Norton Rose Fulbright has added a fifth lawyer to its Rio de Janeiro office. Allen Moreland joins the firm as a senior counsel in the areas of capital markets, structured finance, and private equity transactions from investment firm Base Capital Partners, based in Rio, where he has worked as a partner since April 2014. Moreland's past employers also include Mayer Brown, Hunton & Williams and Greenberg Traurig. While at Base Capital Partners, Moreland said he interacted with Norton Rose Fulbright’s team frequently, and gained favorable impressions.
Norton Rose Fulbright is a new player in the Rio market, having opened its office in February 2014, the firm’s third office in Latin America (the other two are in Caracas and Bogotá). Moreland will advise on matters under US law. The Rio team, which also includes three partners and one associate, advises on US, Canadian and English law.
“There have been a number of very high-profile transactions where Brazilian entities have acquired some very well-known North American companies. We have seen some large US acquisitions where major Brazilian investment groups have teamed up with American investors,” Moreland said. “One major trend is Brazilian banks establishing or increasing their presence in Miami especially to manage US assets owned by high-net worth Brazilians.”
Moreland earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1988 and is fluent in English, Portuguese and German.