Global 100 firm Dentons has made a key strategic hire to enhance its offering in Latin America and the Caribbean, appointing the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) general counsel (GC), Jorge Alers, to be chief executive officer for the region.
Global office launches for Norton Rose, Quinn Emanuel, Bakers and Jones Day
Global 100 firms embraced foreign expansion again in February. Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) announced a significant addition to its Latin America footprint with the launch of an office in Rio de Janeiro, hiring BP’s global corporate assistant general counsel (GC) Andrew Haynes as office co-head, while US litigation leader Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan set up shop in Brussels, Baker & McKenzie in Myanmar and Jones Day in Perth.
NRF’s new office in Brazil, which will also be run by current head of Colombia, Glenn Faass, will be the firm’s third in the region after Venezuela (Caracas) and Colombia (Bogotá), and its 55th office worldwide.
Haynes joined NRF at the start of February from BP, where as assistant GC global corporate he oversaw all M&A legal work for BP.
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Latin America: DAC merges with Colombian alliance partner De la Torre & Monroy
DAC Beachcroft has expanded its Latin American presence via a merger with Colombian alliance partner De la Torre & Monroy Abogados Asociados, which began trading as DAC Beachcroft Colombia yesterday (1 December).
The 1000-lawyer top 25 UK firm, which formally allied with the six-lawyer Bogata insurance firm in March this year ahead of the liberalisation of the Colombian insurance market, agreed the tie-up after partners voted in favour on 22 November. Continue reading “Latin America: DAC merges with Colombian alliance partner De la Torre & Monroy”
Laterally Latin – a sideways year for a hot market
After so much talk of the rise of Latin America since the 2008 banking crisis gripped Western economies, there is no doubt that 2012 felt like something of a disappointment.
The region’s powerhouse economy, Brazil, saw growth slow considerably, cooling the market that has by far the greatest regional pulling power for multinationals and international law firms. The result, in relative terms against a 2010 and 2011 dominated by record levels of inward investment and a string of big-ticket deals, was a low-key year for advisers.
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Redrawing the map
The latest boom in transactional work from emerging economies is a welcome antidote to difficult home markets for international firms. LB looks at the differing approaches to growth and who the clients of the future might be
It is easy to understand how law firms get carried away by the opportunities that new, emerging markets present. In the past five years there has been a rush to set up offices in places that a generation ago would have held little attraction. The shift of transactional power has now fundamentally moved to emerging economies led by Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries). Continue reading “Redrawing the map”
Voyage of discovery: Portugal
The downturn in Portugal’s economy means that overseas markets, including Africa and Brazil, have become an even more valuable source of work for the country’s law firms
Since Portuguese sailors began exploring the West Coast of Africa almost 600 years ago, the country has forged a reputation for venturing into new, overseas territories. Today, the countries of lusophone Africa and Brazil provide manifold investment opportunities for Portugal’s major corporates and their advisers.