From your first message to a closed matter
Hiring a lawyer in a country you do not live in is an act of trust. We do not ask for that trust up front. We earn it in steps, and each step is in writing: what we found, what we propose, what it costs, and what happens next. This page shows you the whole path before you send the first message.
Before you owe us anything
Every matter, whatever its kind, starts the same way. Nothing here costs you anything, and nothing commits you.
You write to us
Send whatever you have: a contract, a reservation, an incident report, or just the question that is keeping you up. Email, WhatsApp or the form on this site. You hear back within 24 hours, even when the answer is only when the answer will come.
We read it, personally
The attorney who would handle your matter reads what you sent. There is no intake team and no call center between you and that reading. The first case review is free, and it is also where we tell you if the matter is not worth pursuing.
Where you stand
An initial assessment of where you stand and what it would take.
A flat fee, in writing
Before any work begins, you receive a written proposal with a flat fee for the phase ahead. No hourly billing, no surprises. You will never pay for work you did not agree to.
You decide
If the proposal makes sense to you, we sign and the work begins. If it does not, you walk away owing nothing, and you keep the review.
The stages your matter moves through
Four situations bring most clients to the firm. Each follows its own stages, and you are told when each stage opens and what it will take. The timings are what we see in practice: estimates, not promises. The courts set their own pace, and we tell you when they change it.
Situation 1 of 4 Buying property
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Before your money moves, an attorney who answers only to you reads everything the seller wants you to sign.
Reservation review
We read the reservation terms before any money moves and tell you what they commit you to.
Due diligence
Who owns the land, whether the permits exist, how the developer has behaved in court, and the promise of sale, clause by clause.
Negotiation
The clauses that protect your money go back to the seller with our proposed wording.
Closing
Signature, payment through the agreed channel, and the documents needed to register the property.
Title in your name
The transfer is filed at the property registry and followed until the certificate is issued in your name.
Situation 2 of 4 A dispute or a debt
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A project that stalled, a deposit that was not returned, a contract that was not honored. Every month without a formal step weakens your position.
Written legal opinion
Where you stand, what you can claim, and what it will take. In writing.
Formal demand
A notice served by a court bailiff that puts the other side on record and starts the legal clock.
Negotiation window
This is where many refunds are recovered. We negotiate from the record, not from hope.
Lawsuit filed
The claim is filed and served; the court sets its first hearing.
Judgment and enforcement
A first-instance judgment, then seizure of assets if the other side does not pay.
Situation 3 of 4 Injured at a resort
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Evidence at a resort disappears within days: the video is overwritten, the staff roster changes. The first steps have to be fast.
Evidence secured
A formal notice to the operator requesting that it preserve video, reports and staff records.
Company and insurer identified
Who actually runs the property, and who insures it.
Medical file and claim
Your records and losses documented under Dominican law.
Claim presented
A formal demand to the operator and its insurer; negotiation opens.
Settlement or trial
Many claims settle. Those that do not go before the Dominican courts.
Situation 4 of 4 Inheriting property
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A will written abroad does not, by itself, transfer Dominican property, and the deadlines start running on the day of death. The full process typically takes twelve to thirty-six months.
Heirs established
Who inherits under Dominican law, and what the will abroad changes, if anything.
Estate declared
The filing with the tax authority, within the legal term that runs from the date of death.
Inheritance tax settled
The assessment reviewed and paid; extensions requested when the term is short.
Property transferred
Title registered in the names of the heirs, wherever they live.
Division among heirs
If there is more than one heir, the agreement or court process that assigns each share.
The method is the person
In most firms, your matter is a file that moves between desks. Here it does not move. The attorney who read your first message is the one who drafts the opinion, negotiates the clause, attends the hearing, and calls you with the result. Nothing is lost in a handoff, because there is no handoff.
That closeness is not a comfort feature. It is how the work stays accurate: the person deciding strategy is the same person who knows every document in the file, and the person you question is the same person who did the work. When something changes, you hear it from the source, within 24 hours, in plain language.
We only take the matters that one attorney can carry to that standard. When a matter needs local counsel outside our region, we say so, and we stay responsible for the whole.
You do not travel. A power of attorney, signed where you live and apostilled, lets us act before registries, tax offices and courts. Advice and reports come in English, Spanish or French; court filings are in Spanish, as the law requires, and we explain each one before it is filed.
Every engagement runs on milestones you can see: you are told when a stage opens, what it costs before you enter it, and what we found when it closes. A due diligence report tells you what we found and what we propose. Whether to buy, pay or settle remains your call.
Send the contract, the reservation, the incident report, or just your question. Within 24 hours you will hear from us. The first case review is free.