Roberto Pupo, Co-Chair of the Latin America Practice Group, Holland & Knight

Invest: sat down with Roberto Pupo, co-chair of the Latin America Practice Group at Holland & Knight, to discuss the firm’s growth strategy, Miami’s role as a gateway to Latin America, and how culture and collaboration shape cross-border legal work. “We want to be the go-to firm for Latin America,” Pupo said.

What are Holland & Knight’s strategic priorities and growth trajectory over the next several years, particularly with respect to geographic and practice area expansions?

We’ve experienced significant growth across Latin America over the past several years, particularly in Colombia and Mexico, where our operations have expanded by at least a third. We want to be the go-to firm for Latin America, and that means building depth in the regions where we already have strong platforms rather than expanding for the sake of expansion. We don’t have a fixed roadmap to open offices in every market, but we are opportunistic and client-driven, and we will go where client needs clearly justify it.

In Latin America, our near-term priorities are to keep strengthening Mexico City, Monterrey, and Bogotá. We’ve built standout capabilities in capital markets, finance, corporate and M&A, tax, trade and commerce, compliance, labor and employment, and energy, and our focus is on fortifying those teams and continuing to recruit and develop talent. We’re not yet where we want to be in terms of overall footprint, which is why we continue to invest in these core offices.

Miami is central to the strategy. Our Latin America practice is guided through Miami, and much of the leadership and coordination for the region is headquartered here. Miami has been transformational as a gateway to Latin America and as a destination for entrepreneurs, investors, and multinational decision-makers. We’ve benefited directly from that momentum, and we expect our Latin America growth to track the growth of the firm overall.

Holland & Knight has expanded significantly since 2023. We’re now at approximately 2,300 lawyers, with a national profile that reflects that scale. We have the largest office of any law firm in Miami and the largest commercial law presence in Florida. Our focus is disciplined growth aligned with client needs, whether that involves geography, practice expansion, or strengthening coverage in specific sectors.

How is leadership structured within the Latin America practice group, and what is the firm’s approach to delivering cross-border legal services in the U.S. and Latin America?

The Latin America practice is structured to be collaborative and fully integrated across offices. There are designated leaders, but the model is intentionally team-based because clients don’t experience Latin America as separate silos. They experience it as one set of interconnected risks and opportunities. We approach it the same way: as a regional practice that can deliver seamlessly across jurisdictions.

Culture drives how work actually gets done. We emphasize collaboration, cross-office teamwork, and a practical one-firm approach. We strongly encourage cross-selling and cross-practice engagement, but it has to be grounded in relationships and trust. If someone is focused only on themselves, they won’t fit in for long. The firm has what we internally call a no-jerks policy, and that principle shows up in how we staff and manage cross-border matters.

Operationally, our Latin America offices are treated as equals within the firm. They receive the same administrative, billing and collections, HR, and back-office support as our U.S. offices. You do have to adapt systems to local realities, so we tailor processes as needed to fit each country’s requirements. But our offices in Latin America are not joint ventures, and our partners there are fully integrated. A partner is a partner.

One of the most practical tools we use to deepen integration is a foreign clerkship program. We regularly bring in lawyers from countries including Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Central America who typically complete an LLM in the United States and then spend time working with us. These are often star associates in their home firms. The benefit is long-term: it strengthens our network in jurisdictions where we don’t have a physical office and improves our ability to coordinate complex matters.

That approach is especially valuable for multi-jurisdiction transactions. We routinely coordinate deals spanning multiple countries and legal systems. In one recent matter, the work touched seven jurisdictions, including Mexico, Colombia, the United States, Spain, Peru, Chile, and Brazil, and we coordinated that seamlessly from Miami with our internal teams and trusted regional relationships.

Each Latin America office also has local leadership for day-to-day operations, structured similarly to offices in the United States. While practice leadership stays closely involved, local leaders handle on-the-ground realities and encourage frequent and open communication so issues get addressed quickly.

How does the organization differentiate its client service in highly competitive areas, such as corporate transactions and international matters?

Two things matter most: experience and cultural fluency. We’ve been doing cross-border work in Latin America for decades, and that experience reduces surprises. When you’ve seen a deal structure multiple times, you can anticipate friction points and address them early.

Scale is another differentiator. With roughly 230 lawyers dedicated to the Latin America practice, there are few issues we haven’t encountered. That includes general corporate structuring and management, regional contract programs, acquisitions and joint ventures, hospitality projects, finance, disputes, and arbitration. We can bring the right specialists quickly and in an integrated manner, without forcing clients to manage a patchwork of providers.

Integration is where clients feel the difference. They don’t care whether the lawyer is in Mexico City, Bogotá, Miami, or Washington, D.C. They care about expertise, responsiveness, and outcomes. Trade and finance are good examples. Trade has been extremely active recently, and our U.S., Mexico, and Colombia teams are deeply involved. Clients with cross-border operations get one coordinated team rather than fragmented advice.

Finally, bicultural understanding keeps deals moving. With labor and employment, for example, the rules can differ sharply from the U.S., including severance regimes, termination requirements, and profit-sharing obligations in places like Mexico and Colombia. Those requirements can surprise international investors if they’re not explained clearly. We help clients understand what the rules mean in practice, how they’re enforced, and how to manage the risk in a commercially realistic way.

What key trends are shaping transactional activity across Latin America, and how is Holland & Knight positioning itself to meet client needs?

We are seeing strong deal activity across several sectors, driven by geopolitical shifts, supply chain priorities, and renewed focus on energy, mining, and large construction projects. Natural resources, mining, and oil and gas remain major drivers, particularly in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. These projects create secondary demand for infrastructure, including ports, roads, and transportation networks.

Energy remains a broad theme, encompassing both traditional oil and gas and renewables. We combine platform-wide depth in the United States with strong regional capabilities, which helps clients navigate regulatory environments, structure investments, and execute complex development.

Transportation and infrastructure continue to be active, including toll road projects and logistics-related investments. Agribusiness remains important, as does retail, with major brands expanding across markets such as Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Central America.

A newer and rapidly growing area is data centers and digital infrastructure. We’re seeing activity in markets such as Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Panama, driven by technology acceleration and the expansion of AI-related capacity. These sectors require multidisciplinary coordination across corporate, finance, regulatory, tax, trade, and real estate, and we build teams accordingly.

In what ways are pro bono work and community engagement core elements of the firm’s identity and values?

Pro bono has been a core value at Holland & Knight for decades. Each office has a dedicated pro bono partner who identifies matters that need attention and connects those matters with lawyers who can help. The emphasis is on real needs and real impact.

That commitment extends into Latin America. Our offices participate in initiatives that reflect local priorities, including work in Mexico tied to issues like human trafficking advocacy, support connected to the Latin American Paralympics, and community projects in Colombia. We also support efforts that promote inclusion and professional opportunity, including initiatives focused on strengthening pathways for women in leadership roles across the region.

We see this work as part of our responsibility as lawyers and as members of the communities where we operate. 

Looking ahead, what is your vision for the future, and what are your priorities?

Our priority is to continue building a deeply integrated, culturally fluent, client-focused practice that serves as a bridge between the United States and Latin America. We want to remain the firm clients turn to when navigating cross-border opportunities and challenges, and we want to be prepared wherever those needs emerge.

Miami will remain central to that vision. As investment flows evolve and geopolitical dynamics continue to shift, we expect to see more opportunity, more integration, and more complex cross-border work. Our focus is to keep strengthening our teams, reinforcing the culture that enables collaboration, and aligning our growth with client demand so we can deliver at the highest level across the hemisphere.