Alejandro M. Arrieta, Albert Diaz-Silveira, Pedro A. Alvarez, and Aracely Alicea
Photo by J. Albert Diaz
Three more lawyers have left White & Case's Miami office to start their own firm, joining a growing number of lawyers who have departed in recent years.
The office lost nine lawyers in the previous year, reducing its total to 81, according to numbers provided by White & Case to the Daily Business Review for its annual Review 100 survey.
The latest departing attorneys have started Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira to focus on transactions.
Pedro "Tony" Alvarez, Albert Diaz-Silveira and associate Aracely Alicea left White & Case to launch Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira two weeks ago. They were joined by former White & Case partner Alex Arrieta. Arrieta left White & Case last year to work at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson.
Alvarez, a 25-year lawyer at White & Case and a partner since 1989, said he and his colleagues decided to leave the New York-based firm because "it became the right time for us to venture out from the big firms.
"I think it was a move that was more personal than anything else," he said. "We all wanted to give it a try. It was now or never."
Alvarez said their goal was to launch a transactional firm focusing on mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions and deals. Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira will not handle litigation.
Eschewing the big-firm model, Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira will avoid high overhead, offer lower fees and serve clients with personalized relationships, Alvarez said.
"We are coming away from representing big institutions," he said. "We want to build relationships and practice law the way it used to be."
There are no immediate plans for any other White & Case lawyers to join the firm, Alvarez said, adding the split from White & Case was amicable.
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