ECIJA DVMS > Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic > Firm Profile

ECIJA DVMS Offices

ECIJA DVMS
Calle Rafael Augusto Sánchez Nº86
Torre Roble Corporate Center, Piso 1
Suite 201D, Piantini, Santo Domingo
10148
Dominican Republic
Visit website 1 809 289 2343

Profiles

ECIJA DVMS > The Legal 500 Rankings

Dominican Republic > Banking and finance Tier 2

ECIJA DVMS is noted for its wide-ranging international client base, which includes banks and wealth management companies, and so is well equipped to take on cross-border mandates, with particular strength in trusts and project finance. At the head of the practice, the ‘excellent‘ Polibio Valenzuela is highlighted for his ‘knowledge of the industry‘ and experience of representing both lenders and borrowers, and Christian Molina is a key name for the structuring of trusts. Gabriel Dejarden stands out for cross-border transactions and corporate finance. Senior associate Erika Gomez provides capable support.

Practice head(s):

Polibio Valenzuela; Christian Molina

Testimonials

‘They have a highly committed team with a synergy that enhances the service they offer their clients.‘

‘The understanding they have of their client’s transactions is excellent.‘

‘The lawyers are very prepared to deal with the issues or needs that we have had, and they offer us a quality service which makes us feel confident in their recommendations or proposals. In addition, we have had the good experience of being able to contact them without any problems in difficult situations or moments that have required a quick response.‘

‘The team has a lot of industry knowledge, and they give practical solutions to complex issues.‘

‘Polibio Valenzuela is an excellent lawyer and demonstrates his knowledge of the industry at all times. Erika Gómez is very attentive to detail.‘

‘The lawyers provide an attentive, rapid and personalised service.‘

‘They are interested in getting to know in depth the needs of the parties prior to issuing their legal opinions. Christian Molina is a reliable legal adviser – he has extensive experience and makes us feel safe through his advice.‘

Key clients

TC Latin American Partners

CCI Puesto de Bolsa

Grupo Ramos

Panac Hotels Dominicana

Ministerio de Vivienda y Edificaciones (Ministry of Housing and Construction)

Fiduciaria Reservas

Asset Wealth Management

Asociación de Fiduciarias Dominicanas

ING Bank

Italbank International

Oikocredit Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society

Bancaribe International Bank

Central American Bank for Economic Integration

PDC Capital

Elliott Management Corporation

The OPEC Fund for International Development

Work highlights

  • Assisted the Ministry of Housing and Construction with the structuring of a public trust for the contracting, development and financing of over 7,500 low-income homes with an investment of over $350m.
  • Assisting Perla del Sur Investment Group with all financing aspects related to the construction and development of the Perla del Sur hotel in Barahona.
  • Advised TC Latin America Partners on incorporating and obtaining regulatory authorisation to operate as an investment fund manager in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic > Labour and employment Tier 2

Edward Salcedo and Gabriel Dejarden are at the helm of the team at ECIJA DVMS, which assists clients with a range of contentious and non-contentious labour and employment matters, including internal policies, the hiring and dismissal of high-level employees, the labour aspects of M&A transactions and internal compliance audits. The firm’s large international network enables the group to advise multinational clients based in the Dominican Republic and numerous other jurisdictions in Latin America. Dejarden's varied workload covers the full range of labour matters, while Salcedo focuses on labour litigation.

Practice head(s):

Edward Salcedo; Gabriel Dejarden

Testimonials

‘The response time is phenomenal. They also offer alternatives and agile solutions, always seeking to improve the customer experience.‘

‘The team stand out for the way in which they put themselves in their clients’ shoes, as well as the follow-up and accessibility. It is extremely easy to contact them by phone or email.‘

Key clients

Costa Farms

Sewn Products

Wurth Dominicana

Pfizer

DHL Dominicana

Atlanta Braves

Texas Rangers

Helidosa Aviation Group

Club de Descuentos Vacacionales

Houston Astros

Grupo Lácteo del Caribe (Dos Pinos)

New York Mets

Pittsburgh Pirates

Eurofresh

Milwaukee Brewers

St. Louis Cardinals

Minnesota Twins

Thomas L. Cardella & Associates

Work highlights

  • Assisted Helidosa with the defence of labour claims and subsequent successful settlements resulting from a fatal plane crash at Las Americas Airport.
  • Defending the Minnesota Twins against a $ 50m labour claim filed by a former player, in a case with complex conflict of laws and jurisdiction issues.
  • Advised Theorum on the dismissal of employees as a result of the closure of its operations in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic > Real estate and tourism Tier 2

Standout work for the real estate and tourism group at international firm ECIJA DVMS, which has offices across Europe and Latin America, includes advising on a high-end tourism project considered the largest in the south of the Dominican Republic. In addition to project development, the team routinely advises on real estate acquisitions and lease agreements (most notably for Major League Baseball clients) and regulatory approvals. Gabriel Dejarden and Polibio Valenzuela are the duo heading up the team, while Christian Molina is also noted for his extensive experience of assisting real estate developers with M&A matters. Senior counsel Paola Checo and senior associate Deydania Comas provide key support with commercial contracting and procurement matters.

Practice head(s):

Gabriel Dejarden; Polibio Valenzuela

Testimonials

‘ECIJA lawyers are specialists in customer service, handling all my real estate issues with dedication. They are true professionals. I have worked with them exclusively for over 10 years, and I would not change them.‘

‘Customer service, sophistication, reasonable prices and a lot of attention to detail. They are international, and they really connect with the client’s business.‘

Key clients

Limburg Investment (Real Estate Holding for RCD Hotels)

Capital Crédito e Inversiones (CCI)

Texas Rangers

Qualita Constructora

Ministry of Housing and Construction

CCI Puesto de Bolsa

TC Latin America Partners

Vesta Consultants

Work highlights

  • Assisted CCI Puesto de Bolsa with the structuring of a high-value corporate bond issuance by Panac Hotel Dominicana.
  • Assisted Texas Rangers with all due diligence, title insurance and agreements necessary to complete the purchase of the land where the team is operating a new baseball academy.
  • Assisted a major player in the oil and gas industry with the remediation of a potentially contaminated site.

Dominican Republic > Corporate and M&A Tier 3

ECIJA DVMS' international presence, with a network of offices in Europe and Latin America, leaves it well equipped to handle cross-border M&A, acting as local counsel for an array of clients from trust companies and domestic private clients through to large multinationals. At the helm of the practice, Polibio Valenzuela, who is admitted to practise in New York and the Dominican Republic, is a go-to contact for M&A in the banking, retail, utilities and hospitality sectors, and Gabriel Dejarden is active in corporate finance, M&A and corporate governance (with niche expertise in the baseball industry).

Practice head(s):

Polibio Valenzuela; Gabriel Dejarden

Testimonials

‘The firm’s level of knowledge is highly specialised. The distinctive thing is their handling of transactions: the team has the ability to understand the particularities that each transaction could have.’

‘The competence of the partners and their willingness to innovate makes them stand out in the market.’

Key clients

TC Latin American Partners

CCI Puesto de Bolsa

Pfizer Central America & Caribbean

St. Louis Cardinals

Houston Astros

Asociación de Fiduciarias Dominicanas – ASOFIDOM

Credicefi

New York Mets

Wurth Mexico

CPS

Atlanta Braves

DHL

Texas Rangers

Grupo Lácteo del Caribe (a subsidiary of Cooperativa de Productores de Leche Dos Pinos)

Costa Farms

Work highlights

  • Assisted Pfizer with all legal matters concerning the supply of nearly ten million Covid-19 vaccines to the Dominican Republic’s government.
  • Advised a Major League Baseball team on the update and re-design of the tax and corporate structure necessary to operate its baseball academy in the Dominican Republic.
  • Assisting a major international client in the natural resources industry with the due diligence process for an acquisition as part of its plan to enter the Dominican market.

Dominican Republic > Dispute resolution Tier 3

International firm ECIJA DVMS is especially active in litigation and arbitration in the sports sector, with an emphasis on the baseball industry; its recent highlights include representing the Texas Rangers in a breach of contract and damages claim. The team also has notable strong suits in foreclosure and debt recovery proceedings and in litigation relating to agency contracts. Practice head Edward Salcedo handles the full spectrum of litigation, ably assisted by senior associates Arístides Victoria and Erika Gomez.

Practice head(s):

Edward Salcedo

Testimonials

‘They pay a lot of attention to detail, have unquestionable technical capacity and are excellent litigators. Their track record of success in my cases, to date, is 100%.‘

‘Their responses are practically instantaneous and they are very efficient with providing reports on the status of all my cases. They are true specialists. Edward Salcedo is in charge of organising my defence at all levels and his associates Arístides Victoria and Erika Gómez are excellent in managing the day-to-day affairs of my cases, very efficiently and successfully.‘

Key clients

Mercantil Farmacéutica

St. Louis Cardinals

Atlanta Braves

Eurofresh

DHL

Helidosa Aviation Group

Minnesota Twins

Houston Astros

San Diego Padres

Grupo Lácteo del Caribe Gruplac (Dos Pinos)

New York Mets

Colorado Rockies

Wurth Dominicana

Rangers Baseball

Alvaro Skupin and Nancy Alvarez

T.E.V.A. & Asociados (Credicefi)

Texas Rangers

Work highlights

  • Representing the Texas Rangers in a $250m breach of contract and discrimination claim filed by a prospect before the Dominican courts.
  • Representing a multinational pharmaceutical company in a complex $4.4m damages claim under Law 173 filed by a local distributor before the Dominican courts.
  • Representing the Colorado Rockies in an arbitration claim seeking $5m in compensation filed by a former player before the Center for the Resolution of Disputes of the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Production.

ECIJA DVMS > Firm Profile

The firm: ECIJA is a European law firm with headquarters in Spain and offices in Portugal, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and El Salvador. ECIJA has a multidisciplinary team of over 300 professionals, with exceptional experience in their areas of specialization, enabled to work in different jurisdictions, with extensive knowledge of the different industries and international markets. ECIJA is a client-focused law firm with the agility and personal service of a high-end boutique firm and the multidisciplinary experience of a large firm. ECIJA is a full-service firm with significant experience and is specialized in the practice areas required by international clients to invest and operate in Central America and the Caribbean.

Main areas of practice
Corporate: the firm provides corporate and M&A services for both local and international clients. The practice in M&A is multi-jurisdictional, focused on transactions with a regional component in Central America and the Caribbean markets. The team is trained in legal project management tools in order to control time and cost of any transaction.

Banking and finance: the team includes prestigious attorneys who have assisted important international and local banks with sophisticated transactions. The firm’s services involve many aspects of the complex regulatory financial world, including syndicated credit facilities, project finance and banking products such as leasing, factoring, confirming, mortgages, pledges and credit cards.

Dispute resolution: ECIJA has a strong practice for dispute resolution both in local courts and arbitration. The disputes include commercial, civil, investment and government. Regarding arbitration, the firms has a regional practice of several partners with strong experience and skills in international arbitration using the ICC, AAA and UNCITRAL rules, and also with local rules in each country.

Technology and data privacy: ECIJA in one of the leading firms in LatAm for technology and data privacy practices. The team focuses on the technology industry for complex transactions, M&A and software developments.

Employment and human rights: the firm has a strong practice in employment matters from the employer perspective. The services include litigation, technology issues relating to employment, company restructuring, immigration and compliance. ECIJA’s practice in human rights is focused on compliance with international standards in five areas: gender, age, functional diversity, social origin, and diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Administrative and infrastructure: the services provided by ECIJA range from managing regulatory aspects of the relationship from the regulatory point of view between the client and the government throughout the execution of agreements with public entities.

Energy: ECIJA is one of the most recognized and acknowledged law firms in the structuring and development of energy projects in the Central American region because of its vast experience in the field. The services include regulatory aspects related to obtaining licenses and authorizations, as well as the contractual aspects of negotiating agreements for electricity purchase with distribution companies. The relevant experience and knowledge of energy project developments also covers construction and financing agreements.

Trusts: the firm has advised regional and foreign clients in connection with the incorporation of trust companies, the opening of internal trust departments and the design of business transactions which employ trust structures, including philanthropic, administration, guaranty, and real estate development trusts. Likewise, ECIJA has advised local banks in connection with the implementation of trust operations that include financing structures.

Foreign investment: ECIJA has a regional legal team that is prepared to advise foreign investors on how to structure their investment in any country of the region, including aspects such as obtaining the benefits of various tax incentive regimes and dealing with customs issues that come up when importing or exporting goods and services.

Lawyer Profiles

Photo Name Position Profile
Gabriel Dejarden photo Gabriel Dejarden Managing Partner at ECIJA DVMS Dominican Republic View Profile
Christian Molina photo Christian Molina Partner View Profile
Edward Salcedo photo Edward Salcedo Partner View Profile
Polibio Valenzuela photo Polibio Valenzuela Partner View Profile

ECIJA DVMS > Firm Profile

The firm: ECIJA is a Iberoamerican law firm with offices in Dominican Republic, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. ECIJA has a multidisciplinary team of over 750 professionals, with exceptional experience in their areas of specialization, enabled to work in different jurisdictions, with extensive knowledge of the different industries and international markets. ECIJA is a client-focused law firm with the agility and personal service of a high-end boutique firm and the multidisciplinary experience of a large firm. ECIJA is a full-service firm with significant experience and specialized in the practice areas required by international clients to invest and operate globally.

The firm offers an unrivalled integrated cross-border platform in the Iberoamerican market. Since 2019, ECIJA has merged with 16 law firms and has become the largest Iberoamerican law firm in Latin America. Nowadays, ECIJA has 29 offices in 16 countries. Furthermore, in 2019 ECIJA signed the biggest strategic agreement between an Iberoamerican and a Chinese firm to create a joint venture with the 4th largest firm in China (Grandall Law). The agreement brought together 3,500 lawyers and 54 offices in Iberia, Latin America and Asia. “To put that in perspective, that is comparable with CMS and Norton Rose Fulbright, some of the biggest firms in the world by headcount.” Law.com

Main areas of practice
Corporate: the firm provides corporate and M&A services for both local and international clients. The practice in M&A is multi-jurisdictional, focused on transactions with a regional component in Latin American markets. The team is trained in legal project management tools in order to control time and cost of any transaction.

Banking and finance: the team includes prestigious attorneys who have assisted important international and local banks with sophisticated transactions. The firm’s services involve many aspects of the complex regulatory financial world, including syndicated credit facilities, project finance and banking products such as leasing, factoring, mortgages, pledges and credit cards.

Dispute resolution: ECIJA has a strong practice for dispute resolution both in local courts and arbitration. The disputes include commercial, civil, investment and government. Regarding arbitration, the firms has a regional practice of several partners with strong experience and skills in international arbitration using the ICC, AAA and UNCITRAL rules, and also with local rules in each country.

Technology and data privacy: ECIJA in one of the leading firms in the LatAm market for technology and data privacy matters. The team focuses on complex transactions, M&A and software development engagements.

Employment: the firm has a strong practice in employment matters from the employer perspective. The services include litigation, technology issues related to the employment, company’s restructuring, immigration and compliance.

Energy: the services include regulatory aspects related to obtaining licenses and authorizations, as well as the contractual aspects of negotiating agreements for electricity purchase with distribution companies. The relevant experience and knowledge of energy project developments also covers construction and financing agreements.

Trusts: the firm has advised regional and foreign clients in connection with the incorporation of trust companies, the opening of internal trust departments and the design of business transactions which employ trust structures, including philanthropic, administration, guaranty, and real estate development trusts. Likewise, ECIJA has advised local banks in connection with the implementation of trust operations that include financing structures.

Foreign investment: ECIJA has a regional legal team that is prepared to advise foreign investors on how to structure their investment in any country of the region, including aspects such as obtaining the benefits of various tax incentive regimes and dealing with customs issues that come up when importing or exporting goods and services.

Real estate: ECIJA is a well-known player in the real estate market in Latin America.  The team has developed special capacities in the baseball industry, and the development of multi-purpose and touristic projects.  ECIJA provides its services from developers of projects to individual investors seeking a second home.  The firm advises developers since the acquisition of the land through the permit process and until a final product is delivered to customers.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Managing Partner | Corporate/M&A, Labour Law, Real Estate, Leisure & Tourism, Trust, Banking and Finance Gabriel Dejarden gdejarden@ecija.com T. +1 (809) 289-2343
Partner Trust, Banking, Real Estate, Leisure & Tourism, Corporate/M&A, Labour Law, Dispute Resolution Christian Molina cmolina@ecija.com T. +1 (809) 289-2343
Partner Dispute Resolution, Real Estate, Labour Law, Sports and Entretaiment Law Edward Salcedo esalcedo@ecija.com T. +1 (809) 289-2343
Partner Banking & finance, Energy, Foreign Investment, Trust, Corporate/M&A, Leisure & Tourism Polibio Valenzuela pvalenzuela@ecija.com T. +1 (809) 289-2343

Staff Figures

Lauren Baez : Office Manager & Compliance Officer
Pamela Madera : Project Manager

Languages

Spanish
English