Can I change law firms in the middle of a transaction?

Yes, at any point. Your file, your documents and your deeds are not held hostage by the law firm handling them. What requires care is the sequence, because a few things have to be unwound in the right order.

Revoke the power of attorney first

A power of attorney is created by public deed or private document, and the apoderado receives a testimonio, a certified copy, or a private original as evidence of authority. Where the power concerns registered assets, it is itself recorded in the registry.

Revocation is done by a deed of revocation before a notary. If the original power was registered, the revocation must also be registered to be effective against third parties. A revocation that exists only on paper leaves someone holding a testimonio that still looks valid to a bank or to the Registry.

If the power was granted at a Costa Rican consulate abroad, it can be revoked at that same consulate, at another Costa Rican consulate, or before any notary in Costa Rica. If the power of attorney was granted by a company, it must undergo the internal company processes to revoke it.

Do this before notifying anyone of the change. Reversing the order leaves a window in which authority you intended to withdraw is still exercisable.

Your deeds and documents are not the firm's property

This is the point that worries clients most and needs least worrying about. A testimonio is a reproduction of the original public instrument. First testimonios are issued at signing or within the following ten business days. Later ones can be issued at any time, and they may be issued either by the notary or by the Archivo Notarial at the Archivo Nacional when a party, or anyone with a legitimate interest, requests one, even when the protocol volume has already been deposited there.

In other words, a copy of your own deed is obtainable independently of the professional who drafted it. The Archivo Notarial, a department of the Archivo Nacional, holds deposited protocols. They are consultable, and the Archivo Notarial can issue simple or certified copies as custodian.

What no firm can hand over is the protocol itself and the original deed. It is the notary's record and ultimately part of the national documentary record. That is a feature of the system, not an obstacle: it is the reason the instrument survives the relationship and can be obtained independently.

Then move the file

Request the following in writing, and note which items you can obtain independently:

Escrow requires its own step. Funds sit with a registered escrow agent, not with the firm, and release conditions are set in the escrow agreement or the transaction documents. Changing counsel does not by itself change escrow instructions. Confirm with the escrow agent directly what instructions are on file and who can amend them. Additionally, escrow can provide a copy of the escrow file for review.

For a pending immigration application, the change of representation has to be recorded with the immigration authority. Until it is, notifications continue going to the previous representative. Obtain a copy of the immigration file as it appears at the immigration authority. Originals remain in the file, and recovering them is generally not possible. Certified copies of the whole file or certain documents can be requested by the applicant.

Before you switch, check the timing

Changing counsel mid-transaction is sometimes right and sometimes expensive. Two questions decide it:

Is there a deadline running? A due diligence period or a response window to an official request does not pause because you changed firms. A handover during one of those windows can cost you the window.

Is the delay avoidable or structural? Government review queues are not compressible by any firm. Documents that have expired must be obtained again regardless of who represents you. A change of counsel only helps where the delay is in the representation, not in the process.

What do the ethics rules say about changing attorneys?

The client decides who represents them, and an attorney must accept that decision. An attorney who withdraws may condition their withdrawal on payment of fees already earned that condition applies to the attorney stepping away, not to the client ending the relationship.

You can read all the ethical regulations applicable to attorneys in the full code of ethics below:

https://www.abogados.or.cr/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Codigo-de-Deberes-Juridicos.pdf

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Last updated: September 14, 2026. Written by Gonzalo Rojas Benavides, Founding Partner, Colegio de Abogados de Costa Rica No. 17310. E-mail: grb@quatro.legal

This page describes general procedure in Costa Rica and is not legal advice. Requirements change and vary by case. Confirm current requirements before relying on any timeline or document list here.