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Dear Sir/Madam I have been telephoned by First Legal Services, Edificio Costa del Sol, Benamara Dos Hermanas, Crta. DeCadiz km 168, Estepona, 29680, Malaga offering to take court action to recover timeshare sales losses. As my husband and I have been caught before by a 'cold call' we would like to find out if this is a legitimate and trustworthy firm. Thank you.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I’ve never heard of this company you mention before.
I’ve searched this company's internet domain and they created their website on the 3rd February 2009.
Domain Name: FIRSTLEGALSERVICES.COM
Registrar: DIRECTI INTERNET SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois
Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL: http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Name Server: NS1.5YEARHOST.CO.UK
Name Server: NS2.5YEARHOST.CO.UK
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: client
UpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 26-mar-2009
Creation Date: 03-feb-2009
Expiration Date: 03-feb-2010
On their website they mention they use lawyers, but on their webpage none appear named, in fact, no one is named!
The only company mentioned on the website is “First Elite, S.L.”
I strongly recommend that you read the following forum thread on an almost identical query as yours (just click on the blue link) regarding recovering timeshare sales losses:
Legal Advice Counsel
Spanish law firms never cold call people, ever.
You should mistrust any phonecalls received from Spain in which anyone is making a cold call requesting money upfront from you. How did they come into possession of your personal contact details? How do they know how much you invested and specifically where you invested? All these details are protected by Spain's Data Protection Act and subseq laws.
Ask them for their lawyer’s name and surname, ask them in which Bar Association in Spain they are registered to practice, ask them for their lawyer’s member number of their respective Bar Association.
Only lawyers who are registered in a Bar Association in Spain are allowed to address themselves as “lawyers” or “solicitors”, no one else. Besides, only registered lawyers have a professional indemnity insurance as it's mandatory and we must pay it.
Be wary of cold calls from legal advisors, senior legal advisors, legal executives, paralegals and in general anyone who does not clearly identify himself/herself as a lawyer or solicitor (and is therefore a registered one). All the afore fancy titles don't mean anything. Or you are a registered Spanish lawyer or you are not. It's that simple. Someone who is not a trained registered lawyer is not qualified to give legal advice, period.
Over the last year we've witnessed, in the financial aftermath, how many people that had professional backgrounds (i.e. timeshare) completely unrelated to practising law are now restyling their companies and rebranding themselves as "Spanish legal experts" incorporating companies offering dubious legal services without a professional track record to show for it.
I honestly think one cannot go to bed being a timeshare agent, with all our respects to them, and wake up on the following morning as a qualified legal expert ready to take on clients without the most basic grasp of legal knowledge, much less a Spanish Law degree.
To close this thread, please read the following articles and threads (again, just click on the blue link which will take you to the articles):
1. Careful with Scammers Posing as Spanish Lawyers - 18th March 2009
2. 9 Tips on How to Determine if an Offer is a Scam- 17th October 2008
3. European Mediation - 17th November 2008
Hi we too were cold called -same old -same old , want 680 euros up front for court fees!!! NO WAY JOSE!!! we have made our loss & best is to leave sleeping dogs lie , otherwise you end up throwing good money after bad !!! However if you like us paid for some or all of it by credit card you can approach the C.C. disputes to try & get it back( NO RISK TO YOURSELVES !! ) All good luck to you. ps NEVER REPEAT NEVER GET INVOLVED WITH "CLUB CLASS" WHAT A LOAD OF CON CON CON -we found out too late !!Quote:
Originally Posted by Glyn
Sorry posted in wrong thread.
We have received a call from a Brian Stevenson from First Legal Services, regarding European Coast & Sun Holidays SL Designer Way Vacation Timelinx saying he can retrieve our money back through the courts. This case has gone to court twice, but they have to wait up to 18months for anyone to be able to regain any money owing.
He says he has been on this case from the start.
But they want 2088 euros from us I said we could not afford that and he told us to take a loan out.
Can anyone tell me if this has actually gone to court.
Michelle
hello this is Brian Stevenson, I believe I know who posted this comment, I informed them that our company would pursue recovery of there funds through the spanish legal system, I did inform this couple of court action that has been taken against these companies, I refer to a legal action taken in Reading where 2 of the named companies were associated in it. See daily mirror Penman; Sommerlad 11/06/09 also the involvement in a liable action against a company similar to ours, see malaga courts. As regards finance, they informed me and provided information on a loan they were tricked into taking to finance this venture with a holiday club, we discussed this at some length and I certainly did not advise them to borrow further monies to get involved in any litigation.
"A liable" action does not suggest to me, as a corporate lawyer, that you know what you are talking about. Also my friend if you are giving a number of people/ clients advice which relates in the final analysis to pecuniary situations you are falling out of FSA legislation. Your company is registered in Rainhill, Merseyside so if you want proper perception of your company, detail the names your lawyers and check out the FSA position and get registered. Then you will have no problems.
A bit more detail regarding First Legal Services. Firstly a company of that name based in Warrington went into liquidation in may 2009. The company,sporting the same name, that now exists in Companies House was a new incorporation in july 2009.
The gentleman behind the original company was a Roger Pritchard. The "new" First Legal was originally called First Legal Property and changed their name on 23rd July to First Legal Services Ltd. Not too clever given the history of the name but not a problem. I cannot check out the Spanish registration although Roger Pritchard who also runs several financial advice based companies does not appear in the latest First Legal. Roger is shown as "inactive" on the FSA register.
Scunny2
Quote:
Originally Posted by scunny2
Dear Scunny2,
Thank you for sharing with us.
From the Spanish side, I can say I've found no registered company trading under the name "First Legal Services, S.L." or "First Legal Services, S.L.P.".
I refer you to similar "law firms", both located in Marbella and both belonging to "Bannister Hamilton Consulting Ltd.with Registration Number: 1534308”, presumably a UK registered parent company:
Legal Advice Counsel
Website.
European Legal Services
Website.
Yours faithfully,
Hello,
I have been contcted in februari 2009 by Van Mill Y Lopez with the same stories as descriped above. Lats week I was phoned again from Spain by a nice Englisch speking lady who called herself Michelle Virgin. She asked me if I had a timesharing contract and offerded me their help on getting back money. It is clear for me that they work under different names and with various persons. Be carefull!!!
Dear Sir,
"Mil y Lopez" is already in our list.
It's the first time I've seen "Van Mill Y Lopez". Must be the same people.
I have also been contacted by Van Mill Y Lopez today. The first time was also after a cold call in February. My story is the same as the ones above. They offered me money today and said that it has already been to court and that we could get our money (20000 euros) if we first pay 2000 euros for lawercosts and that they will pay within 8 workingdays if the money we have to pay them is on their bankaccount. I personally don't trust it at all, I want to believe, because I want my money back. But if we first have to pay money, I won't do it! 2 a 3 times a year some malifide scam companies call us that they can sell our timeshare or pretend to be a lawyer. They will call me back tomorrow.
Dear Lawbird Lawyer I have been telephoned by First Legal Services at the address given by Glyn on 06-24-2009 with a similar offer regarding timeshare sales losses I have encountered. I objected to the cold call but agreed to them sending information via e-mail. In your comment you said that the name of their lawyers does not appear on their webpage. In the information I have received they give the name of a leading law firm: Gabinete Marbella y Asociados, Senior Partner - Roberto Herero (Abogado) License no. 80220. In view of comments by other posts, would be interested in any further advice. I have been 'caught' twice by rogue companies and wish I had NEVER become involved in time share!
In the past, all companies cold calling people offering legal services to recover timeshare moneys turned out to be nothing but scams, no matther if they quoted Spanish registered lawyers or not.
I have sent an email to Gabinete Marbella y Asociados enquiring about their involvement with First Legal Services, and have given them the URL to this thread. It would be good to hear what they have to say.
Dear Roseland,Quote:
Originally Posted by Roseland
When I replied to Glyn on the 26th June 2009 there was no lawyer mentioned on their website. This has also happened last week with another company.
They added this lawyer's name months later (In October I think). They claim to be outsourcing the litigation cases over to another company.
The outsourced company, "Gabinete Marbella y Asociados SL", to the best of my knowledge is a "gestorÃ*a" or "gabinete", not a law firm (they are not an S.L.P.):
http://www.midocumentacion.com/quién-somos/
The lawyer you mention on your post exists and is duly registered to practice by Madrid's Law Society.
As written above by Admin, our website has been around for over a decade now. In the span of these ten years every single company that acted on the same way as First Legal Services turned out to be a scam, with no exceptions.
The way it works out is as follows:
1. These companies are recently incorporated. Most often than not, there isn't even a company incorporated, only a newly registered website which at most is 3 months old.
2. They hire no Spanish registered lawyers. Their workers (the ones that cold-call you) are normally ex-timeshare agents which are excellent at closing deals. They will label themselves as Legal Advisors, Legal Executives, Paralegals, Senior Legal Adsvisors etc but never as lawyers.
3. They mislead those that they target into thinking they are a legitimate Spanish law firm.
4. They cold-call timeshare investors using the data bases belonging to the timesehare companies that scammed these clients in the first place either because they purchaed it or because they themselves are ex-employees or have acquaintances. This breaches Spain's Data Protection Act. What you should ask yourself is why would a timsehare company disclose your contact details over to a new company which is going to sue them unless they knew that the new company wasn't going to do anything about it, of course. Spanish law firms never cold-call people. Someone appropriately labelled this yeras ago as "the scam of the scam". Some people have fallen more than 5 times for it through different companies which always offer to sue the ones before and claim back the money.
5. In ten over years I've never met anyone who has recovered their money through any of these companies. Do you know anyone?
6. These litigation cases are in their majority a waste of time and money as the timesehare companies will invariably have no assets, so its throwing away good money after bad litigating. And this is when they actually do outsource someone to litigate, which is normally not the case. i.e. European Mediation Limited, Legal Advice Counsel, European Legal Services etc.
European Mediation Limited also added later (after a thread on them was started on our webiste) on their website a Fuengirola law firm to whom they supposedly outsourced legal work to. This company was wounded up by the UK Authorities in the Public Interest. You can read more on them on this thread: Belegal forum thread
Bottomline, from the moment you receive a cold-call these people are breaching the law and they know it. How can you build a professional relation
of trust if it starts already illegaly as per Spain's laws?
Shouldn't you be asking yourself on why legitimate Spanish law firms don't work like this? It's always these new companies that have been set up over the last months which never have in-house lawyers working for them that cold-call you.
If you want to hire such companies we will not deter you.
My advice is that if you want to litigate or hire any legal service in Spain is that you do it only through legitimate Spanish law firms (S.L.P.'s) who will employ only Spanish registered lawyers. Besides, only Spanish registered lawyers have Professional Indemnity Insurance and are members of one of the regional Law Societies and have to abide by their rules.
Yours faithfully,
Dear Lawbird Lawyer
Grateful thanks for your excellent advice which I am sure will be of great benefit to other members. It is all much as I expected and I have no intention of contacting them further.
Roseland
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawbird Lawyer
I read with interest about First Legal Services. They first contacted me one year ago regarding a fraudulent offer from European Resales Malaga to sell our timeshare (many years ago), which we foolishly believed and went along with. First Legal Services offered to reclaim all monies if we paid them up front, which we declined to do. They tried to persuade us with great claims of success etc. However, we strongly told them no thanks. I have just this week received a call from Lesley Morgan representing a company called Rodriguez Fernando y Sharpirez of Fuengirola, who say they wish to pursue this same claim, and are looking for an up front payment of 188.50 Euros. I have looked up their web site and it all looks quite professional but I feel I am still smelling a rat. Have you heard of this Legal company?
Dear Madam,Quote:
Originally Posted by Elle
There's already a specific thread started on the "law firm" "Rodriguez, Fernando & Sharpierez":
Have received a phone call from Rodriguez Fernando y Sharpierez. Are they legal?
I disagree with you, their website does not look professional.
Yours faithfully,
Interesting topic. Want to see more on what you guys think about this.
I understand what you're saying I went on the internet looking for an honest lawyer and it the web of First Legal Services came up and received a call that this man could find me a good lawyer in my state or country with a monthly fee of 36.00 dollars and a 10.00 dollar down payment now Im thinking why should I pay anyone to look for a lawyer for me 2nd and still have to pay for the lawyer also? I don't think so Im not that desperate why do people keep trying to hurt one another and then take and rob from other people?Quote:
Originally Posted by Glyn