K&L Gates expands into South America with São Paulo launch

New York finance partner Marc Veilleux, who joined K&L Gates in 2006 from Nixon Peabody, and corporate partner Alan Berkeley, who has until now split his time between Washington DC and London, are leading the new office initiative.

“Brazil has been propelled to the forefront of the 21st century marketplace for legal services,” said K&L Gates chairman and global managing partner Peter Kalis in a statement. “Our São Paulo office is a notable and distinguished addition to our global client offering.”

São Paulo is the largest financial centre in Latin America and the seventh largest city in the world. According to the firm, the new launch represents “a particularly strategic entry into the southern hemisphere for K&L Gates”.

The São Paulo office will offer a range of legal services particularly in the energy, infrastructure and resources sectors. It is licensed as a foreign legal consultancy, as required by the Brazilian Bar Association.

“Brazil’s a dynamic and growing economy, home to many of Latin America’s most significant companies, its largest stock market, and in recent years, its most ambitious infrastructure projects,” said Veilleux in a statement.

“Many of our clients have identified Brazil as central to their global operations and strategy and we fully expect the country to be a continued recipient of significant inbound investment. We also believe that the trend of Brazilian companies investing abroad will only continue to accelerate in future years.”