Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP opened an office in São Paulo, Brazil, furthering its presence in Latin America – a region it has served since its founding in Miami more than 50 years ago.
The São Paulo office – the 48th location for the firm – will continue providing U.S. law advice to clients seeking to do business in Brazil, as well as Brazilian clients considering expansion in the United States and globally. Greenberg Traurig’s Brazil Practice acts as foreign legal consultants under U.S. law and does not practice Brazilian law, per local regulation.
“Our firm’s growth has always been strategically focused on locations that allow us to best serve our clients, and this office positions the firm to continue helping our clients do business in the largest market in Latin America,” Chief Executive Officer Brian L. Duffy and Executive Chairman Richard A. Rosenbaum said in a joint statement. “Our Brazil Practice team draws on attorneys on the ground in São Paulo and is supported by the full capabilities of our Latin America Practice. Clients today want one unified, global firm that offers one-stop shopping to meet their full range of legal needs.”
Greenberg Traurig’s Brazil Practice supports clients conducting inbound and outbound cross-border transactions, including mergers & acquisitions, real estate, tax, and venture capital or other financing. The firm has advised some of the region’s largest companies, including Navent, an online real estate marketplace in Latin America, in its acquisition by Brazil-based QuintoAndar in a multinational, complex proptech deal. This transaction was awarded the 2022 Private M&A Deal of the Year in Latin America from Latin Lawyer magazine. Global companies such as MasterCard and prominent developers like Related Group have also relied on Greenberg Traurig to guide their expansion efforts in Brazil.
“The Brazil office is not a new venture for us – it is a natural progression of the work that our Latin America Practice has been doing here for decades,” said Yosbel A. Ibarra, co-managing shareholder of the firm’s Miami office, who is leading the firm’s São Paulo expansion with Antonio Peña, co-chair of the firm’s Latin America Practice. “We understand how to do business in Brazil and how to leverage that knowledge to facilitate transactions both in the country and across the globe.”
Greenberg Traurig’s Brazil Practice team draws on the experience of its award-winning Latin America Practice and the wide-ranging resources of its more than 2,750 attorneys around the world to navigate complex regulatory environments. For matters relating to Brazilian law, the firm maintains close relationships with leading local law firms, many of which include alumni of Greenberg Traurig’s International Associate Program, which for more than 30 years has hosted talented lawyers from Latin America to work at the firm before returning to their home countries.
“The opening of our São Paulo office comes in response to an increased demand from our clients and the local firms we work with,” Peña said. “We have been advising clients on deals linked to Latin America for more than five decades, and Brazil is at the core of our strategic growth plans.”
The firm’s Latin America Practice advises clients doing business in Spain, the Caribbean, and across nearly every country in the region, including Mexico, where the firm’s Mexico City office has more than 60 bilingual attorneys working in more than 20 practice areas.