Pellerano & Herrera

Firm Details:
Managing Partner: Ricardo A Pellerano
Partners: Vitelio Mejía Ortiz, Mariángela Pellerano, Lucy Objío, Carolina León, and Alessandra Di Carlo.

Firm Overview:
Pellerano & Herrera, the leading law firm in the Dominican Republic for over 35 years, was established in 1952. It is involved as counsel in all major transactions in the country, and its multidisciplinary team of lawyers is recognised as the most comprehensive and sophisticated in the market with experience in more practice areas than any other Dominican firm. The firm is especially well-recognised for its expertise in handling complex matters in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, project and structured financings, bond issuances, antitrust and unfair competition, among others. The firm has been recognised by Chambers as leading firm since 2009 and has been awarded ‘Firm of Year’ 6 times. Pellerano & Herrera is the exclusive Dominican member firm for Lex Mundi, Andersen, World Services Group, Club de Abogados, and Lataxnet.

Main Areas Of Practice:
Banking, Finance & Securities:
The firm advises financial institutions on a full range of legal issues. It represents lenders and borrowers on a wide range of credit facilities, including syndicated loans, secured and unsecured lending and project and acquisition financing. It also provides assistance on regulatory issues for financial institutions. The finance team operates at the cutting edge implementing complex transactions in structured products, securitisations, asset acquisitions, project finance, bond issuances and tax driven schemes.

Corporate:
The firm counsels clients in all aspects of routine and complex corporate matters, including business formation issues, incorporation, modification of corporate structure and day to day legal and regulatory issues affecting their businesses; but also concentrates in acquisitions, alliances and joint ventures. The firm’s international contacts allow it to incorporate companies anywhere in the world.

Energy & Bioenergy:
Pellerano & Herrera has played an important role in the process of privatisation and development of the energy sector in the Dominican Republic. As counsellors to the major companies in the area, it has represented clients involved in the generation and distribution of electric energy, including ethanol, bio-fuel, wind and hydroelectric projects. The firm advises in all matters related to the energy law, governmental relations and financing.

Environment:
Attorneys counsel clients on the impact in business development arising from ecological and environmental issues and on achieving compliance with local environmental regulations in matters such as environmental audits, hazardous substances and the protection of natural reserves and endangered species. Attorneys also represent them in any civil or criminal claims arising from any alleged environmental issue.

Intellectual Property:
The IP team handles all aspects of contentious and non-contentious IP issues, such as copyright, trademark, trade names, patent registration and advice and enforcement of IP rights. Its practice also includes media and advertising law, food and drug regulatory requirements, manufacturing and distribution agreements, franchising, trade secret and data protection.

Labour:
The firm provides legal advice to clients on all aspects of labour relations and social security. Clients are assisted in planning of human resources strategies, developing methods for terminating work contracts; negotiating agreements or application of pension and complementary social welfare plans. The firm also represents its clients in labour claims and actions filed by employees or labour unions up to their final settlement.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution:
The firm represents clients in civil, trade, fiscal and criminal litigation involving a wide range of legal issues, including corporate and commercial law, constitutional claims, real estate property issues and tax matters. It litigates before all courts and have established a number of important legal precedents under Dominican law.

Mergers & Acquisitions:
The firm represents buyers, sellers, target companies and investment advisers in virtually every transaction related to M&A, including negotiated stock purchases and asset purchases, among others. Its M&A team has acted on behalf of the buyer in the most relevant business acquisitions in the history of the Dominican Republic.

Mining:
In the mining area, the firm’s services include obtaining licences of exploration and exploitation, preparation and negotiation of purchase or leasing agreements, day to day operations, government negotiations and advice regarding environmental regulations, among others.

Real Estate:
The firm represents financial institutions, property owners, and tourism projects that need assistance in purchasing, renting, planning and using real estate. The firm handles all aspects of real estate law from preparing the documentation and negotiating the terms of a purchase or sale to overseeing the division and demarcation of land. It has extensive experience in drafting condominium rules for residential and resort properties.

Telecommunications:
The firm has represented the leading companies in this highly regulated industry, including telephone, cable and Internet companies and their suppliers, in project funding, acquisitions and restructuring. The firm also provides assistance in key issues such as securing permits, division by zones, technology transfer agreements, patent applications, local and international mergers and a great variety of agreements related to the industry.

Tourism:
Pellerano & Herrera has significant experience in advising participants in the sector in all aspects of hospitality and tourism projects, including: hotels and resorts development, application to benefit from tax incentives, property acquisitions, operating/management agreements, timeshare projects and gaming licensing issues.

Taxation:
The tax team has extensive experience in all areas of tax practice such as: corporate and individual income taxes, value added tax, real and personal property taxes; excise taxes; and taxation of specific industries. Services include auditing, tax planning and the restructuring of companies, always keeping an eye toward reducing taxes and complying with current law.

Digital & Technology:
Pellerano & Herrera is the of very few firms in the country with an established practice in this area. Among the firm’s clients are renowned companies such as: Expedia, Uber and Netflix. The firm is also providing advice on fintech to major banks and financial institutions of the country regarding the relevant digital changes that will drastically affect this sector.