DLA Piper has snagged a finance partner from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld for its Los Angeles practice focused on U.S. projects, infrastructure and Latin America corporations.

Dino Barajas will serve as co-chair of the firm's U.S. projects and infrastructure practice and its Latin America corporate and finance practice. Currently, Barajas said his practice is equally focused on client activity throughout the U.S. and Latin America.

Barajas has spearheaded the Latin America practices at three international law firms and is recognized as one of the leading project finance and Latin America practitioners by various industry rankings.

His experience includes representing lenders, investors and developers in domestic and international project financing matters for the energy, power, infrastructure and commercial industries.

DLA Piper said it has been keen to expand in Latin America because the region represents one of the fastest-growing markets for international companies from a trade and development perspective.

Latin American countries have increased their trade volume with European and Asian trading partners in recent years and have secured new trade agreements as a counterbalance to potential shifts in trade volume with the U.S.

At the same time, multinational companies have sought opportunities to expand their local market share throughout Latin America.

Barajas said he was drawn to DLA Piper's full-service network of offices in each of the key Latin American jurisdictions that allows it to compete with premiere local firms across numerous industries.

"Given DLA Piper's global footprint in key markets throughout the world, the firm is uniquely positioned to provide clients with a single point of contact to transact business throughout the region while at the same time providing the cost efficiencies of working with a single team, thus avoiding redundancies in review by multiple unrelated law firms," he said.

Countries across the Americas are bracing for recessions as COVID-19 spreads and economic activity contracts. In this context, Barajas said he expects mergers and acquisitions and potential restructurings to account for the bulk of his work in the near future.

Here are some of his key observations and expectations amid the COVID-19 infections rise:

What do you see keeping your practice busy over the six to 12 months?

The effects of an economic downturn will likely reverberate throughout many industries and may force companies to make difficult decisions as to which assets to prioritize and to which assets capital will be redirected. As with economic downturns in the past, potential investors with available cash reserves may find attractive assets for sale, but a determining factor in success may be their ability to close transactions quickly and efficiently without sacrificing thorough due diligence.

Fire sales, which may occur if the global economy worsens, harm both potential sellers and buyers because sellers may be forced to sell their assets at rock-bottom prices on a rushed basis, and buyers in those transactions are simply making educated bets on assets that may later prove to have unforeseen liabilities that would have otherwise been discovered had the parties had more time to close the transaction.

Restructurings will likely also become more prevalent as companies continue to experience a deterioration of their revenues while having to meet fixed operating costs and outstanding debt obligations. A quiet surveying of potential acquisition targets has already begun across numerous industries.

What do you expect to happen with infrastructure projects?

The infrastructure sector may experience a temporary slowdown as investors and developers assess the long-term viability of projects currently under construction. Developers may begin prioritizing among their various developments and redirecting scarce capital to those projects they deem the most likely to preserve value.

Early-stage developments will likely be mothballed or sold in order to reallocate resources to assets regarded as the "crown jewels" in portfolios. Increased scarcity in available financing may also prohibit less creditworthy developers from bringing their projects to completion.

The increased scrutiny of financial institutions in making credit available to infrastructure projects will also drive late-stage development projects into the hands of well-funded sponsors and private equity funds which can backstop credit facilities with their balance sheet or contingent equity obligations.

Given that many infrastructure projects contribute to satisfying the basic needs of the general population throughout the region, governments will likely continue to prioritize the continued development of desperately needed projects within their respective jurisdictions, while delaying other, less essential projects which had been proposed during the more robust economic periods.