SHD McFaddens puts Latin America on the agenda

HISPANIC TARGET: Steel Hector & Davis in London alliance

US firm Steel Hector & Davis - which is a big player in Latin America - has stepped up its presence in London by joining forces with a new firm created out of City firm McFaddens and the closely related London-based US practice McFadden Pilkington & Ward.

The new firm, called SHD McFaddens, will start on 1 September with three partners and seven other solicitors and US attorneys in London, while the three lawyers who staff Steel Hector's London office are joining the new practice as consultants.

Steel Hector's London office will continue as a separate entity until such time as the firms merge, which is envisaged for the future.

McFaddens has a heavy commercial litigation bias, especially fraud recovery work, and also offers company/commercial, property and specialist US immigration advice.

Steel Hector, which is headquartered in Miami, has offices in Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

More than a third of its 220 lawyers are Hispanic.

The deal is formalising an eight-year business relationship the three firms have enjoyed.

The McFadden firms were originally the London office of US firm Pepper Hamilton, before striking out as an independent practice.

That subsequently split into firms of English and US lawyers.

McFaddens partner Tim Eppel said a lot of Latin American arbitration work comes through London.

'We see a lot of opportunities for additional work and better-quality work,' he said.

McFadden Pilkington & Ward partner Greg Pilkington said: 'We're creating a new entity that draws on the experience of all three firms to focus on the growing needs of the Anglo-American-Hispanic legal market.'

Neil Rose