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Rafael Pagan-Colon
Attorney, notary, business consultant, IT professional & public speaker
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Biography
Attorney-at-Law, notary, business consultant, information technology professional, executive, and manager with over 15 years’ experience in regulatory contract negotiations, compliance, business administration, business reengineering, project management, managerial consulting, and information technology management. I've issued recommendations that have provided significant benefits to different organizations, both for-profits & non-profits. As an experienced public speaker, I've offered seminars and workshops on such topics as powers of attorney, wills, pre-nuptial agreements, project management, risk management, & system development methodologies, among others, throughout Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Venezuela, where I've also managed information technology & management consulting projects
Practice Areas
- Business Law
- Business Contracts, Business Dissolution, Business Formation, Business Litigation
- Consumer Law
- Lemon Law
- Family Law
- Adoption, Child Custody, Child Support, Father's Rights, Guardianship & Conservatorship, Prenups & Marital Agreements, Restraining Orders
- Probate
- Probate Litigation, Will Contests
- Divorce
- Contested Divorce, Property Division, Spousal Support & Alimony, Uncontested Divorce
- Real Estate Law
- Commercial Real Estate, Condominiums, Easements, Homeowners Association, Mortgages, Neighbor Disputes, Residential Real Estate
- Foreclosure Defense
- Collections
- Personal Injury
- Animal & Dog Bites, Construction Accidents, Premises Liability, Wrongful Death
- Gov & Administrative Law
- Administrative Law, Government Contracts
- Appeals & Appellate
- Civil Appeals
- Arbitration & Mediation
- Consumer Arbitration, Family Arbitration
- Animal & Dog Law
- Social Security Disability
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
- Puerto Rico
- Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Puerto Rico
- ID Number: 19512
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Languages
- English: Spoken, Written
- Spanish: Spoken, Written
Professional Experience
- Counselor, attorney, notary public
- Law Offices of Rafael Pagan
- - Current
- >> Developed a strategic business plan for a Puerto Rico entrepreneur, including 5-year operational budget. Negotiated exclusive representation from Colombian beauty & hair-care firm, granting client exclusive rights to market & sell products in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, and the United States; Participated in the due diligence audit of a mid-sized cooperative financial institution; revised a portfolio made up of 160 mortgage loans, 21 auto loans, and 19 consumer loans for compliance with United States & Puerto Rico laws and regulations, drafted recommendations based upon the institution’s own lending policy, relevant legislation, and best business practices; Drafted resolution to incorporate profit and non-profit enterprises, defining strategies to procure tax waivers under Federal Tax Code Section 501(c)(3) for a non-profit institution. >> Areas of legal practice: Probate & Family Law, Torts, Contract Negotiations & Administration; Audit & Compliance;
- Acting Information Systems Director/Special Aide to the Research & Technology VP
- University of Puerto Rico, Central Administration
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- >> Supervised a staff of 42 people and an operational budget of approximately $6,435,000. Team Lead for coordinating the works of the university-wide IT Directors’ Council made up of 11 Campus Information Systems Office Directors; >> Revised and implemented the University’s system-wide Policy on the Ethical Use of Information Technology, along with corresponding standards and procedures; >> Chaired an executive university-wide committee that negotiated and justified a $2.4 Million contract to renew and improve Internet, Internet 2, and Telephone services for an institution of higher learning; duplicating overall Internet bandwidth capacity from 300 Megabits-per-second to 600 Megabits-per-second.
- Production Manager, MIS
- Suez Lyonnaise/Ondeo Puerto Rico
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- >> Negotiated and implemented a $3 Million purchase to upgrade to an IBM z800 Mainframe and Shark storage technology, financing the 5-month project over 3 years, for a monthly lease $35,000 down from the Data Center’s monthly original operational budget of $155,000; >> Reduced monthly operational power expense of a 3,200 square feet mainframe data center by 48%, achieving $35,000 in monthly savings, down from an initial monthly power expense of $155,000; >> Chaired a CEO-sponsored committee, reporting directly to the CEO, as part of a corporate business process re-engineering effort to identify and recommend business improvements to the company’s Executive Committee; >> Served on infrastructure team to implement a $1.1 Million client server platform to support a corporate-wide SAP implementation project.
- Deputy Director, Information Systems
- Vivendi Environnement / Puerto Rico Water Company
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- >> Defined a strategic overview for evolving the Information Technology function within the company over the next 10 years. Included budget, policy and organizational changes in the short-, mid- and long-term; >> Administered an $8.5 Million budget to improve communications networks and computing technology to state-of-the-art specifications and implement corporate access to Internet and E-Mail to over 600 people; >> Managed a $4.5 Million budget to lead Year 2000 (Y2K) efforts to successfully implement Mainframe-based Y2K-ready financial and commercial applications. Achieved implementation of the Commercial and Billing application a full month ahead of schedule. All other applications were implemented on time and within budget; >> Redesigned the process by which a public utility corporation acquires and controls consumption of chemical products. Contracted and led efforts to develop a web-based application to run over an Intranet.
- Senior Consultant
- James Martin & Co., Inc
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- >> Reduced time required by a Health Management Organization to issue 2,000+ W-2 forms from 2 people-weeks to a single day by re-engineering and streamlining the organization’s processes and available technology; >> For a multi-million dollar Venezuelan oil company, led efforts to establish a preliminary information architecture for the company’s gas division. Model encompassed 70 major business functions and close to 120 data types. The architecture was raised within a two-week time frame, working alongside the Vice Presidents of its five major subdivisions: Planning, Marketing, Transmission and Distribution, Engineering, and Processing. Executive Joint Requirements Planning sessions were the primary technique for collecting information supplemented by analysis of the subdivisions goals, critical success factors, and information needs.
Education
- University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras
- J.D. (2011) | Law
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- Honors: Cum Laude
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- University of Phoenix
- MBA (2007) | Business Administration, Technology Management
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- Honors: GPA 4.0
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- University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras
- B.B.A. (1984) | Business Administration, Computer Information Systems
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- Honors: Magna Cum Laude
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Professional Associations
- La Rama Judicial de Puerto Rico # 18691
- Member
- Current
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- Pro Bono, Inc. # 19512
- Lawyer
- - Current
- Activities: Provide free legal services to low income individuals, through the Puerto Rico Bar College's affiliation with Pro Bono, Inc.
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- Puerto Rico Notary College # 4551
- Notary
- - Current
- Activities: Through the College's "Notaries for Puerto Rico" program, provide free notary services to low income persons.
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- Puerto Rico Bar College (Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Puerto Rico) # 19512
- Member
- - Current
- Activities: Member of the College's Veteran's Affairs Commission since 2013. The Commission provides counseling to veterans of the United States Armed Forces and has worked towards refining and/or proposing legislation that improves quality of life for veterans living on the island.
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Publications
Articles & Publications
- Quis Custodiat Custodium? Corporate Oversight Through Derivative Action
- 2 No. 1 U. Puerto Rico Bus. L.J. 35 (2011)
Speaking Engagements
- Powers of attorney & Wills: Legal Manifestations of the will, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
- Torrimar Methodist Church
- Marital Pre-Nups: From Inmutability to Relative Flexibility, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Powers of Attorney: Legal Empowerment of People, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
- Torrimar Methodist Church
- Ethical Use of Technology, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- University of Puerto Rico, Central Administration
- Project Administration & Control, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
- Inter American University
Certifications
- Certified Data Professional
- American Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals
Legal Answers
124 Questions Answered
- Q. My father is selling his house in Puerto Rico. When my mom passed, we were added as heirs to the deed. He states an
- A: In Puerto Rico, you'll need more than an affidavit for your dad to sell what is an hereditary estate community. Both you and your brother must subscribe a power of attorney deed, empowering your dad (as your agent) to sell the real estate property, which must be clearly identified in the power of attorney deed with the real estate description as it appears in the Property Registry and the real estates cadaster number from the Center for Municipal Income Collections (CRIM, by its Spanish acronym). If the power of attorney is not issued in this manner, the notary who prepares the sales deed will not accept a sworn testimony, because the Property Registry will not accept a sworn testimony where the law requires a deed poll.
- Q. How can I check and find out if the land was ‘lotified’ or was segregation done ? What is the difference between the two
- A: You need to start with the land plot from whence the other lands were segregated. When plots are segregated from a source land plot, the Registrar annotates the new plot ("finca") numbers as entries to its historical tract. When a land plot is lotified, but not yet segregated, a plot plan ("plano de mensura") and a measurement certification ("certificación de mensura") are prepared by a licensed engineer, filed with the Puerto Rico Property Registry, and also annotated to the margin of the source land plot. Now then, "lots" are planned subdivisions of an existing plot ("finca") which appear on a plot plan. but have not yet been segregated as independent land plots in their own right. As far as the Property Registry and the government are concerned, the lots are still part of the source land plot. For a segregation to be legitimate, besides the plot plan and measurement certification ("plano y certificación de mensura"), these documents must be filed with the Office of General Permits ("OGPe", by its Spanish acronym), who'll issue a Permit Resolution. With these documents filed, one or more segregation deed(s) are subscribed by the owner(s) of the source land plot. If you and your siblings appear in the Property Registry as the legitimate owners of the source plot, you must all subscribe the segregation deed; a certified copy of which, must be filed with the Property Registry so that they may assigne a "finca" number to each newly independent plot. Regarding CRIM, this is the government arm that addresses property taxes. The same documents that you submitted to the Property Registry must also be presented at CRIM, along with a request to file a change of ownership and a request to file a community property (for you and your siblings).
- Q. Hello, can I place a lien on the developer/owner of an urbanization for repairs paid for by me?
- A: To place a lien on the urbanization, you would need to file a lawsuit to justify the lien in terms of the amount that you would be claiming against the developer. Due to the state you describe, you can file the lawsuit directly before the Court of First Instance, requesting permission from the court to place a lien on the developer's project (I'm assuming it's the same project within which your home is located. However, you'll have to prove to the court that you made repeated attempts to the developer to repair your home. I advise that you first send a letter by certified mail with receipt request, notifying the developer of the condition your house is in (include photographs of specific damages). I would also retain the services of an engineer who can assess the impact of said damages and the estimated costs to repair them. This'll help you in establishing the amount that you would claim against the developer. Be advised, depending on how many units have been built in your urbanization and how many residences have been sold there, the developer's main focus may be towards completing construction and selling the units; since each unit sold would go towards the mortgage that the developer has on the entire project.
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