Languages

• English
• Spanish
• French
• Italian

Law Firm Overview

Areas of Practice

Employment Law Counseling

Arizmendi & Sanfilippo provides legal services in two principal areas: counseling and litigation.  In the area of corporate counseling, we work closely with our clients in their day to day management of their human resources.  Our goal is to ensure that, when they take decisions that affect their employees, our clients are well informed as to the applicable employment laws and regulations and any pertinent legal risks.  Beyond providing the legal background and necessary compliance tools, we also strive to assist our clients in making decisions that are compatible with a healthy management of their human resources.

Our experience in this area includes:

• Design and review of personnel policies, including employee handbooks, anti-harassment and equal employment opportunity policies, arbitration procedures, drug testing programs and codes of business conduct
• Design and review of employment related engagements, including employment contracts, independent contractor arrangements, probation and temporary agreements and severance packages
• Integration of equal employment opportunity principles in the taking of employment decisions
• Application of the concept of progressive discipline to avoid terminations, when possible, and to otherwise develop just cause for termination under local law
• Design strategies to manage the employee with disabilities or who needs or asks for reasonable accommodation
• Management and coordination of family and medical leaves required by federal and local laws and voluntary employer leave programs, including employment reservation and reinstatement rights
• Compliance with mandatory employee benefits, including paid vacation and sick leave, statutory meal period, lactation and milk expression breaks for breastfeeding mothers, preferences for military and disabled employees, minimum year end bonus and COBRA, among others
• Application of wage and hour principles, including determination of exempt status, administration and computation of daily and weekly overtime and meal period premiums, and use of flextime agreements to avoid technical overtime
• Coordination and execution of internal investigations, including investigations of sexual harassment complaints, with the objective of designing prompt and effective corrective actions to reduce exposure as well as developing evidence in anticipation of litigation
• Management of the temporary and leased employee
• Coordination and execution of internal personnel and payroll audits to identify and address areas of potential legal exposure
• Planning of reductions in force in compliance with the federal W.A.R.N. Act, Puerto Rico Law No. 80 of May 30, 1976, and other applicable laws, identifying selection criteria and designing severance packages
• Training for managers on legal aspects pertinent to their duties and on strategies to reduce legal exposure.  Training areas include illegal harassment; employee selection, evaluation, discipline and termination; leave management; wage and hour compliance, among others
• Training for employees on sexual harassment
• Transfer and acquisition of ongoing business concerns, including conducting the due diligence investigation and analyzing the potential exposure that arises from an employment perspective.

Assistance in Dealings with Government Agencies and other Paralegal Services

We also assist our clients in their administrative dealings with the several government agencies.  This includes opening and renewing workers' compensation policies with the State Insurance Fund and other insurances required by local law that are obtained through different divisions of the Department of Labor, including temporary non-occupational disability benefits, chauffeurs insurance, unemployment insurance, etc.  We also work with the Department of Labor to obtain required permits, such as to extend probation periods or for Sunday work, and to obtain the employer identification number.  In addition, we work with said agency and its federal counterpart when they audit our clients, including wage and hour audits, serving as intermediaries and facilitators to reduce final debt assessments.

We also provide paralegal assistance in several areas, including obtaining birth and marriage certificates, effecting out of state service of process, legalization of notary public signatures, among others.

Civil Litigation and Appeals

In the area of litigation our goal is to vigorously represent our client's interests, taking litigation to its ultimate consequences if the client so desires, or positioning the case to obtain the most favorable out of court resolution, if the client prefers.  We maintain the client informed of all significant developments.  We also involve the client in decisions regarding litigation strategy, to ensure that the litigation is conducted to its satisfaction.

Our experience in this area includes claims of:

        Discrimination and harassment in all its manifestations, including age, racial, gender, disability and ethnic discrimination and harassment

        Wage and hour violations

        Breach of contract, including covenants not to compete

        Libel and slander

        Malicious prosecution

        Violation of constitutional rights, including invasion of privacy

        Job reservation and reinstatement

        Wrongful termination

        Reasonable accommodation

We defend employers in these cases both before local and federal courts.  We also represent them in procedures before the Bureau of Labor Standards, the Anti-Discrimination Unit, the Bureau of Unemployment Benefits, the Industrial Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In selected cases, we also represent employees in this area.  We pre-screen such cases thoroughly before accepting an engagement.

Education Law

We assist private schools in the following areas:

        Coordinating internal investigations, evaluating their results and designing appropriate courses of action

        Evaluating decisions on student discipline

        Counseling schools as employers (see Employment Law Counseling)

        Evaluating accessibility and special accommodations for students with disabilities or who need special education

        Teacher training in laws that apply to their day to day dealings with students

        Representing schools in litigation (see Civil Litigation)

In the context of public education, we also provide training to teachers in pertinent laws, including those that relate to special education.

Family Law

Arizmendi & Sanfilippo has a selective practice in several areas of Civil and Family Law.  A main focus of this practice has been assisting out-of-state individual clients or their counsel who need a fully bilingual service.  Our practice in this area includes the following:

        Living Wills

        Medical Directives

        Health Care Power of Attorney

        Divorce

        Child custody and support

        Guardianships

        Estates

        Exequaturs (out of state judgment validation)

Representative Corporate Clients and Industries

We provide services to global and national companies who conduct business in Puerto Rico, as well as to premium local companies.  Some of the entities that we have had the privilege to serve include Stewart Enterprises (funeral homes and cemeteries), Simplicity Plan (death care industry), Lexmark (printing solutions), Bard Implants (manufacturers of medical implants), IDT Puerto Rico (communications), Contec, Inc. (manufacturers of contamination control products), Spectrum Management (commercial and banking security devices and solutions), Geopier Foundation Company (designs soil reinforcement solutions), IPC International Corporation (mega-mall security services),  Medical Card Systems (health insurance), GA Life (now Triple SSS Vida), Caribbean Preparatory Schools (elementary, middle and upper school systems), The Apartment (beauty services and products), Delta Security Force (private security services), Jardin de Oro (elderly care), Professional Consulting International Group (legal and psychological consultants), Preferred Health, Inc. (health insurance), Project Managers Consultants, Inc. (federal contractors), JM Waller Associates, Inc. (architectural and engineering consulting services) and Voortman Cookies Ltd.

In addition to the industries of these representative clients, we have experience servicing clients in the fast food, pharmaceutical, medical services and retail industries, among others.

Finally, A&S serves individual clients in Employment Litigation and other civil matters including Divorce, Child Custody and Support, Wills, Living Wills, Estates, Contracts, etc.

Service Philosophy

We believe in personalized service.  We are thus selective with our clients, which allows us to develop close working relationships with them.  We strive to learn about their business, their philosophy and their people so we can place our recommendations in the proper context.  We endeavor to be readily accessible, making ourselves available even when on the road and outside traditional business hours.

We take a proactive approach to counseling.  We keep abreast of legal developments that may interest or affect our clients so we can keep them updated.  We will not hesitate to contact them to share fresh information or ideas that may be helpful to them.

We believe that cost-effective service can and must be provided without sacrificing the quality of the legal work product.  To that end, our fees are reasonable and very competitive.  If necessary, we will work with our fees to ensure that cost is never an obstacle to providing responsible and sound legal service.

We know that promptness is a key component of good legal services.  We respond to consultations promptly, within the time frame requested by the client, and work with the client to develop proper timetables for longer term projects.

Last but not least, we listen to our clients.  We tailor our services to the client's particular needs or preferences.  We ask for and welcome their feedback so we can learn how to serve them better.

Areas of Practice

• Labor Law Firm 95%
• Family Law Firm 5%

Classes and Seminars

• Rights of Working Mothers, SHRM Student Chapter
• Reasonable Accomodation in Education, Education Department of Puerto Rico
• The Administrative Assistant: Guardian of the Attorney's Professional Responsibility
• Illegal Harassment: Definition, Prevention and Management
• Notes on Illegal Harassment
• The Good Business Decision: Legal Aspects regarding the Hiring, Evaluation, Discipline and Termination of Employees.
• Preventing Sexual Harassment
• Wage and Hour Notes
• Doing Business in PR: 10 Key Differences Employers Need to Know, M. Lee Smith Publishers
• Accommodation of the Disabled Employee in the Public Education System: Basic Concepts for the Teacher, Professional Consulting Group
• Legal Aspects to Consider in the Hiring of Employees with Disabilities
• Discrimination: Is Everybody in a Protected Class, Personnel Law Updates
• Recent Developments Regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act, Chamber of Commerce
• Absenteeism Control Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Workers' Compensation Act
• Hidden Traps of the Family and Medical Leave Act
• Interplay Between FMLA, ADA, and other Federal Labor Laws

West Practice Categories

Administrative Hearings & Adjudication, Administrative Investigations, Sexual Harassment, Education Law, Private Schools, Public Schools, Special Education, Employment Law -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employer, Employee Rights -- Employer, Employment Contracts -- Employer, Employment Discrimination -- Employer, Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) -- Employer, Sexual Harassment -- Employer, Wage & Hour Laws -- Employer, Whistleblower -- Employer, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employer, Wrongful Termination -- Employer, Elder Law, Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and Appointment, Wills, Child Support, Custody & Visitation, Divorce, Prenuptial Agreements, Litigation & Appeals, Workers' Compensation Law