Haynes and Boone, MMA Lawyers of Rio de Janeiro Announce Cooperation Agreement Expanding Latin America Capabilities

DALLAS and RIO DE JANEIRO, March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Haynes and Boone, LLP and MMA Lawyers of Brazil announced today that they have begun working together under a cooperation agreement to serve clients in Brazil, the United States, China and around the world.

Under this new arrangement, Haynes and Boone clients will benefit from the experience of MMA inside one of the world's strongest emerging markets with a vibrant energy base and growing trade links to Texas and the rest of the U.S.

MMA's clients, meanwhile, will benefit from having access to the breadth and depth of the Haynes and Boone U.S. and international practices outside of Brazil.

"Teaming up with MMA is a big step toward maintaining our identity as one of the top international law firms with a focus on Latin America," said Haynes and Boone Managing Partner Terry Conner. "This helps us to provide an expanded array of services to a broad range of new and evolving clients. The announcement today is the culmination of more than two years of work, and is an important enhancement to our well-recognized Latin American practice."

Said Marcelo Mello, MMA Lawyers managing partner: "It is with great pride that we formalize our already strong relationship with Haynes and Boone. Through such cooperation, our firms will provide an extraordinary level of service to sophisticated multinational clients from the U.S. and beyond. As founder of this firm, I could not be more proud."

The cooperation agreement will allow MMA and Haynes and Boone partners to work together closely, although the firms will remain independent.

Encompassing more than 20 years of experience in operations and projects for various multinational companies and industries, MMA Lawyers is active in more than 30 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

MMA Lawyers combines lawyers from leading businesses and law firms from Brazil in a multidisciplinary team of practical experience gained through decades of cross-border projects, bringing together a range of practice areas such as civil law, tax, regulatory, corporate, environmental, labor and employment, litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution.

Prior to forming his own firm, Mello was for nearly two decades the international legal division manager for Petrobras, the state-owned Brazilian petroleum and energy company. Petrobras currently ranks as the world's fifth-largest oil producer by market value.

Conner said that, consistent with the Brazilian Bar rules, "our firm will not practice Brazilian law, so this cooperation agreement will help Haynes and Boone handle 'southbound' Brazil-focused projects." He predicted they will include transactions emanating from the U.S. and Asia in such sectors as energy, oil field services, infrastructure, mining, project finance, antitrust, intellectual property, finance, franchise and litigation / arbitration. Meanwhile through MMA, Haynes and Boone expects to bring in more "northbound" work from Brazil in such areas as energy, M&A, joint ventures, finance, intellectual property, antitrust, FCPA compliance and litigation / arbitration, he said.

"By increasing our cross-border energy work, the MMA alliance should also help strengthen our Houston and energy practices, experience and reputation," Conner said.

The cooperation agreement will also foster deeper relationships with Chinese and other Asian clients who are doing considerable business in Brazil, creating a "Brazil-China-U.S." triangle that supports both firms' inbound Asia strategy, he said.

The Haynes and Boone Latin American practice has been recognized as one of the leaders in Latin America by numerous business organizations and publications, including Latin Lawyer and Chambers Latin America 2012,  which for the third consecutive year singled out the firm for its high-end corporate and financial work.

With more than 50 Latin America-focused attorneys based in Texas, New York, Washington, D.C. and Mexico, Haynes and Boone maintains one of the largest such practices of any firm headquartered in North America. Its approximately 20 Mexico City-based attorneys have a wide range of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, finance, energy and natural resources, real estate, bankruptcy and restructuring, international arbitration and international trade.

Recently, for example, Haynes and Boone represented Tarahumara Pipeline, S.de R.L. de C.V, a subsidiary of Grupo Fermaca, which has been selected as the winning bid in a public auction by the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to build and operate the natural gas pipeline for the northern region of Mexico in the state of Chihuahua. The pipeline will be 380 kilometers in length and cost more than US $440 million to build.

About Haynes and Boone

Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Washington, D.C., and Mexico City, providing a full spectrum of legal services. With more than 525 attorneys, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest law firms in the nation by The National Law Journal and has been named a "Top Corporate Law Firm in America" (Corporate Board Member Magazine, 2001-2012).

About MMA Lawyers

The Brazilian firm MMA Lawyers provides legal services to a multinational clientele throughout the major business centers of the world. The firm has been at the forefront of mega-projects in more than 30 countries in the energy, oil and gas, mining and infrastructure sectors, through the collaborative work of a unified team that provides in depth local solutions precisely tailored to clients' projects and markets. The lawyers that make up the team are market references in mergers and acquisitions, project finance, environmental, civil and corporate, tax and customs, litigation, labor and employment and international arbitration.

CONTACT: Douglas R. Bedell
Haynes and Boone, LLP
214.651.5815 (office)
214.704.3058 (cell)
[email protected]

SOURCE Haynes and Boone, LLP