Competent Attorney in David or Bouquete/Bank that you would Reccommend

[Janet H. Callicutt]

Hi,

I'm looking for a very good, competent attorney who can handle all of my
questions concerning the Forestry Residency Program. Maybe someone
in this group has had experience in this area. Also, I need recommendations
for a good bank in David or Bouquete. Good experiences, bad experiences,
I would like to hear them all.

Thank You For Your Help!

Janet





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[Bob Wolfe]

Hi Janet,

Ah, competent attorneys. The trick is competent more than once, fair and consistent in pricing more than once, and knowledgeable in all the areas you need. For forestry visas ( a moving target ), you will probably have to deal with Panama City anyway. I would recommend very highly Rainelda Mata-Kelly, whose email address is [e-mail]. Her website is www.Mata-Kelly.com. After having discussions with several local attorneys about a somewhat complex dependent visa for my wife, some of whom suggested I give them an unmarked envelope with a large sum of cash, we discovered Rainelda and found very fair and reasonable fees, top-notch service, extraordinary competency, and probably the most knowledgeable attorney in the Republic. She has a talented support staff and handles all aspects of law. She, as well as all of her staff, are bilingual.

After almost six years here and about the same number of short-lived attorneys, we have entrusted Rainelda with all our legal matters.

[Karen and Jim Kennedy]

Hola Janet,

We have had good experiences with Banco Nacional, both in David and Boquete. Most of or money is in the states, but the money we do have in Panama is at this bank. There are English speaking managers in both branches and have been very helpful to us from buying a car to buying our home. Buena suerte!!

We also have an excellent attorney in David but not sure if she does dealings with the Forestry Residency Program. She was fair and prompt with obtaining our visas and also everything to do with purchasing our home. If you would like her information I can give that to you. Just give me a shout!

Karen

[Janet H. Callicutt]

Hi Karen,

Thank you for the information concerning the bank. It sounds like a good one to do business with.
As for the attorney you mentioned, I would very much like to have her name and possible a phone
number and/or e-mail address or web-site.

I do appreciate this, I need all the information I can get.

Janet

[Karen and Jim Kennedy]

Hi Janet,

I tried emailing you to the email address you supplied but it will not got through. I would prefer to send you all the information I have on our attorney through your personal email if that would be okay. Is there a problem with your email? Let me know. My email address is [e-mail]

Karen

[Bonnie Williams]

Karen:

I had no problem responding to Janet via her e-mail address. Be sure to put two L' s and two T's in Callicutt.

Bonnie

[Karen and Jim Kennedy]

Thanks Bonnie, I am trying it again.

Karen

[Lee Zeltzer]

In David I would suggest Carlos Olmos. I am not sure if he knows the forestry program but he is a straight shooter and will tell you.
[e-mail]

[Julio Santamaría]

As a young entrepreneur I''ve been through maybe 6 or 7 lawyers... Sadly, in my experience, the words lawyer and competent don't go together...
As for banks... we've worked with three so far... and... hmm... not too happy either. If it helps you can find bank's contact details and websites at:
Banks in Boquete, Panama
¡Buena suerte!
Julio

[Janet H. Callicutt]

Hi,
/
Thank you all very much for the information. It's not easy when you are not
familiar with an area as to whom you may trust.

Janet

[Julio Santamaría]

Just to clarify... of those 6/7 lawyers we've worked with, all of them had our trust and are honest people... BUT they weren't competent... they were slow, in some cases they didn't even know what they were doing, they had too much on their hands to handle, etc.

The law in Panama makes you need a lawyer for almost everything... even the simplest tasks: let's say that by law, Panamanian lawyers have a secure income because we'll always need them! In many cases they don't add value to the process... it's just that you need a lawyer to get it done (by law you can't get it done yourself, even if it's something very simple).

Unfortunately in my experience, our lawyers have had all the facts and all the info, ahead of time, but at the end of the day, they end up missing something (that by profession they should know, didn't they go to law school?), which ends up in one spending more money and time (and a corrupt system doesn't help either) to get what you need...

Anyways... when it comes to lawyers and the government... it just feels good to rant, because in these four years, they have always been involved in our major obstacles and because of them we always loose money and time (which we could use to create more jobs or to attract more students)...

Julio

[Bonnie Williams]

Because of the strict libel and slander laws in Panama, it is not easy for people to give you honest replies on a public forum. If you would provide your e-mail address, you will likely get some straightforward information not possible to publish here.

That said, I agree with Sr. Santamaria. A good lawyer is hard to come by (and I suspect 99% of them are in Panama City), a good bank (in the U.S. sense) impossible.

[Janet H. Callicutt]

Hello,

Thank you for you candied reply. I will include my e-mail address so I may recieve
more particulars on the lawyer situation.

Thank You Very Much
Janet
e-mail: [e-mail]