Roberto Abesada-Agüet

E-mail address: ra@mcvpr.com
Phone Number: (787) 250-5699
Fax Number: (787) 759-2731

Roberto Abesada-Agüet is an Income Member in the Litigation Practice Group. He is also an adjunct professor of law at the Inter American University School of Law.

Practice Areas and Experience

Mr. Abesada practices general civil and commercial litigation. From 1997-1999 he worked as a student law clerk for the litigation law firm of Vicente & Cuebas, where he then continued working as an attorney until August 2005. During these years, he engaged in significant trial practice in both state and federal court. In his first federal jury trial case he obtained a favorable jury verdict for a defendant physician in a wrongful death medical malpractice and EMTALA case. Mr. Abesada has also argued several appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Education

Mr. Abesada obtained a Bachelors Degree in Business (magna cum laude) from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus and a Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Abesada worked with professors Raúl Serrano Geyls, Carlos I. Gorrín Peralta and Ennio Colón Ramírez, the last two as a professor's assistant.

Admissions

Admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Memberships

Puerto Rico and Federal Bar Associations and the firm's Pro Bono Program. He was recently appointed by the President of the Puerto Rico Bar Association to serve as a commissioner for the Committee to Evaluate Judicial Appointments.

Representative Cases

• Blas Toledo v. Hospital Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe, 2006 T.S.P.R. 47.
• Souffront Cordero v. AAA, 2005 T.S.P.R. 49
• R & J Motors, Inc. v. DACO, 2005 T.S.P.R. 48
• Municipality of San Juan v. COFECC, 415 F.3d 145 (1st Cir. 2005).
• Jewelers Mut. Ins. Co. v. N. Barquet, Inc., 410 F.3d 2 (1st Cir. 2005).
• Hull v. Municipality of San Juan, 356 F.3d 98 (1st Cir. 2005).
• Behavioral Healthcare Partners v. González Rivera, 392 F.Supp.2d 191 (D. Puerto Rico 2005).
• Freightliner LLC v. P.R. Truck Sales, 399 F.Supp.2d 57 (D. Puerto Rico 2005)
• Astoria Jewelry v. N. Barquet, Inc., 291 F.Supp.2d 16 (D. Puerto Rico 2003).
• Arias v. American Airlines, 163 F.Supp.2d 111 (D. Puerto Rico 2001).
• Arias-Rosado v. Tirado, 111 F.Supp.2d 96 (D. Puerto Rico 2000).

Mr. Abesada and Francisco G. Bruno were assigned the firm's first ever pro bono litigation, following a special request by the Puerto Rico Bar Association. This litigation entailed representing María Minguela, a high profile case of a single mother facing extradition to Texas as well as a legal custody battle from her former husband and the Family Department. Today, Ms. Minguela is free and together with her daughters. The firm received a Special Recognition Award from the President of the Puerto Rico Bar Association as a result of this representation.

Publications

• Problemas de Nivelación de las aseguradoras con la Asociación de Garantía y Seguros Misceláneos de Puerto Rico, 64 Rev. Co. Abog. 87 (2003).
• Judicial Fiasco in the Preemptive Scope of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, 34 Rev. Jur. U.I.A.P.R. 131 (1999).
• Puerto Rico: A Mixed Legal System, 32 Rev. Jur. U.I.AP.R. 288 (1998) (Co-author)

Mr. Abesada also contributes to the "Noteworthy Decisions" section of the Puerto Rico Federal Bar Association magazine From the Bar and its Federal Civil Procedure course for Federal Bar exam candidates.