Public Warning.-Scammers passing themselves off as Spanish lawyers and law firms

[Lawbird Lawyer]

List of Bogus Spanish Law Firms


We have compiled a list of such bogus law firms. They claim to be lawyers or legitimate Spanish law firms when in fact they are not. Clients are being continously misled to hire them thinking they are retaining the services of properly registered Spanish lawyers when it's not the case. These companies are giving legitimate Spanish law firms and lawyers a bad name.

Some of these unregulated companies go as far as having a completely legitimate appearance: they have incorporated a Spanish Limited Liability Company (SL), they have a neat profesionally laid out website, they are actually renting some commercial premises, they have multiple workers under payroll working as commission-driven "teleoperators" doing the cold-calling, they file taxes regularly etc. It's often fairly hard for laymen to distinguish them from a legitimate law firm.

Nigerian bogus law firms are the ones easiest to spot and they are always scams. They only have a website and send letters, e-mails or cold-call you. Their command of English is flawless. They do not incorporate companies, nor rent premises, nor hire workers.

Non-nigerian outfits are trickier to spot. They share the same modus operandi and always have Brisith or Irish citizens involved (to build rapport) who do the cold-calling of their fellow countrymen fleecing them: they will cold-call you out-of-the-blue offering you "group or class actions" against the timeshare companies or holiday clubs in which you've invested. You ought to be fully aware that the person with whom you are dealing and entrusting them your funds are not registered lawyers. They will identify themselves as Paralegals, Legal Advisors, Senior Legal Advisors, Legal Executives etc.

Over the eleven years our website has been running all "law firms" that followed this modus operandi of cold-calling clients offering litigation have turned out to be scams. For some bizarre reason a great deal of these "law firms" are located in Fuengirola, Málaga Province. Which out of sheer coincidence just happens to be the same town in which the majority of these timeshare-related scams are also located. They also happen to share the same data base of clients. Again, just coincidence.

What should raise the alarm bells is just how on earth did these "law firms" get hold of your contact details (name, surname, UK address, e-mail, phone number, name of of the timeshare company in which you invested, the exact amount which you invested etc.)? This information can only be provided or disclosed by the timeshare company that scammed you in the first place. It is clearly a breach of Spain's Data Protection Act. It is not surprising you will be targeted by different "law firms" within the same year poking you to take legal action against the timeshare companies which fleeced you. They seemingly share the same databases as of the dubious timeshare companies.

Legitimate Spanish law firms never cold-call people. And the reason is simple, they lack your contact details unless you give it to them. Which is why you must mistrust always any phone calls from either the UK or from Spain offering you out-of-the-blue to take "class actions" or "group actions" against timeshare companies. Ask yourself why and how do these people have your contact and investment details.

Legitimate Spanish law firms, in compliance with new regulation that was passed on 2007, have to trade statutorily as S.L.P.'s (Sociedad Limitada Profesional, or SLP). The owner of a Spanish law firm must be a lawyer. 75% of the share ownership must be owned by qualified lawyers. You should be very wary of any law firm located in Spain which is not trading as a registered S.L.P. This can easily be checked at the Spanish Companies' House. You should be very wary of "law firms" trading as S.L.'s whose sole or joint administrator are not registered lawyers. Those who are not registered to practice Law cannot call themselves "lawyers"; you have to be registered to practice law in one of Spain's Law Societies to address yourself as a "lawyer". These companies are often scams.

Bottom line, to put it simply, if a Spanish law firm is trading as an S.L.P. you have 100% guarantee that you are dealing with properly qualified registered lawyers (who will have Professional Indemnity Insurance against which you can claim in the event of negligence or malpractice). However, if you deal with "law firms" that trade as S.L. or S.L.U. you do not have this guarantee, and quite often they are not lawyers nor legitimate law firms, albeit scammers.

As a final word of caution, do not be fooled by a company that is trading which has the word "Abogados" (lawyers, in Spanish) in its name, i.e. Perez and Perez Abogados SL. This means nothing.

Newspaper clips on bogus law firms:

http://www.malagahoy.es/article/mala...as/malaga.html
http://www.timeshareconsumerguide.co...w=plink&id=271
http://timeshareconsumerguide.co.uk/...Fraud-Campaign

A company included in the list herewith doesn't necessarily equate to them being scammers. The companies listed below are only those that try to pass themselves off as legitimate Spanish law firms or else offer legal services, even if outsourced, when legally they can not. Which is why they are labelled as bogus law firms because they often mislead clients (mostly from the UK and the Republic of Ireland) into thinking they are hiring a legitimate Spanish law firm when it's not the case.


RamÃ*rez y Partners S.L. (Alicante) - 30th June 2010 Belegal forum thread

Solicitor/Attorney/Barrister/Esq. Geraldo Dantel (Inheritance scam; Madrid) - 21st June 2010

Barrister Raul Lopez (Esq) (Inheritance scam; Madrid) - 8th June 2010

Fraser and Ward Lawyers (Canary Islands) - 1st June 2010 Belegal forum thread

Unibancaja / Unibancaja Trust of Spain (Bogus Bank; Madrid) - 27th May 2010

Carl Luis Y Associates S.A./Carl Luis y Socio (Inheritance scam; Madrid) - 27th May 2010 Belegal forum thread

Zentera Bancaja Trust or Zentera Bancaja Trust (Bogus Bank; Madrid) - 27th May 2010

Bendraca Bancaja ES (Bogus Bank; Madrid) - 27th May 2010

Anderson & Associate Lawyers/ Anderson & Asociados Abogados (Inheritance scam; Madrid) -18th May 2010 (Not to be confused with a legitimate law firm trading under the same name located in Marbella, Málaga)

Letrado Josef Cullera (Inheritance scam); - 17th May 2010 Belegal forum thread

Lasmedes Asociados S.L. / Barrister "Sergio Carmen Santiago" (Inheritance scam; Valencia) - 13th May 2010 Belegal forum thread

Marcos Diego Asociados (Inheritance scam; Madrid, Barcelona, Tarragona) - 10th May 2010 Belegal forum thread

Gonzalez Garcia Abogados (Inheritance scam; Valencia/Barcelona) - 27th April 2010 Belegal forum thread

Barrister Rober Huber Esq (Valencia) - 19th April 2010

RCB Legal Services (Málaga) - 13th April 2010

Marcelo Belgrano Ledesma Abogados Limited (Madrid) - 23rd March 2010 Belegal forum thread.

Barrister Geraldo Flind ESQ (Madrid) - 23rd March 2010 Belegal forum thread

LITIMED (Litigation and Mediation) (Málaga) -19th March 2010 Belegal forum thread

OAL Partners (Asociados). International Lawyers, S.R.L./ Wrightson Ibiricu (Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona) -17th March 2010 Belegal forum thread

Legalmax Associados & Solicitors / Solomon Alonso Can (Madrid)- 23rd February 2010 Belegal from thread

SAM Abogados / Sergio Aragon McEnzie (Fuengirola - Estepona) - 4th February 2010 Belegal forum thread