PECABAR Law was founded in 1983 and now comprises a number of partners and associates actively engaged in general law practice. It is known in the Philippine legal community as “PECABAR”.
The wide area of the Firm’s litigation practice includes civil, commercial, and special civil actions, as well as criminal cases, where the Firm has invariably provided legal services as a prosecutor or as defense counsel, as the case may be. Specifically, in the field of civil and commercial litigation, the legal controversies over which the expertise of our litigators has been sought include a formidable range of court proceedings involving breach of contract, specific performance, rescission, land registration and reconstruction, declaratory relief and quieting of title, tort and class actions, succession, insolvency, admiralty and a varied mix of disputes on family law.
In criminal litigation, the Firm has considerable experience in preliminary investigation and inquest proceedings, searches and seizures, criminal attachment, hold departure orders, bail and judicial determination of probable cause, and the active prosecution, or defense, of criminal cases.
The Firm’s corporate and special projects group has extensive experience in the full range of legal services needed to support successful commercial transactions. The projects handled by the Firm run the full gamut from the most novel and sophisticated arrangements to the day-to-day mundane reportorial requirements. Along the way, the Firm developed specialized expertise in each of the various sub-fields of practice. These include foreign investments, mergers, and acquisitions, securities, project finance, real estate, intellectual property, immigration, customs, banking, and taxation.
In recent years, the Firm has been at the forefront of corporate rehabilitation proceedings, representing either the debtor, creditor, or other interested parties.
The Firm’s range of practice has meshed well with the diverse undertakings of our clients. We provided commercial and legal input into contract drafting and negotiations and standard business documentation. The Firm often assists clients in Human Resource Management, administrative disciplinary proceedings, labor cases, compensation and benefits, drafting and negotiating joint development agreements, consulting agreements, concession agreements, etc.
The Firm has a largely diversified clientele consisting of domestic and international companies from virtually every industry, including service-oriented entities (banks, finance companies, investment houses, insurance companies, stock brokerage companies, hotels, educational institutions, construction companies, film and movie enterprises, and theme parks and recreational companies), manufacturing and processing enterprises (food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, electronic components, cement, garments and textile, coconut oil mills, motor vehicles, tobacco products), public utilities (telecommunications, power and electric companies, airlines, shipping companies, bus companies), wholesale and retail distribution and trading companies (computers, petroleum products, fertilizers, machinery, and equipment), real estate development companies, mining companies, and holding companies. These clients range in size and structure from publicly held companies to privately owned companies and medium-sized entities to non-profit organizations imbued with the public interest.
A significant feature in the Firm’s practice is the “team system” where a number of lawyers, under the supervision of a partner, are assigned to a client, or particular account. The lawyers so assigned are chosen for their familiarity with the client and its business as well as for their individual skills and expertise relevant to the particular requirements of the work. The size and composition of the assigned team are determined with particular regard to the magnitude and complexity of the work. The client is therefore assured of work continuity and a ready pool of lawyers conversant with various fields of law. The team system, of course, does not preclude a client from calling on any other partners of the Firm for any exigency.