Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

For many, who regard it as having the leading Latin America practice among international law firms, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton remains the benchmark. Its sheer number of Latin America-focused partners and lawyers has afforded it an exemplary client base and contacts throughout the region. As a result, it has worked on many of the bulge-bracket and headline deals related to the Latin American region. Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Argentina have been its primary markets over the years, although it has extensive geographic coverage including deals in Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador and Panama. The practice remains noted for its connections to major state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and for its record in the energy, mining and resources sectors. Along with big-ticket M&A and private equity transactions, the firm is also building its presence in venture capital and emerging company deals, including in the media, digital and crypto areas; it advised SoftBank on its equity investment in Univision Holdings relating to the latter’s acquisition of the content and media assets of Grupo Televisa. Chantal Kordula has emerged as the firm’s preeminent figure for Latin America M&A transactions, particularly in relation to Mexican businesses. Sao Paulo partner Juan Giráldez is at the forefront of Brazil M&A deals, often representing some of the biggest corporate names in the jurisdiction. Jeffrey Lewis remains a prominent name in energy, mining and natural resources, advising some of Latin America’s largest corporates in high-value transactions. Francesca Odell impresses in private equity and venture capital deals. Moreover, the bench was strengthened further with the promotion of transactional tax counsel Matthew Brigham to the partnership in October 2023. At associate level, native Spanish speaker Jessica Batlle Welling is an impressive up-and-coming talent. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.