Biography

Mr. Zayas-Marxuach has developed a general civil and commercial litigation practice, at both federal and state court levels, with emphasis on distribution and franchising, insurance, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, class actions and products liability, particularly prescription drug litigation.

Additionally, Mr. Zayas-Marxuach regularly provides litigation and counseling services to individuals in estate and probate matters.

He joined McConnell Valdés in 2000 after serving as a judicial clerk to the Honorable José A. Andréu García, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, and the Honorable Salvador E. Casellas of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. 

Representative Cases

Some of his recent significant cases include:

• Representation of a leading energy trading company in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit.
• Representation of leading U.S. manufacturers in distribution litigation and disputes in Puerto Rico.
• Representation of a leading U.S. provider of excess and surplus lines insurance in the transition of several hundred legal claims upon exhaustion of its aggregate limit of liability on a municipal liability policy, and in complex settlement negotiations with the Puerto Rico Treasury Department related to such policy.
• Representation of insurers in a purported class action under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act alleging underlying violations of Puerto Rico’s Compulsory Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Act.
• Méndez Internet Management Services, Inc. v. Banco Santander de Puerto Rico, 631 F.3d 10 (1^st Cir. 2010): Affirming dismissal, on summary judgment, of an action raising claims under the RICO Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Bank Holding Company Act and Puerto Rico’s general tort statute.
• Sánchez v. Triple-S Management Corp., 492 F.3d 1 (1^st Cir. 2007): Affirming dismissal, on summary judgment, of a purported class action under the RICO Act.
• Calderón-Serra v. Wilmington Trust Co., 2011 WL 5335395 D.Puerto Rico 2011): Dismissing state law causes of action for civil fraud and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with a securities transaction.
• Nikitine v. Wilmington Trust Co., 715 F.3d 388 (1^st Cir. 2013) & Calderón-Serra v. Wilmington Trust Co., 715 F.3d 14 (1^st Cir. 2013): Affirming dismissal of state law claims for civil fraud and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with securities transactions.

Practices