As of a news release of Herbert Smith Freehills from April 6th 2020, the law firm has appointed partner Pedro Rufino Carvalho as co-lead of their Latin America Practice. Based in the London Area, he will lead the group together with partner Christian Leathley, the firm´s Head of International Arbitration in the United States, who is based in New York. 

Herbert Smith Freehills´ Latin America group is a global practice with bases in New York and London, with disputes and transactional practitioners from Tokyo, Beijing, Madrid, Paris and Melbourne forming part of the team. Mister Rufino Carvalho is originally from Brazil. He joined the firm in 2013 and was promoted to partnership in 2019. He combines common law experience with civil law training in Brazil, Argentina and continental Europe, which makes him an outstanding cross-border practitioner. 

Pedro Rufino Carvalho looks back on 15 years of advising clients across Europe and Latin America, emphasizing the market in Brazil. He gained wide recognition in the legal sector due to his experience in the oil and gas industry and for holding a track record delivering industry firsts. From advising on the range of structures used to finance and acquire projects and assets in the energy, natural resources and infrastructure sectors – such as Petrobas, Karoon Gas, or Ocyan – Mister Rufino Carvalho holds a great expertise that qualifies him very well for his new position as co-head of the Latin America Practice group. He deals with a broad client base of lenders, borrowers, project companies and other market participants, delivering expert legal advice on some of the largest projects and M&A transactions in developed and emerging markets.