Ashurst sign

Ashurst has added its second New York-based partner in the space of a week, boosting its Latin America focus and its global project finance practice.

Andrés Arnaldos Montaner has joined the firm as a partner from Magic Circle rival Allen & Overy, where he was senior counsel. His move comes just days after Betty Cerini, former senior attorney at Hunton Andrews Kurth, also joined the firm.

Both attorneys will be based in New York and will work in project finance.

By hiring Arnaldos Montaner, Ashurst boosts its ability to compete for Latin America-related work. Several global firms, such as Baker McKenzie and Morrison Foerster, have recently established Latin America practices as they anticipate more work in the region.

In a statement, Andy Fraiser, global head of the firm's project finance group and Ashurst's U.S. managing partner, praised Arnaldos Montaner's knowledge of Latin America and said the firm's recent hires in the U.S. aligned with its goals to grow globally.

"[Arnaldos Montaner] will work seamlessly with our Madrid office to allow clients to use Madrid as a gateway to Latin America and deliver on what the market has been demanding for some time – a much better-value approach to the provision of legal services supporting international investment in Latin America," he said. "Together with the appointment of Betty Cerini, this week is a milestone in both the development of our Latin American and U.S. offering and our aim of becoming one of the world's leading projects firms."

Arnaldos Montaner, who is originally from Spain, has experience advising clients on energy and infrastructure projects in Latin America and the U.S., where he has been based since 2008.  Prior to joining Allen & Overy, he worked at Milbank, where he worked to finance toll roads in Colombia and wind farms in Chile. He also worked previously at Davis Polk & Wardwell, having begun his legal career at Spanish firm Cuatrecasas.

Ashurst announced earlier this week that it had hired Cerini to serve as co-chair, alongside Fraiser, of Ashurst's infrastructure team covering the Americas. The firm said her mandate is to help drive forward the delivery of the project finance strategy in the U.S., Latin America and globally.

Neither Arnaldos Montaner nor Cerini could immediately be reached for comment.