Puerto Rico's government is readying for the legal fallout from its latest default on debt payments, with Gov. Alejandro García Padilla noting that the U.S. territory is trying to anticipate potential lawsuits but admitting that it would be "very hard (to be) 100 percent prepared."

"It will be very costly - that litigation - for the commonwealth and our creditors," said García, via CNBC. "Every dollar used to pay lawyers will be a dollar ... not available to pay creditors."

Congress must now enable Puerto Rico to restructure its "unpayable" $70 billion debt by granting the commonwealth access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy laws, something lawmakers on Capitol Hill have so far resisted, the governor argued.

The territory's failure to pay the majority of the nearly $1 billion due to bondholders on Jan. 4 -- including $35.9 million due on bonds of the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority (PRIFA) and $1.4 million owed on the Puerto Rico Public Finance Corporation bonds -- is meant to put additional pressure on Washington to help solve Puerto Rico's dire fiscal situation, argued Mark Palmer, a Wall Street analyst who specializes on insurers in the commonwealth.

"Puerto Rico opted for a default that would send a message about the need for Chapter 9 and the potential for a humanitarian crisis on the island without triggering a wave of litigation," Palmer said.

PRIFA, meanwhile, already suffered the first consequences of the Jan. 4 default as the ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgrade the infrastructure authority's rating from CC to D, the New York Times reported. Nevertheless, the García's administration defended the developments in a statement.

Its recent "clawback" -- or recovery of cash that would have normally been used to pay certain bonds -- "was not done lightly, as it opens up the commonwealth to litigation," it said.

"However, we also believe it shows Puerto Rico's reluctance to default on (general obligation) debt, where bondholders hold a particularly strong legal claim, and could represent a shot across the bow to bondholders in ongoing restructuring talks," the government added.