Rogelio Carrasquillo and Felipe Berer have joined Akerman Senterfitt’s Corporate Practice Group and Latin America & the Caribbean Practice as shareholder and of counsel respectively. Carrasquillo will be based out of the firm’s New York office and Berer out of the firm’s Miami office.
Carrasquillo advises domestic and foreign companies, multinationals, and entrepreneurs on their business activities and investment considerations in the United States and throughout Latin America, Asia, and Europe, including complex cross-border transactions. He represents domestic and foreign companies with their 1934 Act and 1933 Act compliance, corporate governance matters, mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, joint ventures, partnerships, finance, private placements, commercial lending, and general corporate matters.
Carrasquillo also regularly represents developers and investors in the financing and development of renewable energy projects and affordable multifamily and single-family housing projects, including mixed-finance developments, in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. He is one of the few U.S.-based attorney members of the Stakeholders’ Committee created by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to develop the regulations for the newly adopted Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards by the Government of Puerto Rico.
Carrasquillo joins Akerman from Gibbons, is a member of the New York State Bar and the Puerto Rico Bar, and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Berer, a Brazilian dual-licensed attorney, has extensive in-market experience in Brazil and concentrates his practice on legal and regulatory matters pertaining to inbound Brazilian investment in the United States, outbound U.S. investment into Brazil, international trade law and policy in the United States and Latin America, international contracts, and government affairs in Brazil. Berer regularly counsels U.S. companies and investors seeking to enter the Brazilian market, and has also considerable experience in assisting Brazilian companies to navigate the U.S. legal system. He joins from Mayer Brown LLP’s affiliated firm in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“Rogelio and Felipe will be a tremendous asset to the firm as we continue to serve clients looking to do business in Latin America and especially in Brazil’s burgeoning economy,” said Pedro Freyre, chair of the Akerman International Practice. “They also will be a conduit for our Latin American and Brazilian clients looking to establish businesses or invest here in the United States.”
Berer joins Akerman at a time when anticipated changes in bar rules in Brazil may result in restrictions on multinational law firms with offices in the country.
“Felipe’s status as a dual jurisdiction licensed attorney places him in a strong position in reference to prospective changes by the Brazilian bar,” added Freyre. “With Felipe helping to re-launch Akerman’s Brazil desk in Miami, we are prepared to meet our clients’ needs in the light of any new regulations.”
Berer earned his LL.B. from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 2002, and received his LL.M. in International Legal Studies, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2005. Berer currently serves as vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, ABCI Institute – Brazilian International Trade Scholars, Inc. He is admitted to practice law in Brazil and Virginia and is licensed as Special Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia.
Akerman also added Manuel Reyna to its Latin America team late last year, on loan from the law firm of Araque Reyna in Caracas, Venezuela. He is based in Akerman’s Miami office and will continue through September. Reyna is a Venezuelan attorney who recently completed his LLM at Georgetown University with a focus on financing and international transactions. He has experience with transactional matters as well as litigation.
Akerman represents multinational clients on a wide range of cross-border mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, securities offerings, syndicated and secured lending transactions, project financings, and debt restructurings, as well as complex construction and other international disputes throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The firm also represents numerous global companies in connection with establishing and developing their U.S. presence as well as managing their Latin American operations. The team includes lawyers that have spent years working in Latin America and the Caribbean. Familiar with the legal, regulatory and cultural systems of countries in the region, they are accustomed to coordinating with local counsel in multiple jurisdictions and multiple languages.
