María José Parajeles Blandón

• A litigating lawyer graduated from Escuela Libre de Derecho University (2015). She began her career in 2011 as a legal assistant at NCC Abogados Law Firm, now NCC Parajeles, directly in the litigation department under the supervision of Attorney Alfredo Nuñez Gamboa. From 2012 to January 2016, she worked as a legal assistant at Hulbert Volio Law Firm, in various areas of Corporate Law and in the Civil, Commercial, and Family Litigation Department. Upon the incorporation of Dr. Gerardo Parajeles Vindas in 2013 to Hulbert Volio – Parajeles, her practice area focused on the Credit and Collection Department, specializing in drafting legal opinions on Collection Matters, drafting collection instruments (promissory notes, bills of exchange, mortgages, pledges, etc.), preparation and review of credit contracts, full representation in judicial collection processes, out-of-court negotiation for debt settlement, condominium fee collection processes, among others. She successfully linked her practice with her professional studies by completing her law degree with the defense of a thesis titled “Extrajudicial Enforcement of Monetary Obligations,” defended and approved in December 2015.
• She was admitted to the Costa Rican Bar Association on June 15, 2016. In September 2016, she began her international master’s degree in Private Law at Carlos III University of Madrid, completing her postgraduate studies in 2018 after defending her “end-of-master” project, through which she studied and proposed an appropriate registry of movable guarantees, thus focusing her specialization area on debt collection law and payment guarantees.
• Upon returning to Costa Rica, together with Dr. Gerardo Parajeles Vindas, they founded Parajeles Law Firm, specializing in personalized litigation of civil and commercial matters.

Present and Practice Area

• El Bufete Parajeles ha merged with NCC Abogados to form NCC Parajeles, a professional alliance in which Maria José is a partner. She specializes in providing legal advice to both local and international clients on various aspects of Civil Law, Commercial Law, and litigation in these fields. She also focuses on debt collection processes. Currently, she is one of the attorneys responsible for the firm’s credit and judicial collection department and is closely involved in the development of the innovative regulations of the Personal Property Guarantees Law and its scope of application, as well as the regulated execution processes of the Civil Procedural Code, which have recently come into effect.

Education

• UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID Master’s Degree in Private Law, with a focus on the Registry of Personal Property Guarantees. (2018).
• COLEGIO DE ABOGADOS Y ABOGADAS DE COSTA RICA San José, Costa Rica. Admitted to the Bar Association on June 15, 2016. Membership card number 26444.
• ESCUELA LIBRE DE DERECHO Bachelor’s Degree in Law (2012). Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law (2016). Graduation project (thesis): “Extrajudicial Enforcement of Monetary Obligations” approved with a grade of 95/100. (2015). Specialization in Notarial and Registry Law – Degree exam pending.
• COLEGIO SAGRADO CORAZÓN DE JESÚS High School Diploma (2009).

Specialization

• Participation in the II International Seminar “Dialogue on the Challenges of Reforms in Non-Criminal Matters in Latin America,” organized by the Center for Studies of Justice in the Americas (CEJA), GIZ Chile, Ibero-American Institute of Procedural Law, and the Argentine Association of Procedural Law. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2013.
• Centro Internacional de Estudios de Costa Rica, courses: [course details to be filled in].

1. “Tips for Handling Oral Hearings in Summary Proceedings.” (2014)
2. “Analysis of the Personal Property Guarantees Law.” (2014)
3. “Extrajudicial Enforcement: with Emphasis on the Personal Property Guarantees Law.” (2015)
4. “Judicial Collection – Collection Processes: Civil Procedure.” (2015)
5. Participation in the II Symposium on the Personal Property Guarantees Law: Implementation and Challenges, held at the Bar Association of Costa Rica.

Languages

• Spanish and English