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I agree with you Diego! The lawyers here are a joke! I have had more than a dozen over the years, and very prominent ones. Some examples, NAME EDITED BY MODERATOR, hired to register my product name and logo…after waiting a year another company stole my brand name and the lawyer said “Oh I didnt file your claim! NAME EDITED BY MODERATOR another lawyer, showed up at my house with his secretary wanting a threesome! NAME EDITED BY MODERATOR, also sexual harrassment but failed to file my house title for 5 years! Another one had his mother doing all his work while he painted the office in his shorts! I can go on…….. And DAVID its not slander or defamation if its true!!! I think people like this should be exposed for all to be forewarned. I plan on pursuing this with the Colegio though I dont expect much.
You may not be as familiar with defamation, slander and libel in Costa Rica as I am ‘MysticMaiden’ and I have paid attorneys many thousands of dollars to “learn more” but I can assure you that these comments could get you into serious hot water… The attorney’s names have been deleted to protect YOU.
Slander and defamation are criminal offences in Costa Rica and not civil offences which means that you may indeed think it’s “true” but YOU CAN BE LOCKED up while they decide if what you said was slanderous or defamatory even whilst being “true.”
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comMy understanding of Costa Rican law is that slander and defamation are actionable WHETHER THE STATEMENTS ARE TRUE OR NOT, if they cause the subject some harm. So if, for example, the attorney to whom mysticmaiden refers loses me as a client, and if that attorney can prove it by my sworn statement, then mysticmaiden might just find herself bankrupted.
The good news is that she might also find herself being cared for in a Costa Rican government hotel (read: “prison”).
According to my understanding. a simple way to relive a slander charge is to print a public retraction. But the “good” attorneys of Costa Rica would never want you to know its that easy.
My daughter just got married to a Costa Rican. They used a lawyer in Limon to do the paper work. He somehow put the first name of my son-in-law and the last name of the best man down as the husband when he filed the papers. Now he won’t do anything to help sort it out. My son in law doesn’t know if he’s married or not. My daughter doesn’t know who she’s married to. And now she can’t proceed with her residency. I wish they would have used one of the lawyers recommended here but they wanted to save me a few bucks – God bless them. So we’re not sure what we’re going to do now.
ssure,
First i have to ask if this is true? Next I suspect it is, and I do sympathise with you, but Dios mio, that is one of the best and most classic CR attorney stories I have ever heard (May I directly quote you? ) My kid just walked in and asked what was going on, why I was laughing out loud?! Only in CR…
The saga continues….I went to the law office and demanded my documents and a return of all fees. He hid like the worm he was and had a junior lawyer and secretary tell me the file left with another lawyer. When I contacted the other attorney he maintained they still have my documents. I told him of my plans to inform the Embassy and the Colegio and he agreed to go back to the firm to find my file and agreed to return my fees. “Corruption and evil occurs when good men do nothing”. I told them both I was intending to tell this story to anyone who would listen. They can try and hit me with slander but the truth would bury them and they know it. They have a deadline to return my documents by Monday or Im going down there with the police. It’s blatant theft.
Feel free to quote me anywhere you like. The latest I heard from my daughter is that the guy wants to write a letter to immigration explaining the mistake. (Probably for an extra fee of course) Somehow I don’t think that’s going to work. She’s still married to some guy who doesn’t exist.
Elsewhere, I have suggested that (1)you not try to save a few bucks on attorney’s fees, as you too often get what you pay for and (2)if it’s important, you get a second attorney to review the work of the first.
In the cases of our two Costa Rican corporations, it actually took two attorneys and an accountant reviewing the work of the guy who formed them to get the mess straightened out. Now, we sleep better.
Edited on Aug 12, 2007 06:53
Find out if the marriage was registered in the registro yet , even though wrong. I had a an error myself on my documents. There is a window to the left just as you walk into the registro in San Jose ( I am only assuming all documents are recorded here ) , they will give you a form to start an (expidiente) file / investigation to possibly correct your error. If I have the form , I’ll post the requirements needed so you can make just 1 trip and have all the items with you. I tell you though it is not a quick fix, I’ve done alot of legwork and filings on my own and learned alot about the system here. It is not just attorneys that make errors. The registro also makes data entry errors themselves , so it wouldnt matter what attorney you had to begin with in that case. I ‘ve spent over a year correcting 2 errors that were made. I do have an attorney now that I use, and I will tell you, to get things done here, you have to have contacts that know the game ( la jugagda ) they get things done and if you have to pay a professional fee for what you want done , then pay it . You get what your $$ pays for ( actually doesnt pay for ) when you start looking around for the cheapest rates for services. You are better off doing it on your own if you intend to go the cehap route. Learn the language a bit , ask questions , don’t be intimidated by the process and you can get things done too.
Good idea and excellent post – mysticmaiden – go get em. if more people had the attitude you do there would be less people being swindled by attorneys here, as more would know that you need representation to deal with your representation.
Good advice, thanks folks. Charlie, thanks. I’m going to send them your comments. Maybe they can straighten this out.
A few months ago I asked people on this list to recommend a lawyer and some of you did and I thank you for that. I sent the names to my daugher and her partner but they decided to use the guy in Limon because he was less expensive and they wanted to save me a few bucks (which I greatly appreciate, of course). You know how kids are – you can tell em but often they learn better/more/faster making the mistakes you try to help them avoid making. They’ll probably tighten things up a bit and carry on.
Maybe I have been lucky, but we have had amazing luck with lawyers. I am not sure if I am able to post their info here, so Scott please delete if it’s not allowed, but for real estate work I have used FirstCr.com and they are spectacularly organized and professional.
For everything else I use a woman in Heredia Lorena Arrazol, email me for her contact info.
Matt
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