AREAS OF PRACTICE
Complex Litigation, Information Technology, Public Contracts, and Procurement
RECOGNITION
![leading individual.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08349b_f681fdb6e4224c9db0f957940cc403aa~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_120,h_99,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/leading%20individual.png)
OVERVIEW
Heriberto has a degree in Economics from Cornell University (1982), and a J.D. from the University of Puerto Rico, cum laude (1987). He passed the bar that same year (11th highest grade). During his last two years in law school, he held a position as Assistant to the Governor's Chief Legal Counsel (José Berrocal, Esq.). After graduation, he worked as the Senior Law Clerk to U.S.D.J. Carmen C. Cerezo in Federal Court in San Juan for two years (1987-89). In 1989, he joined a large corporate law firm in San Juan. Heriberto left the firm in 2007 to organize Casellas Alcover & Burgos, P.S.C., with the two name partners and a junior partner.
Heriberto started his practice as a business trial lawyer in Puerto Rico in general commercial and banking litigation. His first major matter involved a construction defects action by 230 residents against a major national bank in state court and a RICO action in federal court. Both cases were dismissed. His practice expanded to public contracts collections and procurement (a practice to which he presently devotes a considerable part of his time), products liability (drug, medical devices, asbestos and tobacco), non-competition agreements, distribution and First Amendment.
In the last five years, Heriberto negotiated over $200 million worth of government contracts and litigated or defended contract awards on behalf of clients before almost every agency of the Puerto Rican government (General Services Administration, Office of Budget and Management, Municipal Affairs Office (OCAM), the Department of the Treasury, Transportation and Highways Authority, the Police, Health and Education Departments, the Land Authority, the Electric Power and the Aqueducts and Sewer Authorities, and various municipalities –San Juan, Bayamón, Caguas, Guayama, and Guaynabo).
Heriberto is a member in good standing of the Puerto Rico and Federal Bar Associations. He has been appointed on two occasions to the U.S. Magistrate Selection Committees, and is currently serving his second term in the Federal District Court Examination Committee.
Heriberto is the President of the Board of Directors of Colegio San Gabriel, Inc., a non-profit organization which operates Colegio San Gabriel, a 100 year old private catholic school devoted to the care and teaching of deaf children. He is a partner at the law firm Casellas Alcover & Burgos, P.S.C.
EDUCATION
B.A., Cornell University, 1982
J.D., cum laude, University of Puerto Rico Law School, 1987
CLERKSHIPS
Hon. Carmen C. Cerezo, U.S. District Court, Puerto Rico, 1987-1989
BAR ADMISSIONS
Puerto Rico, U.S. District Court, Puerto Rico, U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, U.S. Court of International Trade, Supreme Court United States
HONORS AND AWARDS
Ranked by Chambers and Partners, Latin America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2012 & 2013)
Mention by Chambers and Partners Latin America, as One of the Top Litigators in Puerto Rico, (2009)