Herbert Smith Freehills has been recognized in the Latin Lawyer 250 guide as one of the leading international law firms advising clients in the region. The firm is noted for its work across three practice areas: arbitration, mining & metals, and project finance & infrastructure.

In the guide, Latin Lawyer recognized the firm for its "deep sectoral knowledge of mining and energy, both dominant industries in Latin America," and its respected arbitration practice that commands a "steady stream of investor and commercial arbitration giving the firm a diversified case load."

Inclusion in the prestigious guide also reflects the firm's strong commitment to building out a robust Latin America practice. Latin Lawyer notes: "In recent years, the firm has worked away diligently, leveraging its existing strengths and relocating key players to New York as well as making lateral hires. The result is a multi-faceted team with particular strength in arbitration and projects in the extractive industries, which also has ambitions to widen its offering."

Highlighted in the guide are New York-based partners Christian Leathley, Juan-José Zentner, Edward Dougherty and Amal Bouchenaki and London-based partner William Breeze and of counsel Pedro Rufino Carvalho.

Christian Leathley, who is Head of the Latin America Group as well as the US Head of International Arbitration said: "We have seen our Latin America practice gain a solid footing in this very competitive market and we intend to keep expanding our offerings for the region. We have a strong team in place, with experience and understanding of the nuances in the region, and we are well-equipped to offer our Latin American clients, and clients doing business there, the top-flight service that Herbert Smith Freehills is known for the world over."

Recently, the Latin America team, along with co-counsel from Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Trade ("COMEX"), secured a major victory for the Republic of Costa Rica in arbitration proceedings concerning an investment in a tourism project in Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast. The project was shut down when wetlands were discovered on the land and the arbitral tribunal issued unanimously an award dismissing all claimants' claims and ordered the claimants to bear all the costs of the arbitration. The team also advises a host of mining and energy clients who are active in the region including, Anglo American, BP, BHP, Chevron, Codelco, Engie, Ecopetrol, Mantos Copper, Petrobras, Rincon Mining and Sociedad Química y Minera, among others.

The firm's Latin America offering, which is run out of its New York office, launched in September 2015 alongside Christian Leathley's relocation to New York from the firm's London office. In March 2016, Juan-José Zentner relocated to the New York office as a projects and infrastructure partner in the Latin America Group from the firm's Melbourne, Australia office, followed by Edward Dougherty, who joined the New York office in November 2016 as a project finance partner in the Latin American Group from Allen & Overy's São Paulo, Brazil office. From there, the firm's Latin America team has flourished and now includes approximately 20 lawyers based in the New York hub, in addition to others based across the firm's global offices.

The Latin Lawyer 250 is the definitive guide to the leading business law firms of Latin America and is the result of 20 years of intensive research by Latin Lawyer's editorial team, as well as comments made by corporate counsel regarding the considered firms.

The full Latin Lawyer 250 list can be found here.

About Herbert Smith Freehills' New York Office

The New York office of Herbert Smith Freehills includes a team of seasoned litigators as well as international arbitration specialists representing clients in a wide range of commercial litigation, investigations, cross-border matters and class actions throughout the United States. New York is also the hub for the firm's global Latin America practice with a focus on infrastructure and project finance matters. Additionally, New York has a cross-border M&A practice with a focus on outbound investments into Asia-Pac and EMEA.

About Herbert Smith Freehills

Operating from 27 offices across Asia Pacific, EMEA and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice. The firm provides many of the world’s most important organisations with access to market-leading dispute resolution, projects and transactional legal advice, combined with expertise in a number of global industry sectors, including Banks, Consumer Products, Energy, Financial Buyers, Infrastructure & Transport, Mining, Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Real Estate, TMT and Manufacturing & Industrials.

http://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/

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