As international law firms continue their push into Latin America, Littler Mendelson's expansion in Peru signals an increasingly robust market in the country, with plenty of work to go around for both transactional and litigation-oriented law firms.
Littler, a firm with a regulatory focus and a particular specialty in labor and employment law, will combine with Peru’s boutique Estudio Gonzalez & Asociados effective November 1, 2014. In addition to Peru, Littler currently has offices in Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.
Jeremy Roth, co-managing director of Littler, said, “We are not trying to do it country-by-country, but Peru was a country that we were very interested in. Peru has a very strong economy in Latin America and was on our shortlist. We have been looking at getting into Peru and Chile and what we want to do with Argentina, which has certain challenges, and Brazil, with very strict restrictions on practicing local law.”
Describing Littler’s expansion in Peru as a component of a global strategy, Roth said that his team is considering alternatives to Argentina and its economic challenges. Guatemala is one important market in the region and possible target for further expansion.
Based in Lima, Estudio Gonzalez & Asociados is led by senior partner César Gonzáles Hunt, a 20-year veteran who has represented clients in many regulatory matters. Gonzáles Hunt is a labor law professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a past president of the Peruvian Society of Labor Law and Social Security. His roles also include serving as chair and member of numerous arbitration tribunals.