Practice Areas

• Dispute Resolution
• Tax Claims
• Family Law
• Admiralty

Admission to the Bar

• Admitted, 1982, 8th Place

Education

• Bachelor of Laws, University of the Philippines

Professional Activities and Memberships

• Member, IBP 
• Member, Philippines Bar Association
• Maritime Law Association of the Philippines 
• Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc.
• Upsilon Sigma Phil

Mr. Jose P. Crisostomo, Jr. practices in the field of dispute resolution, principally in product liability, commercial disputes, tax claims, family law and admiralty. His experience has involved extensive appearances before regular and special courts, as well as quasi-judicial agencies and other tribunals. He has engaged in practice at all levels of litigation, both in the trial and the appellate levels.

He was involved in several cases of note. He has been counsel for parties in separate cases brought before the Sandiganbayan (the Philippine Graft Court) wherein were litigated the ownership substantial shareholdings in one of the biggest Philippine telecommunications company and of a major newspaper publishing company. He has been counsel in several court and administrative cases brought by consumers against manufacturers and distributors of consumer products such as a soft drinks and beverages, tobacco products, cars and automotive products. He successfully defended against a damage suit filed against a set of doctors who were involved in the “retrieval” of organs for transplant from a “brain dead” donor. He also successfully defended against a criminal complaint related to a paternity suit filed against a popular world champion Philippine boxer.

Mr. Crisostomo was counsel for a major airline in an international arbitration involving a commercial dispute with its general sales agents. In a landmark case that he handled, the Supreme Court of the Philippines reiterated the continued preference enjoyed by lienholders over specific properties of the debtor in case of insolvency. As counsel for major motion picture distributors, he handled a case that culminated in a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the validity of search warrants issued in the campaign against film piracy.

He is a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Philippine Bar Association, Maritime Law Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. He is also a member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi.

He obtained his degree in Business Economics in the University of the Philippines in 1976 and in Bachelor of Laws also in the University of the Philippines in 1981. He passed the Bar Examination in 1982, placing 8th that year with a grade of 87.7%. He attended the Southampton University Course on Maritime Law in 1999.

He obtained experience in finance and investment banking during his stint as investment and economics analyst at Ayala Investment and Development Corporation from 1976 to 1979. After obtaining his law degree, he worked as a trial attorney at the Office of the Solicitor General before joining the law firm in 1983. He was admitted as Partner in 1988.