Latin America

Members of McDermott Will & Emery’s Latin America Practice Group advise international clients on conducting business in Latin America. Our lawyers and trade professionals have extensive experience in government service, private practice and in-house directly related to doing business in Latin America. Our experience includes planning and structuring transactions; negotiating and drafting legal documents in English, Spanish and Portuguese; securing governmental approvals; and working with local counsel in the following and other related practice areas:

Business investment – acquisition and disposition of businesses; structuring and implementation of direct investments; establishment of and investment in joint ventures and structuring of distributorship, licensing and agency arrangements; negotiation of commercial contracts; and compliance with foreign investment laws and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Corporate compliance and enforcement. – the scope, meaning and application of Sarbanes Oxley, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related laws, encompassing both preventive advice and counseling as well as investigations and enforcement work and training, including extensive experience dealing with trade and investment transactions in emerging markets
Finance – acquisition financings, export/import financings and unique letter of credit and other trade financing arrangements, interest rate and currency swap arrangements, commercial loans, and revolving credit and letter of credit facilities
Foreign taxation – tax planning for business investments; planning inter-company pricing, dividend repatriation, foreign tax credits, foreign currency transactions, exchange controls and foreign sales corporations; tax treaty planning; and challenging the assessment of local taxes
Intellectual property – trademark and patent prosecution; trademark and copyright counseling; licensing trademarks, know‑how and technology; and coordination of anti-counterfeiting and infringement actions
International dispute resolution and litigation – pursuit and enforcement disputes between foreign investors and host governments before major institutional forums, including the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and other specialized venues such as the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID); and analysis and application of bilateral or regional trade agreements and enforcement in cross-border proceedings and litigation
Legislative/lobbying – representation and advice before governmental agencies and authorities in the United States and several countries in Latin America
Litigation – work with local counsel in contractual, employment, commercial and tax litigation; lead counsel in the United States in matters involving Latin American clients and issues
Project development and project finance – representation of developers, sponsors and lenders with respect to energy, transportation, waste disposal and other infrastructure projects, including the negotiation and drafting of related licenses and concessions, joint venture and other ownership arrangements, and construction and operational agreements; and the structuring and documentation of required financing, including project finance
Private client – representation of high net worth individuals and families on tax-related issues for closely held businesses
Public-Private Partnerships – extensive involvement in all aspects of the recent and continuing privatizations in Latin America covering several industries, including energy (electric power, oil and gas), water and sewage, transportation and infrastructure, and telecommunications
Trade – advice with respect to various treaty and regulatory aspects of trade between the United States and Latin America (e.g., antidumping, customs, export/import issues), and litigating or arbitrating private and governmental trade cases

McDermott’s Latin America Practice Group is composed of approximately 30 lawyers from diverse practice areas in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington, D.C. All have extensive experience in Latin American transactions. The group includes several partners and associates who are originally from Latin America.