Market developments around the region continue apace: in the Dominican Republic, where the recent tie-up between Squire Saunders and Patton Boggs will be particularly felt (the former Squire Sanders, Peña Prieto & Gamundi was a key market player), further movement has seen the departures of Marielle Garrigó and Fabiola Medina (from Pellerano & Herrera and Medina Rizek, respectively), to establish new firm Medina Garrigó.
Elsewhere, ongoing developments in the turbulent but much touted Mexican market have most recently crystalised in Holland & Knight’s establishment of a litigation practice with the recruitment of experienced in-house figure Daniel Jiménez as a senior counsel. Formerly at state electricity utility CFE, Jiménez is also a former head of the in-house litigation team at the public company Luz y Fuerza del Centro. The recruitment brings the headcount of legal professionals at the office to 16.
Also in the disputes sector, this time in Guatemala, Arías & Muñoz has recruited the former founding partner of Consortium Centro América Abogados’ Guatemalan office, Mario René Archila Cruz, to head up its local disputes practice.
In the face of the severe ramping up of activity by Brazil’s competition authority, CADE, TozziniFreire has pulled off a notable coup with the recruitment of two significant competition and antitrust figures from rival firms. Marcel Medon Santos arrives from Azevedo Sette Advogados, and Márcio de Carvalho Silveira Bueno from Vieira, Rezende, Barbosa e Guerreiro Advogados; both acted as practice head at their respective former firms.
Finally, Garrigues continues to make good on its intention to establish fully-fledged offices in key Latin American jurisdictions with the notable strengthening of its Peruvian office, recruiting four key figures from full-service outfit Rubio Leguía Normand. The hire of Oscar Arrús, along with Sergio Amiel, Thomas Thorndike and José Francisco Meier, effectively constitutes the hiring of Rubio’s entire finance team, a sector in which all four enjoy notable market profile.
Tim.girven@thelegal500.com
Tim Girven is editor of the Latin American edition of The Legal 500. Click here to read his blog.
For more on Latin America see this week’s report on the ground-breaking tie-up between two leading firms in the region.