I'll soon be moving to santo domingo with my dominican wife and our kids. I'm a lawyer and would like to become familiar with the laws of the DR. Does anybody know of a course (in english, preferably) in a law school that i could take, or a bar association I should contact, or a hornbook or set of statutes that you might suggest, a good legal bookstore or website, any suggestions please, and thank you in advance.
- Thread starter Naufrago
- Start date
NY lawyer moving to DR wants to learn about DR law
Naufrago said:
http://www.icda.edu.do/english/edi/index.asp
institute of languages they offer both english and spanish programs.
Well some legal web sites are this
http://www.suprema.gov.do
Dominican Supreme Court Of Justice
http://www.lijuvi.com
A Bookstore Of Law Books.
For a quick introduction, you can go to the website of Fabio Guzman, the lawyer who answers questions in this section. Click on "publications" then work your way through the drop-down list http://www.drlawyer.com/index.htm
The top rated ones and also more expensive are Universidad Iberoamericana and Pontificia Universidad Cat?lica Madre y Maestra.
www.unibe.edu.do
www.pucmm.edu.do
www.unibe.edu.do
www.pucmm.edu.do
That's great, do you live in the capital district? I find the news about the reformation of the penal code very interesting. I'm going to give myself some time to get my spanish together, but assuming i can develop a reasonable vocabulary, giving myself a year of study, are there any employment prospects for an expat lawyer?
I live in SD. I dare to say that there are employment prospects for any foreign lawyers. Let me put it this way, the country is constantly growing filled with foreign english speaking investors, adventurers, traders, etc either already settled in the country or trying to settle down their businesses which naturally require counsel, orientation and services to fulfill every legal need of any matter regardless of its legal nature. Now unfortunately and sadly, the average dominican lawyer will not handle 2 or more languages and this is where either bilingual/multilingual local lawyers or foreign counselors come handy. There are no foreign lawyers doing formal practice as barristers, but i'm sure there must be some around doing counseling for local lawfirms. Such is the case of Mr. William Headrick of the prestigious lawfirm "Headrick, Rizik, Alvarez & Fernandez" in SD, whom has worked for years as of counsel.
Check this site, you might find it interesting, it contains some basic laws as well as the new penal procedure code.
http://www.geocities.com/daduye/leyes.html
Check this site, you might find it interesting, it contains some basic laws as well as the new penal procedure code.
http://www.geocities.com/daduye/leyes.html
William Headrick retired a year or so ago. So did another prominent American attorney in the DR, Jonathan Russin of Russin Vecchi & Heredia Bonetti.
Good multilingual attorneys are welcome at any reputable law firm.
Good multilingual attorneys are welcome at any reputable law firm.
And then there's the HARD way!!
First, move on down to the DR, and YOU go apartment shopping (leaving your Dominican wife at the hotel). Once you line up a great place, and sign the lease, and pay the money (bring a LOT of $$$) , settle in. You can then proceed to review Dominican Contract Law at your leisure.
After living here on a Tourist Visa for 3 1/2 months, go for a Sunday afternoon drive and have an accident. While vigorously defending your point of view of the accident , be sure to poke the other guy in the chest a few times, and throw a bunch of New York compliments his way, and to the cop who shows up. Be sure to show the cop your New York license, and ask "Whadya think about dat, pal o' mine? "
This is a sure way to learn about Dominican Traffic Law, the Dominican jail system, Due Process Dominican Style, and speedy trial practices.
2 days, or 2 years , later, after you (possibly) get out of jail, proceed to do your own residency, so that you will be a legal resident rather than a tourist. This will surely ground you in Dominican Immigration Law, and its nuances.
Then, 6 months or a year later, when this is done, proceed to procure your Dominican Driver's License. Once you achieve this, the jail term might appear to be have been more attractive.
Now you are ready to learn Dominican Real Estate Law. Proceed to look for new digs to buy. (Again, leave your Dominican wife back at the apartment). No need to research the title, as the Government offices housing the Real Estate titles appears to be in a bit of a mess. Skip it, I always say.
Following the discovery that the guy you just paid a 40% deposit to hasn't shown up to sign the paperwork, you can spend some time in both locating him, and researching the title of the property you thought you were just buying.
After discovering that someone else really owns the property, you go for a drink down by the beach. After 6 or 8 (or 12) beers, you are feeling better, and a cute girl walks in and sits down next to you. After another couple of Presidentes, you decide to take up her offer of a "massage" at her nearby hotel room.
Just after you have shucked your pants, in walks some Dominican detectives, who then say that your "girlfriend" is only 15, and you are coming with them. Now, you are ready to learn about criminal law, Dominican Style.
After you have finally discovered that the proper Dominican way to fight this is with cash, you arrive back at the apartment, (calculating that you still have approximately 50% of your original net worth remaining), only to find that the locks have all been changed. Now, you are ready to learn Dominican Divorce Law, hehehe.
All in all, I might venture a guess that it would be much easier and pleasurable for you to take Sr. Guzman out to dinner and ask him how to do all of this the "easy" way. (just a non-lawyer, foreigner's 2 pesos of advice).
First, move on down to the DR, and YOU go apartment shopping (leaving your Dominican wife at the hotel). Once you line up a great place, and sign the lease, and pay the money (bring a LOT of $$$) , settle in. You can then proceed to review Dominican Contract Law at your leisure.
After living here on a Tourist Visa for 3 1/2 months, go for a Sunday afternoon drive and have an accident. While vigorously defending your point of view of the accident , be sure to poke the other guy in the chest a few times, and throw a bunch of New York compliments his way, and to the cop who shows up. Be sure to show the cop your New York license, and ask "Whadya think about dat, pal o' mine? "
This is a sure way to learn about Dominican Traffic Law, the Dominican jail system, Due Process Dominican Style, and speedy trial practices.
2 days, or 2 years , later, after you (possibly) get out of jail, proceed to do your own residency, so that you will be a legal resident rather than a tourist. This will surely ground you in Dominican Immigration Law, and its nuances.
Then, 6 months or a year later, when this is done, proceed to procure your Dominican Driver's License. Once you achieve this, the jail term might appear to be have been more attractive.
Now you are ready to learn Dominican Real Estate Law. Proceed to look for new digs to buy. (Again, leave your Dominican wife back at the apartment). No need to research the title, as the Government offices housing the Real Estate titles appears to be in a bit of a mess. Skip it, I always say.
Following the discovery that the guy you just paid a 40% deposit to hasn't shown up to sign the paperwork, you can spend some time in both locating him, and researching the title of the property you thought you were just buying.
After discovering that someone else really owns the property, you go for a drink down by the beach. After 6 or 8 (or 12) beers, you are feeling better, and a cute girl walks in and sits down next to you. After another couple of Presidentes, you decide to take up her offer of a "massage" at her nearby hotel room.
Just after you have shucked your pants, in walks some Dominican detectives, who then say that your "girlfriend" is only 15, and you are coming with them. Now, you are ready to learn about criminal law, Dominican Style.
After you have finally discovered that the proper Dominican way to fight this is with cash, you arrive back at the apartment, (calculating that you still have approximately 50% of your original net worth remaining), only to find that the locks have all been changed. Now, you are ready to learn Dominican Divorce Law, hehehe.
All in all, I might venture a guess that it would be much easier and pleasurable for you to take Sr. Guzman out to dinner and ask him how to do all of this the "easy" way. (just a non-lawyer, foreigner's 2 pesos of advice).