Contact Information

A Acosta & Associates
11th Floor AppleOne Equicom Tower
Cebu Business Park
Ayala Center
Cebu City, Philippines 6000
 

T: +63 32 354 9908
M: +63 928 506 3466 (Smart)
M: +63 917 551 3756 (Globe)
E: Abraham@AcostaLaw.ph
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About A Acosta & Associates 

A Acosta & Associates traces its roots to Acosta & Acosta Law Offices, formed in 1975 by Atty. Gil Rosal Acosta (deceased) with Atty. Emma Montecillo Acosta (deceased) joining the practice in 1983.

Atty. Abraham Rey Montecillo Acosta ("Abe") re-established A Acosta & Associates in 2014 after he obtained extensive dispute resolution (litigation, mediation and arbitration), corporate law,  and intellectual property experience in major law firms based in Metro Manila. Atty. Sheilah Marie Tomarong - Cañabano later joined the Firm, also after gaining experience in labor and intellectual property cases and matters in major law firms based in Metro Manila.

Our Lawyers

Abraham Rey Montecillo Acosta

After graduating from the University of the Philippines College of Law, and having been admitted to the Philippine Bar, Abe became an Associate at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (the Philippines' largest law firm) from 2007 to 2011.  He subsequently joined Quisumbing Torres, a member firm of Baker & McKenzie (the largest law firm in the world), from 2011 to 2014.

Abe has had a wide ranging experience in dispute resolution, patents, and immigration law.  He has experience in ship arrests, criminal litigation involving both heinous and petty crimes, white-collar crime investigations, commercial, labor and civil litigation.

Abe is an arbitrator connected with the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc.  He served as one of the counsels in International Chamber of Commerce arbitrations in the energy sector.  He has also appeared as counsel in construction arbitrations under the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission.

For patent litigation, he has served as counsel in pharmaceutical and software / electronic equipment patent litigation.

Abe teaches Provisional Remedies, Special Civil Actions, and Evidence at the University of San Jose - Recoletos in Cebu.  He is also one of the refresher course professors for International Law and Remedial Law in the same University. 

Educational Background

Abe obtained his Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.  Immediately after graduation, he worked on various automation projects for industrial and manufacturing plants.

He subsequently entered the University of the Philippines College of Law.  During his sophomore year, he became an editor of the Philippine Law Journal, and authored an article about foreign military bases which was published in the same journal.   

He subsequently became a member of UP's moot court teams, and participated in the Asia Cup in Japan and the International Humanitarian Law Moot Court in Hongkong.  The highlight of his mooting experience came in 2006, when he became team captain and top-ranking Philippine oralist for the Philippine Team to the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held in Washington D.C., where he ranked 13th overall out of the more than 400 oralists worldwide.

In 2005, he won the Chief Justice Hilario Davide Valedictory Committee's Essay Writing Competition held nationwide and participated in by students of all law schools in the Philippines. 

Sheilah Marie P. Tomarong-Cañabano

Sheilah specializes in intellectual property prosecution, enforcement, and licensing. She also handles labor & employment; privacy, data protection and compliance; food, drugs & health products (regulatory); and general corporate law matters. 

Prior to joining our Firm, she was a patent agent, later an associate, at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan where she handled patent prosecution work in various fields of art, including chemistry, chemical engineering, and pharmaceuticals. She also handled patent litigation, licensing, infringement opinions, and due diligence work, and advised clients on regulatory issues concerning foods, drugs, and chemicals. While in SyCip, she also assisted clients in general corporate law, mergers & acquisitions (Special Projects) and labor & employment matters. 

Sheilah later joined Quisumbing Torres (member firm of Baker & McKenzie) where she focused on the following practice areas: patent and trademark prosecution, enforcement, and licensing; privacy, data protection and compliance; e-commerce and information technology; food, drugs & health products (regulatory); and general intellectual property advisory services.

She subsequently joined Jollibee Foods Corporate as corporate counsel in charge of the management and protection of Jollibee Group’s global intellectual property portfolio. She also worked on the standardization of various contracts, including procurement/purchasing contracts, of the Jollibee Group of Companies, and provided legal operations support to Jollibee businesses in domestic and international markets.

Educational Background

Sheilah received her degree in Chemical Engineering in 1999 from the University of San Carlos, and her Law degree in 2006 from the University of the Philippines College of Law. Prior to her law career, Sheilah worked as a process engineer in a polymer manufacturing plant outside of Manila. She is a licensed chemical engineer and a registered patent agent.