Carlos F. Ortiz and Mayling C. Blanco.

Two white-collar defense partners from Blank Rome in New York, including the former head of its white-collar and investigations practice, have decamped to Norton Rose Fulbright.

A client conflict played a role in their decision to leave Blank Rome, said the two lateral partners, Carlos Ortiz and Mayling Blanco. Still, they said, Norton Rose's team of lawyers around the world was the key selling point in their move to the firm.

Ortiz and Blanco, who specialize in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, changed firms earlier this month. The lawyers said Norton Rose's global presence—with offices in several European cities, Latin America and other far-flung locales—convinced them that they could take their practice further at their new firm.

“That's really what attracted us to Norton Rose Fulbright when this opportunity presented itself: the opportunity to work in a firm with a global white-collar and regulatory practice that has such a fantastic reputation,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz said another “significant” factor in the move was an opportunity to work with a client whose name he would not divulge that would have posed a “huge conflict” at Blank Rome. He said he still had a great deal of respect for his former colleagues but stressed that the opportunities afforded by Norton Rose's international reach and reputation were the most important factor in his and Blanco's move.

“Even without the client conflict, we would have come to Norton Rose,” he said.

Blanco said Norton Rose's strong presence in Latin America—its website cites two offices in Brazil and one in Mexico City—and its desire to grow its business in that part of the world played to the new partners' strengths, both as counsel and as Spanish speakers. Ortiz said an increasing portion of his business has a Latin American nexus and that bilingualism was a requirement to win work in some anti-corruption matters.

According to their law firm profiles, Ortiz and Blanco' clients have included a sports marketing company, a credit card processor and an international insurance company in government probes and internal investigations. They also represented Bill Baroni, an executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who was sentenced to prison for his role in the so-called Bridgegate scandal, in the sentencing phase of his case.

Ortiz said he left his position as chair of Blank Rome's white-collar defense and investigations group May 1 and was replaced by Jerry Bernstein and Gregory Linsin. He added that he didn't expect that any associates or counsel would be joining him and Blanco in the move to Norton Rose.

Grant Palmer, Blank Rome's managing partner and CEO, wished the departing partners well in a statement.

“Carlos and Mayling left the firm due to a potential client conflict issue, and we parted ways on excellent terms,” he said. “They are our friends and we look forward to continuing our strong relationship with them moving forward.”