Ms. Fontanet-Smith is a defense attorney whose practice focuses on insurance coverage disputes, intellectual property matters, and contractual and torts claims. In over 9 years as a litigator, she has advocated on behalf of insurers and a variety of other commercial entities in cases involving catastrophic loss, personal injury, and publicity rights, among other issues. In so doing, she has amassed trial and appeals process experience in local courts, practiced in the Federal District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, and represented clients in administrative matters before Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Trademark Registry.
Ms. Fontanet-Smith’s federal experience includes defending rental companies from maritime claims. In 2018, her motion for summary judgment on behalf of a jet-ski rental company and its insurer resulted in the dismissal of all claims against them. Based on Ms. Fontanet-Smith’s motion, the Federal District Court for the District of Puerto Rico ruled that exculpatory clauses waiving liability for negligence in maritime recreational activities are consistent with public policy, and that a waiver used in connection with a voluntary recreational pursuit cannot be considered an adhesion contract. See Morgan v. Water Toy Shop, 16-2540 (PAD) (D.P.R. 2018).
Locally, Ms. Fontanet-Smith represented a child psychologist who was included as a defendant in a complaint brought by one former spouse against the other, in the context of a custody dispute. After obtaining a judgment in favor of her client based on the confidentiality provisions included in Puerto Rico’s Mental Health Act, Ms. Fontanet-Smith thwarted an appeal of that ruling by arguing that it constituted an unsanctioned consolidation that could not be adjudicated. See Alemañy Vidal v. Fernández, KLAN201500026 (TA 2015).
In another local Appellate Court case, Ms. Fontanet-Smith successfully argued that the lower Court’s judgment against her client was not adequately substantiated in facts or law, thus obtaining a discretionary writ of certiorari that resulted in its reversal. In its ruling, the Appellate Court emphasized Ms. Fontanet-Smith’s arguments regarding the differences between claims made policies and occurrence policies. See Martínez Alsina v. Universidad de Puerto Rico, KLCE202001201, KLCE202001226 (TA 2021).
Ms. Fontanet-Smith is a Junior Partner at SCVR. She joined the firm as an attorney in 2014, after working there as a student Law Clerk since 2013.