Am Law 100 firm Seyfarth Shaw has opened a new office in Miami led by former Littler shareholder Juan Carlos Varela.
The Chicago-founded firm has hired two further Venezuelan-American attorneys to launch the office – its 14th in the US and 18th globally – which it said would enhance support for clients across the US, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The new office will be supported by Seyfarth’s existing Florida‑admitted lawyers, launching with an immediate bench of 20 Seyfarth lawyers also based across the firm’s other offices. It will advise on commercial risk management, real estate and corporate and M&A, as well as infrastructure, regulatory compliance and investigations, litigation and arbitration and workforce strategy.
Seyfarth’s chair and managing partner, Lorie Almon, said the launch was driven by client demand for greater transactional and litigation depth in Florida, cross-border business activity and market momentum.
“With an experienced Miami team led by Juan Carlos and our firm’s full-service capabilities, we are entering the market with a strong foundation from day one, soon to be followed by additional lateral growth,” she added.
Varela has joined after 15 years as a shareholder at Littler and alongside serving as managing partner of the Miami office will chair Seyfarth’s Latin American practice. Admitted in Florida, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, his practice focuses on multijurisdictional workforce strategy, regulatory complexity and risk management for global organisations.
Daniel Vielleville has joined as a litigation partner after a stint at Miami boutique Assouline & Berlowe, before which he was of counsel at Crowell & Moring. He has represented corporations, sovereign entities, public entities and governments in US courts and international arbitral forums, experience Seyfarth said supported its work for clients in Latin America-connected disputes and cross-border business issues. He is admitted in Florida, New York and Venezuela and will be based in Miami and New York.
Meanwhile Victor Guerra, whose practice focuses on global trade compliance and international regulatory strategy, has joined in Miami as a consultant. He brings more than 20 years of in-house experience at multinationals including Philip Morris International and Verizon subsidiary CANTV, where he worked on matters across the US, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.
Seyfarth’s Miami move follows a wave of Big Law firms opening there during the early 2020’s to follow the mass migration of corporate, private equity and venture capital clients and drawn by its role as a bridge to Latin America. Entrants included Kirkland & Ellis, King & Spalding, Winston & Strawn, Sidley Austin, Quinn Emanuel and Cooley.
Orrick also opened in the city last year after hiring a trio of corporate partners from local heavyweight Akerman. However the momentum has slowed since 2023, driven partly by the historically limited pool of lawyers making it difficult for some firms to find the right opportunity to recruit local talent and launch, Reuters reported.
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