PMALAW.COM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member / Pietrantoni Méndez & Alvarez LLC / Popular Center
Edwin joined PMA in 2004 as a Partner in the Corporate, Environmental and Land Use Law Practice groups. His practice covers a broad range of matters in the areas of environmental and land use law, with particular emphasis in real estate development, permitting matters and related disputes at the administrative and judicial levels. Mr. Cruz represents developers proposing a wide variety of projects, including residential, commercial, industrial, touristic and mixed-use projects. He also represents clients (including purchasers, sellers, landlords, tenants and financial institutions) in commercial transactions.
Job Titles:
- Member / Pietrantoni Méndez & Alvarez LLC / Popular Center
Herman Colberg joined PMA in 1999 and has been a member since 2003. Mr. Colberg represents a diverse group of clients on a wide array of civil and commercial litigation matters. A majority of his cases involve commercial disputes in the areas of Health and Insurance law, Telecommunications, Property Law, Government Permitting, Antitrust, Government contracts, Bankruptcy and Distribution Law (Act. 75). In addition, Herman litigates and gives advice on U.S. criminal and civil forfeitures and most recently, to various clients on the Cuban legal system and federal requirements for entry in the Cuban market. Herman is a former President of the Puerto Rico Professional Boxing Commission, a certified boxing judge by the Association of Boxing Commissions ("ABC") and former member of the Grievance and Appeals Committee of the World Boxing Council ("WBC").
Job Titles:
- Member / Pietrantoni Méndez & Alvarez LLC / Popular Center
José F. Benítez-Mier is a member in the Labor and Employment Law Department. Mr. Benítez-Mier advises and represents employers in a broad range of employment law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, employment terminations, reductions-in-force and reorganizations, mass lay-offs and closing of operations, wage and hour, privacy rights, equal employment, drug and alcohol testing, medical leave coordination, covenants not to compete, progressive discipline and internal investigations of workplace harassment and other workplace grievances, and managing employment conduct in the internet, social networks and electronic media, among others. Mr. Benítez-Mier also offers management training and seminars in all these areas.
Since 2012, Chambers and Partners has consistently ranked Mr. Benítez-Mier as one of Puerto Rico's leading employment law practitioners based on the views of clients, peers, and other industry professionals.
During the last ten (10) years Mr. Benítez-Mier has been a Program Director and Faculty Member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) in different deposition and trial skills programs.
From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Benítez-Mier presided over the Human Resources and Labor Legislation Committee of the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association. From 2014 to 2015, he presided the Board of Directors of the Association of Labor Relations Professionals of Puerto Rico.
Job Titles:
- Charter Member / Pietrantoni Méndez & Alvarez LLC / Popular Center
Mr. Méndez concentrates his practice in complex commercial litigation, particularly class actions and international arbitration. His areas of expertise include antitrust, intellectual property, financial institutions, government regulation, securities and telecommunication. He is the only Puerto Rico lawyer to have received a top ranking in Dispute Resolution from Chambers Global for twelve years in a row and one of only two Puerto Rico lawyers with a top ranking for Dispute Resolution in the 2018 Chambers Latin America Guide, where he has been top ranked since its inception and described as the Gold Standard for litigation. Mr. Méndez was also named Best Litigation Lawyer in Puerto Rico by Best Lawyers of America, who also lists him as Best Lawyers in International Arbitration. He has also been appointed arbitrator in international disputes, including as panel chairman.
Mr. Méndez is President of the Foundation of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court and a Trustee of The Supreme Court Historical Society. He also was the first Puerto Rican to preside the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association and to Chair its Fellows Program. He has organized and chaired conferences with Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, with First and Second Circuit Judges Juan Torruella and José Cabranes and organized various activities for the US District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, the Foundation of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, The Supreme Court Historical Society and the Fellows Program of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association, of which he is a Sustaining Life Fellow. He has taught antitrust, civil procedure and internet law at Puerto Rico law schools and been a frequent speaker at multiple conferences on a variety of legal topics.