The former leader of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe's Houston office has made a move to Greenberg Traurig.

Corporate lawyer Carlos Treistman joined Greenberg Traurig Feb. 1 as a partner in Houston, where he is situated to expand the firm's Latin American and Iberian practice.

“I needed a strong Latin America practice and if you look into Greenberg Traurig, it's a heavyweight. They have some fantastic lawyers,” Treistman said, also highlighting Greenberg Traurig's global network of offices and its wide range of practices.

“For the first time in my career, I won't be starting the Latin America practice from scratch,” he added.

Treistman noted the firm's “large Mexico presence,” adding that lawyers in New York, Miami and Dallas also do work in Latin America, which provides a lot of support for his practice. He said he has a number of large technology clients whose needs can be better met at Greenberg Traurig, particularly in the intellectual property arena.

Treistman said that once he decided last year to make a lateral move, he talked to several firms. But Richard Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig's executive chairman, won him over when they met for an eight-hour chat late last December.

“He and I were on the same page as far as strategy and growth, not only in Houston, but in other parts of the world. He explained a lot about Greenberg Traurig's platform that I think will allow me to continue to build,” Treistman said.

In a press release, Rosenbaum said Treistman is a good fit with the firm's culture.

“His deep roots in the Houston community and his international experience will immediately enhance our peerless LatAm practice, built from the ground up in Miami, New York, Mexico City, and beyond,” Rosenbaum wrote.

Mary-Olga Lovett, the firm's senior vice president and the co-regional operating shareholder of its Texas offices, said in the release that Treistman's reputation not only as a “LatAm star” but as a skilled M&A and private equity lawyer, deepens the firm's strong corporate bench in Texas.

Treistman joined Orrick's Houston office in February 2016, shortly after the California firm started building its Houston operation. Treistman was the head of the office for two years and was a co-chairman of the firm's Latin America practice.

Representing clients in the oil and gas, technology, real estate, mining, transportation, power and telecommunications industries, he does cross-border M&A, privatizations, joint ventures, project development and private equity transactions.

Before his stint at Orrick, Treistman was the founder and co-chairman of the Latin America team at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Before that, he was at King & Spalding.

Miami-based Greenberg Traurig has 39 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It has more than 125 lawyers in Houston, Dallas and Austin.

Litigator Katherine Ginzburg Treistman, Carlos Treistman's wife, remains at Orrick. A former partner at Houston-based Susman Godfrey, she also helped launch Orrick's Houston office in 2016.

Rodrigo Dominguez, an Orrick partner in Houston, now heads the firm's Latin America practice.

A spokeswoman for Orrick said the firm thanks Carlos Treistman for his contributions to the firm. “We will miss him and wish him the best,” she wrote in an email.

Further Reading:

7 More Partners Join Orrick's Houston Office