When Miami-based Akerman looked around for opportunities nearly a decade ago, the firm’s sights landed on Latin America and the Caribbean. Proximity to the region, as well as investment flows, made the formal establishment of a Latin America and the Caribbean practice an easy sell to firm management, recalls Luis A. Perez, chair of that practice and, as of last week, co-managing partner for the firm’s Miami office.

“It was one of the pillars upon which we knew the firm was going to grow,” Perez, 65, told Law.com International. “Miami is the center of the universe with respect to Latin America and the Caribbean.”