DLA Piper has appointed four partners to launch its new hub, which is believed to be the first physical office opened by a full-service AmLaw 100 firm in Puerto Rico. Nicholas Buxeda joins DLA Piper from local San Juan outfit Adsuar Muniz Goyco Seda & Perez-Ochoa to become managing partner of the new office, with fellow new partners Lourdes Figueroa, Jose Alberto Sosa-Llorens and Manuel Lopez-Zambrana also joining from local firms. DLA Piper global co-chairman and Americas group co-chairman Roger Meltzer commented that the new office will not try to poach work from local firms – rather, it will compete for work ‘going to other global firms like Allen & Overy and Cleary Gottlieb Stein, for example.’ The ongoing debt crisis in Puerto Rico may also give DLA Piper a competitive advantage in attracting restructuring work or international client matters involving Puerto Rican debt.

Sources: Law.com; Australasian Lawyer