Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) has bolstered its Brazil presence through an association with newly-established firm CAL.

CAL has been founded by a team of insurance lawyers from Mayer Brown's Brazilian affiliate Tauil & Chequer and includes aviation partner Julio Costa, aviation and insurance partner Gustavo Lasalvia, and six additional fee earners.

The newly-formed firm will have offices in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and will officially launch later this month, subject to regulatory approval. To facilitate the association, HFW Sao Paulo partner Fernando Albino will join CAL as a partner while remaining a partner at HFW.

HFW originally launched in Brazil in late 2011 with the acquisition of legacy Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's Sao Paulo branch, following the earlier hire of Barlows' sole partner in the country, aviation partner Jeremy Shebson. The office now has three partners – Shebson, Albino and Geoffrey Conlin.

HFW senior partner Richard Crump said the expansion was part of the firm's strategy "to be the world's leading law firm to the aerospace, commodities, construction, energy, insurance and shipping industries".

He added: "Brazil is the world's eighth-largest economy and a key centre for many of our clients. Our cooperation arrangement with CAL is another important step in our continued international expansion, and means we are able to provide clients with specialist advice in Brazil and across Latin America."

In the last two and a half years, HFW has been on an international expansion drive, forging alliances in Shanghai and Indonesia, as well as opening three offices in the Middle East.

The Brazil tie-up follows a wave of expansion into Latin America by UK firms in recent years. In 2016, Kennedys opened new offices in Peru and Brazil followed by a launch in Argentina in 2017, while in the same year, Dentons formed an alliance with Brazilian firm Vella Pugliese Buosi Guidoni.

Tauil & Chequer, which has had an association with Mayer Brown since 2009, has four offices across Brazil, staffed by about 120 lawyers.