Randy Bassett, Managing Partner, King & Spalding

Invest: sat down with Randy Bassett, managing partner of King & Spalding, to discuss how the firm is using Miami as a platform for cross-border legal work, from international arbitration and project finance to private equity and government advocacy. “Miami itself has really become, and it really has always been a gateway to Latin America,” Bassett said.

How is King & Spalding leveraging its Miami office to support cross-border clients and global business interests?

Miami has always been a gateway to Latin America. When King & Spalding decided to open an office in Florida, we had a range of options, but once we looked at our practice strengths and what we wanted the office to do from a cross-border perspective, Miami was the clear choice.

One of the key pillars behind establishing the office was our strong international arbitration practice, particularly into Latin America. Since then, we have added other practice areas, especially cross-border transactions and project finance, which have allowed us to deepen the role of the Miami office in supporting business activity across the region.

We also have a strong presence in the Middle East, with offices in the UAE, Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Arabia. We are seeing increased interest from investors in those markets looking at opportunities in Latin America, and we are using the Miami office to help connect those interests. In that sense, Miami serves not only as a bridge to Latin America but also as a conduit linking capital and strategic interests from other global regions.

How has the Miami office evolved into a hub for international arbitration, litigation, and complex disputes, and what does that say about client demand in the region?

Having an office in Miami has enhanced our ability to attract clients in those practice areas. Our Latin American international arbitration practice is led from Miami, and that team works regularly with clients that have disputes across Latin America, whether in Brazil, Peru, or elsewhere in the region.

A significant portion of that work involves state-based investment disputes and protecting capital investments that clients have made in Latin American countries. We have seen consistent growth in that practice since opening the office, and that reflects both the demand for sophisticated dispute-resolution work and the value clients place on having a team based in Miami.

On the litigation side, many of our institutional clients already had significant activity in South Florida. Establishing the office allowed us to continue serving those clients locally while also expanding our litigation bench and developing new relationships in the market. We handle high-stakes litigation, class actions, and product liability cases in sectors like financial services, life sciences, and technology. Our litigators in Miami, including our Product Liability and Mass Torts lawyers, are involved in high-stakes matters in South Florida and throughout the country.

How is the firm expanding its corporate finance and investment practices, particularly in private equity and cross-border transactions in South Florida and Latin America?

When we opened the Miami office, we brought in a partner with deep experience in emerging markets and private equity. That gave us an immediate on-the-ground presence to work with private equity clients in South Florida while continuing to support transactions in emerging markets.

What makes the platform effective is that our Miami team can work closely with private equity practices in offices such as Atlanta and New York. That allows us to combine local presence with the broader scale and experience of the firm.

South Florida continues to attract capital and entrepreneurial activity, and that has created meaningful opportunities for private equity and cross-border transactional work. We are already working with a number of private equity clients in the region, and we expect that to remain an important area of growth.

What role does the Miami office play in the firm’s infrastructure, energy, and project finance work?

The Miami office is critical to that deal flow from a cross-border transactional standpoint. We added project finance capability early in the office’s development, and that has allowed us to build a meaningful practice around infrastructure and energy opportunities tied to Latin America.

We are active in a number of countries in Latin America.  We also have ongoing initiatives involving project finance, infrastructure, and energy in Venezuela and Cuba, as those countries undergo change. Those are complex matters that require both local market knowledge and international connectivity, and Miami is the right platform for that kind of work.

How is King & Spalding demonstrating leadership in healthcare law and regulatory advisory work in South Florida?

A great deal of our healthcare work in South Florida is with hospital systems. That has become an important part of the office’s practice, particularly in matters involving disputes with the federal government over reimbursement rates and reimbursement strategies.

These are highly consequential issues for healthcare providers because they directly affect the resources available to serve their communities. Our work has focused on helping major hospital systems in Broward County and Miami-Dade secure appropriate reimbursement for the services they provide.

How does the firm integrate its global platform and multidisciplinary teams to deliver seamless legal solutions across jurisdictions and industries?

From the beginning, it has been essential for us to work across offices, not only to share clients, but to share the work and the expertise needed to serve those clients effectively.

That collaboration is especially important in areas like Middle East investment into Latin America. We have lawyers in Miami with deep regional knowledge and language capability, and that allows us to serve as a bridge between those markets.

Right now, much of the investment interest we are seeing is tied to diversification and the push into artificial intelligence. That includes investments in data centers, which are becoming a major opportunity in Latin America. Being able to bring together our Miami office and our Middle East offices around those trends is a strong example of how the firm operates as one integrated global platform.

How is the Miami office approaching talent development, culture, and recruitment in such a competitive legal market?

Culture has been central to how we built the office. When we opened in February 2022, we did so by moving partners from other offices into Miami. These were lawyers who already had clients, practice strengths, or a strong interest in South Florida, and bringing them in first helped us establish the culture we wanted from the start.

That was intentional. For us, culture is important, and we wanted to make sure the Miami office reflected the collaborative way the firm works across offices and practices. From there, we added lateral partners carefully, making sure they would contribute to that same culture and support the office’s long-term goals. We prioritize having a collegial culture where lawyers balance having a high EQ and a high IQ to produce excellent work for our clients. 

As the office has grown, we have also expanded our focus to younger lawyers. Over the last few years, we have brought in associates through our summer program and from other offices so they can spend time in Miami, understand the type of work we do here, and get to know the office culture. We have now reached the point where we are preparing to launch our own summer associate program in Miami beginning in 2027.

What opportunities do you see for growth over the next two to three years?

From where I sit as managing partner of the Miami office, I see continued growth in the areas that brought us to South Florida in the first place. Cross-border opportunities into Latin America remain strong. Private equity activity in South Florida remains active. The broader emerging-markets dynamic in the region also continues to create opportunity.

We are all seeing the amount of investment capital flowing into South Florida, and I expect that will continue. As it does, there will be an ongoing need to find effective ways to deploy that capital, and Latin America remains a natural extension of that conversation.

How does the firm engage with the community and contribute to broader economic and social impact in South Florida?

Wherever we have an office, we want to be engaged in the community. Even with a strong international brand, it is important to build relationships locally and remain visible in the markets where we operate.

In South Florida, we have been especially active through civic organizations such as the United Way, which has a strong presence across the firm. We are also engaged within the legal community, including through organizations such as the Cuban American Bar Association.

On the pro bono side, the office has supported work that helps veterans enhance their discharge status so they can receive the benefits they are entitled to, as well as efforts that advocate for school-aged children with special needs to ensure they receive appropriate educational services.

Is there anything else that distinguishes the Miami office and its role within the firm’s broader strategy?

One area that is somewhat unique within our office is our government advocacy capability. We have built a strong bridge between South Florida, Tallahassee, and Washington, D.C., and that has become an important part of our platform.

That work is valuable because many clients today need not only legal advice, but also strategic guidance on how to navigate government and policy environments at multiple levels. Having that capability tied directly into Miami strengthens our offering and reflects the city’s growing importance as both a business center and an international gateway.