Covington & Burling. Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM

A former top U.S. diplomat for Latin America has joined Covington & Burling as a senior adviser in Washington, D.C.

Kimberly Breier was most recently the U.S. Department of State's assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, making her the United States' top diplomat for the Western Hemisphere. 

She led the State Department's policy formation and diplomatic engagements with countries in the Americas,= while also overseeing U.S. embassies and consulates across 30 countries before resigning in August.

"With over two decades of government, private sector and think tank experience on Latin American issues, Kim is well placed to provide strategic advice to U.S. and other multinational clients with investments and operations in Latin America," said Al Larson, co-chair of Covington's global problem-solving group. "Her knowledge of the region and its political and business environment is a valuable resource for clients."

Larson himself is a former U.S. Undersecretary of State. Over the years, Covington has also recruited government insiders such as Witney Schneidman, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, and Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Barack Obama.

While at the State Department, Breier led diplomatic engagements with major initiatives in more than a dozen countries, including several places racked by significant civil unrest and economic hardship—such as Argentina, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

During the second administration of President George W. Bush, she worked at the White House in the Western Hemisphere Affairs Office of the National Security Council, serving as director for Mexico and Canada, director for Brazil and the Southern Cone, and interim director for the Andean region.

Outside of government, Breier founded the U.S.-Mexico Futures Initiative and was the deputy director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She also spent five years as vice president of Peschard-Sverdrup International, leading risk assessment projects for countries in Latin America. 

Sergio Urias, co-chair of Covington's Latin America practice, described Breier as a "unique resource" who will partner with the firm's lawyers to deliver significant value to clients focused on Latin America.

"Latin America continues to present enormous opportunity to businesses around the world, but it requires a keen understanding of the commercial, legal and political structures to succeed," he said.