About us

Hans brings a unique blend of business and legal experience to his corporate practice. Licensed in Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and federal courts, he combines the financial know-how from his days at Deloitte with the legal expertise he’s built over the past decade—creating a practice that actually understands how businesses work.

His career started in Philadelphia, at Deloitte, where he learned to read financial statements, evaluate internal controls, and spot what makes companies tick. After earning his law degree summa cum laude from UPR, he clerked for Chief Justice Maite D. Oronoz Rodríguez and Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí—experiences that taught him how judges think and what arguments actually matter in court.

Hans then dove into the world of deals. At DLA Piper, he worked on public-private partnerships and cross-border transactions, learning the ins and outs of government contracting and complex negotiations. As Lead Transactions Counsel for LUMA Energy, he handled the legal side of running Puerto Rico’s power grid—negotiating contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars and navigating federal funding requirements that came after Hurricane Maria.

In 2022, Hans launched Riefkohl LLC to bring that big-firm experience to businesses that need sophisticated legal work without the big-firm overhead. His practice covers the full spectrum of business law: forming companies, negotiating deals, buying and selling businesses, securing financing, and planning successions. He drafts the contracts that keep businesses running—operating agreements, commercial leases, vendor agreements—and handles the major transactions that help them grow.

What makes Hans different is that he’s been on multiple sides of the table. He’s audited companies, so he knows what investors look for. He’s worked with government contracts and he understands public procurement inside and out. He’s handled restructurings and creditors’ rights, so he knows how to structure deals that hold up when things get tough.

His clients range from entrepreneurs launching their first venture to established businesses making strategic acquisitions. Whether it’s buying real estate in Puerto Rico, negotiating a complex merger, or simply making sure a commercial lease doesn’t have any nasty surprises, Hans approaches each matter with the same philosophy: good legal work should protect you without getting in the way of doing business.

The combination of his finance degree from Villanova, his law degree from UPR, and his experience at firms large and small has given Hans a practical, business-minded approach to law. He understands that legal advice is only valuable if it helps clients achieve their goals—not just avoid problems.

Today, from his San Juan office, Hans continues to build a practice focused on getting deals done, solving problems, and helping Puerto Rico businesses compete and thrive.