Ramirez and Ramirez

[Unregistered]

I was contacted recently by Joanne Gofton from Ramirez & Ramirez; I spoke to her for a while and I expressed my concerns about R&R.

She gave me the same spiel they seem to have given everybody else, but she did mention that they were not lawyers, merely information collators for a Spanish lawyer
known as Damian Vazquez. He would be doing the legal work and serve something called a "denuncio" against the company who scammed me, R&R would only arrange paperwork and translations.She told me I could even go into a Spanish police station and issue a "denuncio" myself, but then it would be up to me to chase the Spanish authorities and arrange translations which would be very time consuming.
I googled "Damian Velazquez" and came up with a Spanish law firm's site
http://www.vazquezabogados.es
I won't touch R&R after what I've read on this site, but can you tell me if Damian Vazquez is legit?

[ifv]

I won't touch R&R after what I've read on this site, but can you tell me if Damian Vazquez is legit?

The meaning of the word 'legit' (legitimate) is rather broad. If you are asking if this lawyer is qualified and registered, the answer is yes.

[Unregistered]

I too was contacted yesterday by a very plausible and sincere sounding Brian Croker, offering the services of Ramirez and Rameriz to recover money lost to holiday plan. He was very clever at pretending he didn't know who my plan was with, yet when I said I couldn't remember who it was, amazingly the second name he mentioned when making suggestions to who it might be, was Design Vacation - spot on what luck!

I told him I wasn't interested as I had been contacted twice by these scammers who all wanted money up front. He told me there was no obligation and if I did procede the legal costs would be recouped from the settlement.
Did a bit of investigating on the net and found the Law Bird Legal services blog which named Ramirez & Ramirez in the following list which of which they stated :-

" 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."

I emailed the blog pages back to them instead of sending my details as requested, when the very polite Mr Croker rang today I again told him I wasn't interested, he asked why? I said I'd researched Ramirez etc on the net and that I wasn't convinced they were legit. His reply was that they where taking action against Law Bird for slander ( or words to that effect) as one of the lawyers who writes for Law Bird is also representing a company Ramirez etc. are taking action against!

More platitudes and suggestions on checking out R&R by looking on web sites as the BBC, Daily Mail etc. Also checking with the Spanish equivallent of the Bar Assocition.

Now after reading the comments on this forum I'm even more convinced "they ain't up to no good."

[Unregistered]

The meaning of the word 'legit' (legitimate) is rather broad. If you are asking if this lawyer is qualified and registered, the answer is yes.

By "legit" I also meant is he to your knowledge putting together a case against the company who scammed me. I know a no. has been allocated to the court case, but I don't know when it will take place. Is it true that I must lodge a "denuncio" against the company or I will lose out on my share of any possible settlement? Thanks.

[ifv]

May I ask you a question? Have you given this lawyer a power of attorney (signed before a notary public)?

[Unregistered]

May I ask you a question? Have you given this lawyer a power of attorney (signed before a notary public)?

No, I haven't approached this lawyer or any other in any way at all.
The phone call I received from Ramirez & Ramirez mentioned this lawyer's name as the lawyer for which they were collating evidence and that he would be prosecuting a company from which I bought some land (Fortuna Estates aka Fortuna Land). Obviously I don't know if this is true or not. I got the impression that the R&R employee told me this to get around my criticism that I had read on the net that R&R were not a law firm.

I just need to know if you know that this lawyer is in fact doing this. If this is the case, then I will most probably approach him direct. I also need to know if, as the R&R employee claimed, I must file something called a "denuncio" against Fortuna in order to claim any repayment resulting from the court case. The R&R employee said that if I did not file this "denuncio", then I would lose my right to my share of any compensation the Spanish courts may award. Thanks.

[ifv]

I just need to know if you know that this lawyer is in fact doing this. If this is the case, then I will most probably approach him direct. I also need to know if, as the R&R employee claimed, I must file something called a "denuncio" against Fortuna in order to claim any repayment resulting from the court case. The R&R employee said that if I did not file this "denuncio", then I would lose my right to my share of any compensation the Spanish courts may award. Thanks.

A 'denuncia' by itself will take you nowhere. I suggest that you contact this lawyer directly (contact details on http://www.vazquezabogados.es/), and ask what kind of approach he's going to use. Under the Law Association regulations, he must introduce himself and formaly establish the nature of the legal representation he will be offering (Art 42.3 - Estatuto General de la AbogacÃ*a).