The lawyer who works only for you.
I am a Costa Rican attorney and notary public with more than 30 years of practice and the former Legal Director of RECOPE, the national oil company. I represent foreign investors — and only the investor — in Costa Rica real estate and business. If you are wiring life-changing money to a country you are still getting to know, my job is to make that safe.
I built an independent practice because the system pushes foreign buyers toward conflicted lawyers.
In a typical Costa Rica purchase, the buyer is quietly steered to a lawyer chosen by the seller or the realtor — the people paid when the deal closes. It is the single most common way foreign buyers get hurt. I decided long ago that my name would be on the opposite side of that: independent counsel whose only incentive is your outcome. I do not close deals for a living. I protect the person paying for them.
Attorney & Notary Public
A Costa Rican notary is a lawyer vested with public faith by the State — the authority to draft, execute and register the escritura that actually transfers your title. Colegio de Abogados carné #____ · Notary registration #____ (published so you, or your own attorney, can verify me).
30+ years of Costa Rican practice
Three decades across administrative litigation, public and commercial law, energy and notarial work — seasoned judgment, not guesswork, on the terrain where foreign purchases quietly go wrong.
Former Legal Director, RECOPE
I led the legal strategy of Costa Rica's national oil company — state-scale contracts, concessions and administrative law. That is the high-stakes equivalent of having handled deals at your scale.
English-first, direct to me, and your money never through my hands.
Everything runs in English — every document, every risk, every decision — from the first session to the registration of your title. You deal directly with me, not a case handler. And your funds move only through a SUGEF-regulated escrow with a US correspondent bank, released only when title is clear and registered in your name. I direct and verify every step; I never custody a dollar. When we agree to work together, you get a fixed scope and a flat fee from a stated starting point, in writing.
What I will, and won't, do.
Boundaries are not marketing. They are how you know whose side I am on before you ever wire a cent.
I will run the title study myself and hold your funds to a SUGEF-regulated escrow.
I will tell you not to buy when the title is bad — even when everyone else is paid to close.
I will not represent the seller or your realtor in the same transaction.
I will not take commissions or referral fees from brokers or developers.
One accountable lawyer — with a plan for the unexpected.
A fair question about any solo attorney is: what happens if something happens to you, mid-matter? It is answered before you ask. I maintain a named successor attorney and a defined file-continuity plan (____ — to confirm), so your matter is protected regardless of circumstance. What you get in return is what a firm rarely gives: the senior lawyer is the person doing your work, start to finish — no junior associate you never chose touching your investment. Your matter and your identity stay private.
Beachfront and concession parcels verified before closing and held in the right structure.
Purchases executed by scoped power of attorney for buyers who never traveled.
Registered ownership defended against adverse claims and squatter risk.
Your matter is handled with the same rigor, in English, from first review to registered title.
I tell you what I would do if it were my own money.
Including when the answer is: don't buy this one. If that is the kind of counsel you want on your Costa Rica investment, start with a Strategic Valuation Session — US$350, credited toward your engagement.