Paul Hastings Leads Across Practices in Latin America

Global law firm Paul Hastings LLP continues to enhance its premier rankings in Latin America with recognition across eight practice areas in Latin Lawyer 250 2025. The addition of international arbitration to the publication’s recognition this year firmly establishes the Firm among the handful of elite global firms with a market-leading Latin America practice.

Latin Lawyer highlighted Paul Hastings’ strategic vision of the region and the breadth and depth of the firm’s Latin America practice, led by Robert Leung and Gregory Tan in New York, with Jon Kellner in São Paulo. According to Latin Lawyer, Paul Hastings handles “a full spectrum of industries” and has significant strength in Mexico, “a firm grip on the Brazilian market,” and experience on “the largest, big-ticket and high-profile cross-border transactions throughout Latin America.”

Paul Hastings also stands out for its expansive practice offerings. “Paul Hastings’ investment in diversification over the past few years has proven an all-important strength,” from its “critical role in various major investigations” to its market-shifting growth in international arbitration. “Paul Hastings’ Latin America group today not only has a greater regional reach and a broader offering but there is also a notable convergence of talent across practice areas, resulting in a more rounded service for clients,” summarizes Latin Lawyer.

Paul Hastings is recommended in the following practice areas:

• Anti-Corruption Investigations and Compliance: “Paul Hastings has prominent, experienced white-collar crime partners… who have played a key role in finding a resolution to the investigations into the biggest corruption scandal of Latin America’s history.” The firm won an “impressive reputation as a result of the group’s bringing to fruition a string of high-profile FCPA settlements” including, the Robert Luskin and Jay Darden led team that represented Brazil’s Braskem in their $957 million settlement proceedings between Odebrecht and authorities in the US, Brazil, and Switzerland.

• Arbitration: “Paul Hastings’ arbitration practice group is set to take the market by storm,” with the addition of “renowned practitioner” and Global Co-Chair of International Arbitration Jonathan C. Hamilton and experienced colleagues like Jonathan Ulrich, Alejandro Martinez de Hoz, and Jaime Crowe.  The diverse team has worked on “the biggest cases in the region“ including ”multiple high-profile investor-state arbitration,” and “are ready to take on both commercial and investment arbitration across Latin America.”

• Banking & Finance: Paul Hastings fields a team capable of steering guides through large, complex finance transactions across Latin America. The team, including Gregory Tan and Alexandro Padrés, who is “not afraid to take on first-to-market deals and feels at home with innovative financial structures,” including “Latin America’s first-ever sustainability-linked loan, a $1.1 billion financing package for Mexico’s largest real estate trust, Fibra UNO.”

• Capital Markets: Capital Markets is where Paul Hastings is strongest in Latin America. The team included Jonathan Kellner and Grissel Mercado, who have “been doing an increasing amount of work in sustainable financings.” 

• Corporate and M&A: Paul Hastings has grown its M&A offering in Latin America. It is more visible on transactions across the region and now regularly works on big-ticket cross-border mandates. The team’s expertise in the energy sector comes into play here and the firm has been busier than most in this sector. Jonathan Kellner targets M&A deals in the Brazilian market and Mike Huang provides firepower from New York.

• Pro Bono: Paul Hastings has a long-standing relationship with the New York City Bar’s Vance Center, through which it provides pro bono legal advice on a range of rule of law issues across the region.

• Project Finance & Infrastructure: “Paul Hastings has a diversified projects team.” The team includes Gregory Tan, Alexandro Padrés, and Thomas Sines, who have “extensive experience in non-traditional lending structures in Latin America’s busy infrastructure sector.” Paul Hastings’ Project Finance & Infrastructure team is “just as adept on the lender side of the table as they are on the borrower side.”

• Restructuring & Insolvency: Paul Hastings’ restructuring and insolvency team “has gained a reputation for helping Latin American companies make use of US bankruptcy courts,” as well as creditors in restructurings throughout the region. New York partner Pedro Jimenez is a key figure in this group, having advised on the restructuring processes of major Latin American airlines including Avianca, AeroMéxico and LATAM, as well as the Mainstream portfolios of renewables assets in Chile.

About Paul Hastings

With widely recognized elite teams in finance, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, restructuring and special situations, litigation, employment, and real estate, Paul Hastings is a premier law firm providing intellectual capital and superior execution globally to the world’s leading investment banks, asset managers, and corporations.