Brazil Is Quickly Becoming a Vital LatAm Market for Greenberg Traurig, Other US Law Firms

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For Greenberg Traurig, Brazil is important because its clients touch so many deals throughout Latin America that it made sense to set up shop in the region's largest economy, in addition to tax benefits and the opportunity to catch more work. But the country's growing complexity and buying power is also making it an important market to be in for many other firms with an existing presence in Latin America.

And while some firms with a Brazil office seem to have more connections to the region through their New York offices, Miami's connection to the region is only becoming more prominent.

For Greenberg Traurig, their Brazil presence is heavily tied to Miami, according to co-managing shareholder of the firm's Miami office Yosbel Ibarra and co-chair of its Latin America practice Antonio Peña.

"Whenever something's happening in a country in Latin America, you'll see investors trying to diversify their assets, and usually they'll come through Miami. So Miami has always been critical to our Latin American practice," Peña said. "In 2019, Yosbel and I sat down and thought that Brazil required an extra layer. We were already doing a lot of work there, but we were aware that, for certain types of clients, having a structure in Brazil is helpful."

One reason it's helpful is because billing clients locally can save on taxes. But it's also because some clients are just accustomed to having a variety of law firms to choose from in Brazil, with so many U.S. and international firms having a presence there.

Although COVID-19 delayed Greenberg Traurig's plans to open its office there, the firm eventually found a path to opening it this year.

But, even going beyond Brazilian clients, Ibarra says that most deals in Latin America have some kind of Brazilian component to them, making a presence in the country even more attractive. All those factors have culminated into Brazil being one of Greenberg Traurig's key markets in which to gain entry. And Miami's own growing sophistication has propelled it to be an even more vital connection point than it has been historically for the firm, according to Ibarra.

"This client, who is from the U.K. and doing something in Latin America, was here visiting. We were looking out at the bay, and it was the first time he had been in Miami. He said this really reminds him of Hong Kong back in the day, or Singapore, or one of those cities that's really a connector to a lot of other economies," Ibarra said. "It's now becoming a real place, attracting capital and the types of transactions that we used to work on in New York."

Although that may be the case for Greenberg Traurig and other firms, New York is still the main point of contact between Brazil and the United States for Hogan Lovells, according to São Paulo office managing partner Isabel Costa Carvalho.

"We do have a large Miami office. We have just a couple of clients that have a base there in the bank sector. But I haven't noticed a trend that says Miami will be more relevant for Brazil than New York is," she said.

The region they're seeing with more connections to their Miami practices is Mexico, according to São Paulo-based corporate and finance partner Jonathan Lewis.

"From my perspective, Miami has seen a lot for private wealth and private banking transactions," Lewis said. "So I see some, but I wouldn't say I see a ton. Miami has seen a lot of inbound work over the last few years based on COVID and people moving down from New York. … We've seen sometimes the non-Hogan firms expand very quickly there, and you do wonder sometimes whether there's enough critical mass of work there."

But not every firm practice is created equal, according to many who practice in Miami.

Foley & Lardner doesn't have a physical office in Brazil, but the market is also critical to the firm, and its connection to Miami has become more sizable recently, according to Miami-based partner Federico Goudie.

"There's certainly some New York firms that don't feel the need to be in Miami at this point, and they think the client will come to them," Goudie said. "Clients are really consumers of law firms, rather than geographic presence. It just happens that Miami is a smart place to be."

For Foley and Goudie's practice, Brazilian clients in the financial services, investment and tech sectors have shown some spike in interest in Miami recently. The enthusiasm around tech has started to retreat back to Silicon Valley, but interest in Miami's potential within the finance sector does remain, he said.

As for whether the firm is interested in expanding its physical presence in Latin America beyond its Mexico City office, Goudie is pushing caution.

"I have friends in all the major law firms in Latin America, and we never want to come across as competing with them, even though the reality is that having an office in Brazil wouldn't be a competition, because you cannot practice local law there," he said. "But there's also an infrastructure cost associated with it, which I don't know that in all instances is justified. … That might change. More and more firms are trying to set up shop in Brazil. But it's a complex process."

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