not worth time and money
Good luck with a suit against the hotel. There are a number of things that your friend may want to consider before they seek any kind of redress for their injuries (if they actually had any). 1) Jurisdiction- if you are an American or Canadian citizen, it is more than likely you are going to have file your suit in the Dominican Republic unless the owner of the hotel is living in the United States or Canada. If they are you may be able to establish personal jurisdiction over the party if you are a citizen in one of those countries as well. More than likely though, there will be no significant ties to the country for you to bring your suit in your home country. Therefore, if you have to bring the suit in the courts of the Dominican Republic you are going to have to hire a lawyer abroad. This will take time, money and you may have to go down their personally on more than one occasion. 2) It is important to keep in mind that courts of a foreign country may not be receptive to a foreign person coming into their country and making a case against one of their established businesses that contributes to their country? Whether or not the owner of the hotel is a citizen of the Dominican Republic or not, they are contributing to the economy, what are you doing? 3) evidence- unless official reports were made, such as a trip to the hospital for injuries, there is no way of establish when your injuries (once again if there are any) occurred. Technically they could have happened when you stepped off the plane in your home country. Your friend really needs to think about whether it is worth it. My prediction is they will spend a lot of money, get no where fast and ultimately risk getting nothing in the end. BUT good luck if they do go through with it. Tell them to keep us posted in the year 2008 when a judgment is actually entered.