administrative, constitutional, consumer, intellectual property, criminal and real estate disputes. The firm is known for defending clients before judicial, arbitral, administrative and constitutional courts including at the highest levels. Founding partner Francisco Álvarez is particularly active in cases involving banking and tax issues, where he is highly regarded. Julio Camejo, who also acts as arbitrator, is active in the energy, manufacturing and banking sectors, and Tomás Hernández is an expert in labour and employment litigation.

Highly reputed boutique firm Medina Garrigó Abogados receives praise for its 'excellent quality services'. Founding partner and practice head Fabiola Medina is an experienced tax, administrative and civil litigator, and she is also active in arbitration proceedings. Her department additionally focuses on the areas of commercial litigation, competition law, public procurement, labour, constitutional and white-collar criminal law. On the pro bono side, the firm takes up cases and defends victims of harassment and other types of violence in the workplace. Administrative cases, regulation, antitrust and consumer protection matters are among associate Melissa Silié Ruiz's specialisms. Jesús Francos is also noted.

The highly regarded disputes team at Pellerano & Herrera represents both plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving labour and shareholder disputes, product liability and consumer rights, as well as real estate, tax, IP, competition and white-collar criminal litigation. Vitelio Mejía Ortiz, who has longstanding experience in the aviation and sports sectors, and Lucy Objío, who stands out for assisting clients in the maritime industry and with commercial arbitration, co-head the practice. Foreign investors and multinational companies are the group's most frequent clients, and the firm also distinguishes itself through its regular involvement in pro bono matters, where it has experience acting for high-profile individuals. Felix Fernandez is now with DMK Abogados. Yolemny Cruz is also noted.

Pereyra & Asociados' comprehensive dispute resolution offering particularly stands out in cases involving breaches of contract, damages, liability and tort, as well as criminal, family, labour, commercial, administrative and constitutional litigation. The team also showcases particular expertise in matters regarding the alleged violation of real estate ownership rights, a specialism held by both key figures Luis Miguel Pereyra, who heads up the practice, and Gregorio García. Both lawyers are highly appreciated as civil and commercial litigators, as well as arbitrators.

'Efficient, attentive and knowledgeable', Biaggi Abogados is highly specialised in labour disputes, which increased for the firm between 2020 and 2021, corruption and white-collar criminal law matters, and real estate litigation. An increasing number of private clients are also represented by the team. Medical malpractice litigation is another area of interest for the firm, especially for co-head Wanda Perdomo, whose core area of practice is arbitration. Co-head Gustavo Biaggi is also highly regarded; he is predominantly active in white-collar criminal, civil and tax disputes, as well as administrative disputes and alternative dispute resolution. Heidy Guerrero and Nelys Rivas are additional names to note.

DMK Abogados represents international and local clients operating across various sectors, including tourism, pharmaceuticals, energy and real estate. Recently, the firm expanded its litigation focus significantly through the hire of Felix Fernandez, who joined in June 2021 from Pellerano & Herrera and has a niche specialism in cybercrime litigation, and Iván García Elsevyf, who re-joined the firm and has over 15 years of experience focusing on civil, commercial, labour and real estate litigation. Nelson Jáquez, who leads the department alongside García, stood out in 2020 for acting in a public-private conflict in the airports sector in connection to the construction project of the Bavaro International Airport and a series of alleged irregularities and defects in the approval and compliance processes. Labour and administrative litigation is another strength for the firm.

Guzmán Ariza has a well-established litigation and arbitration practice. The department is under the leadership of the highly regarded Fabio Guzmán Ariza, who focuses his practice on civil procedure, labour, medical malpractice litigation and arbitration, while his team is particularly noted for handling numerous bankruptcy and restructuring procedures involving trusts, and for its expertise in white-collar criminal law. Rhadaisis Espinal is an expert in civil and commercial litigation, and Julio Brea Guzmán additionally covers administrative, real estate and condominium-related litigation. Alberto Reyes Báez acts for both corporate and individual clients in a broad range of business disputes.

Jiménez Peña‘s dispute resolution team is well known for its international arbitration practice, which is a notable strength for the firm. A particularly outstanding area is investment treaty arbitration, especially relating to the energy, infrastructure, mining and hospitality sectors, among others. The team, which represents both foreign investors and the Dominican Republic, also has a strong track record in obtaining recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the Dominican courts. Litigation is carried out both in commercial and civil disputes, as well as before specialised administrative, labour, real estate, criminal, appellate and constitutional courts. Rosa Díaz and Marcos Peña jointly lead the department. Since publication, senior associate Laura Medina Acosta has been raised to the partnership and will co-lead the firm's arbitration practice.

At OMG, associates Tristán Carbuccia and Natachú Domínguez are in charge of the firm's conflict management department. Carbuccia specialises in foreclosure and collection proceedings, alternative dispute resolution, criminal, administrative and constitutional law, and Domínguez focuses on labour and civil litigation. Both lawyers are also active as arbitrators and are members of the list of arbitrators of the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution of the Chamber of Commerce of Santo Domingo. Corporate law expert Esperanza Cabral also leads on many significant cases.

Russin, Vecchi & Heredia Bonetti has a broad litigation practice, and acts for clients in contractual disputes, notably those involving distribution issues in the Dominican Republic, fraud, tax, IP, labour and family law matters, among other areas. Life sciences, aviation, energy, real estate and telecoms are sectors in which the team is particularly active. Department head Georges Santoni Recio's practice focuses on civil and commercial litigation and insurance disputes, and he is also active in alternative dispute resolution and arbitration. The firm is a member of Meritas, a global alliance of independent business law firms. Rosa Campillo Celado and Luis Heredia Valenzuela are other key contacts.

ECIJA DVMS has a particularly good recognition in the sports and baseball industries, areas in which practice head Edward Salcedo excels. He is well known for acting as main litigation counsel for several Major League Baseball clubs, and is also often involved in cases regarding foreclosure proceedings, liquidations, arbitration and private international law matters. Associate litigators Erika Gomez and Arístides Victoria stand out for representing clients in matters involving employment, real estate, public policy, data protection and intellectual property matters.

In addition to corporate law, litigation is a core area of focus at Guzmán & Molina, Abogados. Its service offering includes conflict management and dispute resolution both in private and public law, the main areas of activity including commercial and corporate conflicts, tort claims, foreclosures and bankruptcy. In addition, the team is equipped to assist in tax, administrative, criminal, labour and real estate matters. Firm co-founder and disputes practice head Lucas Guzmán is an arbitration expert, and his group is a partner in the firm network IR Global in connection to commercial arbitration.

With litigation as its main focus, Martínez, Peña & Fernández is well known for representing clients in tort, banking, contract, constitutional and administrative cases, and is praised for its 'global vision'. The group advises several banks and international corporations, as well as government and local state clients. The team is co-led by Richard Martínez Amparo, whose main areas include civil, tort, banking and contract law litigation; Abraham Fernández Arbaje, who stands out for his corporate, regulatory, real state and criminal law practice; and Luis Peña Jiménez, who covers administrative, political and constitutional law disputes.

Pellerano Nadal has extensive dispute resolution expertise, and 'maintains highly agile and easy-to-use communication channels'. The department is led jointly by Gustavo Mena and Luis Pellerano and provides a full-service offering, including civil, commercial and criminal litigation as well as assistance with debt recovery and bankruptcy matters. Pellerano is known for covering tax disputes, terminations of agreements, and labour matters, among others. Mena focuses on securities, IP and commercial litigation, and is also an expert environmental law specialist and arbitrator. Belkys Génesis Rodríguez and Urania Paulino are also noted.

De Camps, Vásquez & Valera stands out for its considerable experience in real estate-related litigation, and is also well versed in cases involving public procurement, tax, labour and constitutional law. Diana De Camps Contreras can regularly be found taking a lead role in the firm's key cases; she leads the department alongside Amauris Vásquez Disla, who specialises in the financial services, energy and infrastructure sectors.

Ulises Cabrera Abogados‘ dispute resolution department often acts in cases involving forced evictions, licensing contracts and contractual civil liability, as well as in judicial processes deriving from the application of sanctions resulting from financial crimes and traffic accidents. The team, which includes Ulises Cabrera and José Cruz Campillo, who joined from Jiménez Peña in March 2020, also has experience in representing domestic shipping companies and foreign insurers in civil liability and damages claims arising from maritime transport activities. Senior associate Iónides De Moya heads the department. Since publication, the practice group has been further strengthened with the hire of Ramón A Lantigua as a senior associate in November 2021; he was formerly at Philip Morris as regulatory affairs manager.