JGL - Key Persons
Mr. Picó's practice concentrates on helping transportation companies organize and operate their business in Puerto Rico by assisting them on business structure development, compliance with government regulations, corporate and tax matters, as well as government contracts. He also successfully represents these companies in court as well as administrative forums, such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, Puerto Rico Public Service Commission and the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation.
Mr. Picó also assists clients by providing counsel and legal representation in large, complex construction projects, and disputes. In the last several years, he has worked on major construction projects in Puerto Rico both during the contract administration and subsequent arbitration proceedings between owner and contractor. His litigation practice includes both Federal and local appellate work.
Mr. Picó joined Jiménez, Graffam & Lausell as an Associate in 2014 after working as Law Clerk for our Firm during the previous summer. Before joining the Firm, he interned as Law Clerk to Chief Judge Aida Delgado Colón at the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and to Justice Edgardo Rivera García at the Puerto Rico Supreme Court.
Practice Areas
Admiralty, Maritime, and Transportation
Mr. Carrasquillo is a dedicated attorney specializing in tort, maritime, employment, and general civil litigation. His litigation practice spans both federal practice and local appellate work. His professional journey includes significant roles within government agencies, including the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) and intellectual property law, having successfully achieved trademark registrations.
In 2024, Mr. Carrasquillo joined JGL, bringing valuable experience and insight from his tenure as a Law Clerk at the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals. His commitment to excellence and client-focused approach continues to be the cornerstone of his legal practice.
Mr. Vega has over 30 years of experience in general civil litigation, admiralty, maritime and transportation law, health law, medical malpractice claims, certificates of convenience and necessity, labor and employment law, personal injury, contracts, Jones Act claims, marine cargo claims, passenger personal injury claims, disembarkation and repatriation of ill and deceased crewmembers, and proceedings before State and Federal administrative agencies. He has an intensive litigation practice that requires regular appearances before the Commonwealth and Federal courts of Puerto Rico, having successfully tried many cases.
Likewise, Mr. Vega has extensive experience in appellate practice. He has successfully appeared many times before the Court of Appeals of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He has substantive experience in appeals before administrative agencies, such as the Department of Consumer Affairs, University of Puerto Rico, Department of Labor, and Department of Health, and the remission and mitigation of fines and penalties before the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection.
Mr. Vega's work has resulted in novel applications of the law by Commonwealth and Federal courts. In admiralty and transportation law, he obtained a judgment on behalf of a maritime carrier enforcing a hold harmless clause in a bill of lading in litigation resulting from a catastrophic truck accident that occurred five miles inland. In a medical malpractice case, Vega's work resulted in an Opinion of the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals using the date of the medical records' production to the deceased's relatives as the base for the calculation of the one-year statute of limitations.
Mr. Vega is a speaker on litigation techniques and ethics in seminars and conferences attended by attorneys, physicians, and other professionals.
He enjoys sharing his professional and litigation experience and providing pro-bono services in his community.
Practice Areas
Admiralty, Maritime, and Transportation
Job Titles:
- Professional Fuel Services
Mr. Rivera's practice is dedicated to civil litigation before both Federal and Local courts and administrative agencies, with a strong concentration in commercial and maritime matters. During his 40 years of private practice with the Firm, Mr. Rivera has participated in a wide array of difficult complex cases in maritime, mass tort, product liability distribution/franchise, class actions and fire catastrophes, involving jury trials, appeals and arbitration in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic. He has argued numerous appeals, class actions, tax assessments, and appeared in proceedings before the Federal Maritime Commission, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the U.S. Customs Office of Appeals. He has vast experience at all levels of the Puerto Rico and Federal judiciary and administrative agencies.
He was a Staff Member of the Law Review of the University of Puerto Rico. Immediately upon graduation he served as a Law Clerk to Judge Juan R. Torruella of the United States District Court. He served with the Staff Attorney's Office of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit at Boston. He has served as an Instructor in Maritime Law at the School of Law of the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico; and serves on the Board of various civic groups and non-profit organizations. He recently served as a Fellow State chair of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Mr. Rivera participated in the NYC Marathon, scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro and was a supernumerary in the Opera de Puerto Rico La Boheme.
Practice Areas
Admiralty, Maritime, and Transportation
Mr. Blasini concentrates his practice on litigating and counseling clients in all areas of admiralty and maritime law, including oil pollution, allisions and collisions, cargo claims, death and personal injury claims, environmental claims, fires, groundings, Jones Act claims, insurance matters, maritime criminal cases, vessel finance, vessel registration, and USCG and CBP penalties. Another facet of his practice is transportation law, which involves permits and licenses, regulatory compliance, transportation agreements, and trucking accidents. He often works and counsels clients in matters outside the United States and Puerto Rico.
He has frequently participated as a speaker in seminars on maritime and admiralty topics. Mr. Blasini has negotiated various terminal lease agreements for large shipping lines. He has assisted common carriers with government permits and licenses to enter cargo into Puerto Rico, including warehousing and distribution. He also worked with a client to obtain the first license ever issued in Puerto Rico to import, warehouse, and distribute LNG. He counsels clients on the purchase and registration of commercial vessels abroad. He has represented banking institutions in financing commercial vessels and registration of preferred mortgages and other collateral documents. Mr. Blasini has also assisted shipowners in several criminal cases involving OWS.
Practice Areas
Admiralty, Maritime, and Transportation
Mr. Rodríguez-Bird concentrates his practice in admiralty law, maritime personal injury claims, marine cargo claims, marine insurance, and marine natural resource damage claims. Since joining the office in 1990, Mr. Rodríguez-Bird has defended more seamen personal injury matters than any other attorney in Puerto Rico. Mr. Rodríguez-Bird has also represented ship interests in the last four significant natural resource damage claims to coral environment in Puerto Rico.
He also has participated in numerous multiparty complex litigation matters involving environmental mass tort and multidistrict antitrust claims, as well as on behalf of insurance interests (General Electric and P&I Associations) in the four largest fire cases in Puerto Rico (Aljoma Lumber Warehouse, Palo Seco Power Plant, Capeco Explosion, and a passenger/cargo ferry mass tort fire action).
Practice Areas
Admiralty, Maritime, and Transportation
Mr. Rodríguez-Bird was a member of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico Law Review. During 1982-1983 he served as Chief Editor and was the author of the article "La Voluntad Unilateral Según Interpretación Jurisprudencial en Puerto Rico", published by the Catholic University of Puerto Rico Law Review, Vol 39, 1982.
Ms. González-Reyes has over 20 years of experience in general civil litigation, employment law, contract law, administrative law, and proceedings before State and Federal administrative agencies. She also has ample litigation experience before the Commonwealth and Federal Courts.
Ms. González-Reyes has extensive appellate practice before the Court of Appeals of Puerto Rico and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She regularly appears in proceedings before administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor and Human Resources of Puerto Rico, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Ms. González-Reyes regularly counsels and assists clients in regulatory and legal matters including COVID requirements, Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, employment discrimination, workers' compensation, retaliation, sexual harassment, torts, and contract law.
Upon graduation, she served as a Law Clerk to Judge Miriam Naveira of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. She enjoys traveling, reading and good movies.
Practice Areas
Civil and Commercial Litigation
Job Titles:
- Certified Public Accountant
- Capital Member
- Professor of Accounting at the University of Puerto Rico
Mr. Román is a Certified Public Accountant. His practice concentrates on corporate law, commercial and real estate transactions, tax, construction, employment, and general civil and commercial litigation. He counsels employers on a broad range of employment law issues, including employment contracts, compliance with wage and hour laws, employment discrimination, retaliation claims, and other employment matters. He also assists employers in the preparation of employee handbooks, personnel policies and procedures, and seminars.
Mr. Román has successfully tried several general civil and commercial lawsuits and defended employment discrimination and unjust termination cases. His practice also includes appellate work. He often represents employers in administrative proceedings before the Puerto Rico Department of Labor, State Insurance Fund Corporation, and the Industrial Commission. He also counsels clients on corporate matters such as business registration and compliance with government requirements to organize and maintain their business operations in Puerto Rico. Mr. Román regularly represents clients on tax, licensing, and other matters before the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury, the Puerto Rico Public Service Commission, and the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation.
He also frequently acts as a Notary Public on complex business and estate matters.
Practice Areas
Civil and Commercial Litigation
Mr. Román has been a professor of Accounting at the University of Puerto Rico. Prior to practicing law, he worked as senior auditor in a local accounting firm.
Paul N. Howard Co. v. Puerto Rico Aqueduct Sewer Authority
Job Titles:
- Professor of Collective Bargaining
- Senior Member
Ms. Dulzaides has negotiated over 50 collective bargaining agreements. Her practice also includes counseling and training employers in a wide array of industries on supervisory skills, compliance with labor and employment laws, as well as litigation prevention, union avoidance, representation drives, and decertification.
Ms. Dulzaides concentrates her practice in labor and employment law litigation in Federal and Commonwealth courts, as well as in administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Departments of Labor of Puerto Rico and the United States. She represents employers in cases of employment discrimination, unfair labor practices, wage and hours, and all other areas of labor and employment law. Many of these matters have involved successful jury trials before the United States District Court and appeals before the United States Court of Appeals. She also defends employers in numerous arbitration and mediation cases, in both federal and local forums. Her success has been her ability to understand and comprehend the clients' business from an operational stand point.
Ms. Dulzaides enjoys travelling the world, ballet and opera performances, visiting art museums and soccer games.
Practice Areas
Alternate Dispute Resolution
Ms. Dulzaides has been a professor of Collective Bargaining, Constitutional Law, and Criminal Law at the Sacred Heart University, and is a frequent lecturer on different subjects on labor and employment law.
Mr. Lausell concentrates his practice in construction law, commercial litigation, and products liability/tort litigation. His experience includes a wide range of cases in bench trials, jury trials and appeals, as well as arbitrations and mediations. He has served as arbitrator and mediator in several matters under local law pursuant to the American Arbitration Association Rules, as a sole arbitrator and as a panel member, and is listed on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico List of Mediators for Court-Annexed Mediations with the following areas of expertise: construction contracts and claims, products liability claims, claims involving technical/engineering background, claims involving commercial/business operations.
Mr. Lausell was a professor of the Puerto Rico College of Engineers and Surveyor's Continuing Education Program, teaching several courses including Construction Contract Claims and Litigation and The Role of Expert Witnesses in Dispute Resolution Proceedings. He was Law Clerk to Judge Carlos V. Dávila, Supreme Court of Puerto Rico from 1979 to 1980. He was a licensed Professional Engineer, Puerto Rico, 1975 to 2008.
Practice Areas
Alternate Dispute Resolution
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- Member of the Instituto Iberoamericano De Derecho Marítimo
- Professor of Admiralty
Mr. Graffam has over 40 years of experience litigating and counseling clients in diverse areas of law. He concentrates his practice in all areas of maritime law with a strong concentration in oil pollution, environmental damages, personal injury and collision litigation. Mr. Graffam has assisted vessel owners and underwriters in resolving disputes throughout all of Central and South America, Dominican Republic and various other islands in the Caribbean.
Since starting the practice of law in 1977, Mr. Graffam has also developed extensive experience in general civil and commercial litigation, complex multidistrict litigation, insurance defense, products liability, environmental litigation, Civil RICO claims, antitrust and copyright litigation. His experience includes a wide range of cases in bench trials, jury trials and appeals, as well as arbitrations and mediations.
His practice further includes experience in labor and employment law areas, such as: negotiation of various collective bargaining agreements, injunctions before the District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, as well as employment jury trials.
Mr. Graffam greatly enjoys providing support to non-profit organizations such as St. Jude Research Children's Hospital and Puerto Rico Down Syndrome Foundation, amongst others.
Mr. Graffam is an avid recreational fisherman and Paso Fino horse rider.
Practice Areas
Admiralty, Maritime, and Transportation
Mr. Graffam is a professor of Admiralty and Maritime Law, having taught at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico Law School from 1983 to 1985, and at the University of Puerto Rico Law School from 1985 to 1996.
Mr. Graffam has been a member of the Instituto Iberoamericano de Derecho Marítimo (IIDM) since 1982, and served as President of the IIDM from 2012-2014. The IIDM is an international maritime organization of all the 24 Iberoamerican Countries. Its primary purpose is to promote the development of uniformity in Maritime Law internationally and to serve as consulting organization to all international organizations on this matter.