John F. Nevares, Attorney at Law
Practice
Mr. Nevares started his practice in New Orleans, Louisiana at the law firm Phelps Dunbar where he worked under the direction of John Sims in a number of different cases. Thereafter, Mr. George Frilot from Lemle & Kelleher made him an offer to work in that firm.
Mr. Nevares returned to Puerto Rico in 1986 and worked at the Department of Justice of Puerto Rico. He was trial counsel in the grounding of the M/V Regina, an Italian built ferry which carried passengers and automobiles and that grounded off Mona Island between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Mr. Nevares broke limitation of liability and Federal Judge Laffitte ordered the removal of the vessel at a cost of approximately $12 million.
Thereafter, in 1987 ex-Supreme Court Justice Lino Saldaña made him an offer to work at his law firm. At the time Mr. Saldaña’s law firm was outside counsel for the Department of Justice and Mr. Nevares handled Civil Rights cases involving police brutality, alleged sexual harassment by public officials, political discrimination cases and prisoners civil rights actions. Mr. Nevares also worked in cases such as Ciudad Cristiana (a major toxic tort) and very sensitive cases for the Department of Corrections involving imposition of fines by the Federal Government. Mr. Nevares also filed Attorney General Lawsuits like in the tobacco litigation on behalf of the Commonwealth of P.R.
In 1993 Mr. Nevares opened his own law practice and continued to work as outside counsel for the Department of Justice under the direction of now Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi and Angel Rotger, Esq.
Since the year 2000 Mr. Nevares has been involved in numerous plaintiff cases and class action law suits involving anti trust, products liability and environmental law.
Experience
During his tenure at the Department of Justice and as outside counsel he represented four Chiefs of Police in numerous civil rights cases starting with Desiderio Cartagena, Carlos López Feliciano, Ismael Betancourt and Pedro Toledo.
In 1994, Mr. Nevares was trial counsel for the Department of Justice in the grounding of T/B Morris Berman off the North Coast of San Juan which spilled one million gallons of bunker “C” oil. After two appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit the case settled in the year 2000 for $25 million. Mr. Nevares is presently inlvoved in the Caribbean Petroleum Corp tank explosion case pending in USDC for Puerto Rico, as trial counsel for 3,000 plaintiffs. He is also trial counsel in the One Link consumer class action anti-trust ligation. Finally Mr. Nevares represented Exxon Inc. from the year 2001 until the company left the island.
Mr. Nevares has been involved in numerous cases but the ones discussed above are probably his more memorable. He specializes in Constitutional law.
Furthermore, Since 1988 Mr. Nevares has been involved in a number of MDL cases starting with the In re: Dupont Fire Litigation where 82 guests were killed at the Sheraton Hotel in Puerto Rico. In that case, he represented twenty (20) defendants.
In 1995, Mr. Nevares started filing MDL cases. For example, Mr. Nevares was involved in the Synthroid MDL Litigation, Vitamins MDL Litigation, Cooper Tire MDL Litigation, Guidant MDL Litigation, Viagra MDL Litigation, Ortho Evra Litigation, ReNu MDL Litigation, Avandia MDL Litigation, Medtronic MDL Litigation, In Re: iPhone/iPad Application Consumer Privacy Litigation, Toyota Motor Corp. MDL Litigation, DePuy Orthopedics MDL Litigation, Navistar Diesel Engine Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2223 and PR Cabotage Litigation MDL–1960 were he was liaison counsel for the PSC.
Cases
LETICIA ACEVEDO-CRESPO, ATTORNEY AT LAW
Bar Admissions
Experience
Admitted to Puerto Rico Bar (January 1997)
Admitted to U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (October 2001)
Admitted to U.S. Court of Appeals for the first Circuit (March 2002)
Admitted to U.S. Supreme Court (May 2002)
-
Attend hearings. Assist in preparation for trial. Assist in preparation of direct, re-direct and rebuttal examinations. Prepare witnesses. Review transcript of depositions to find key testimony in preparation for trial. Identify documents to be used during trial. Attend trials with lead attorney.
-
Work with Class Action, Multi-District Litigation, Complex Litigation and Civil Rights in Federal and State Court. Work with Pro Bono cases referred by the Puerto Rico Bar Association