Rogelio “Roy” Carrasquillo.

A New York corporate lawyer with a focus on Latin American business has left Cozen O'Connor to start his own boutique, less than two years after joining the Philadelphia-based Am Law 100 firm.

Rogelio “Roy” Carrasquillo, who had been a partner at Cozen O'Connor, launched Carrasquillo Law Group in New York with two other lawyers this month.

Their firm focuses on corporate and securities work involving inbound and outbound businesses in Latin America, as well as related immigration and EB-5 investor program matters. In addition to Carrasquillo, the firm has two of counsel lawyers, Ericka Ramos and William Kogan.

Carrasquillo said billing flexibility was a major driver in his decision to spin off his practice. He said he has good relationships at Cozen O'Connor and continues to work on a few matters with the firm, but the Big Law structure makes alternative fee arrangements difficult.

“In Latin America, the fixed fee scenario is something that's really being requested by these companies, especially the high-net-worth individuals that are trying to establish businesses here,” he said.

In addition, he said, a lot of his practice is multidisciplinary, and “the model of the law firm where everything is compartmentalized into departments makes it difficult to have that flexibility.” He also noted the ability at a small firm for high-level partners to work more closely with clients “in a more intimate environment.”

Before joining Cozen O'Connor, Carrasquillo was a partner at Fox Rothschild, and prior to that he was a partner at Akerman. He made the move to Cozen O'Connor in early 2017, two weeks after several of his colleagues from Fox Rothschild's immigration practice in Florida joined Cozen O'Connor.

As he looks to grow his firm, he said he is talking to some potential partners in South Florida to focus on tax and immigration work. They are people he has worked with previously, but not necessarily from Cozen O'Connor, he said.

Despite uncertainty surrounding national conversations on immigration, Carrasquillo said the EB-5 program continues to have bipartisan support. Still, he said, in the past two years, clients have looked to diversify their sources of capital, so EB-5 makes up a lesser portion of their capital supply, and investors have been exploring alternative visas.

In a statement, Cozen O'Connor CEO Michael Heller wished Carrasquillo well.

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