Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has become the latest US firm to launch in Brazil, hoping to secure a foothold in the country’s booming economy, reports The Am Law Daily.

The New York firm’s new Sao Paulo office will be led by Andrew Janszky, the former head of Shearman & Sterling’s local operations.

Milbank follows DLA Piper, which forged an alliance with a local firm in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro last month, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, whose Sao Paulo office opened in December, as the newest law firm entrants in the Brazilian market.

Shearman led the way by opening an office in Sao Paulo in 2004 headed by Janszky, a native Brazilian who specialises in capital markets, M&A, and private equity investments. Since then the firm has landed roles on some of the biggest deals in Brazil, such as advising Banco Itau on its merger with Unibanco in 2008.

The hire of Janszky from Shearman will be seen as a coup for Milbank, which also added associate Tobias Stirnberg from its New York rival.

A Shearman spokesman said that New York-based Antonia Stolper, who has taken the lead on several high-profile deals in emerging markets, would take over the firm’s 20-lawyer Latin American practice.

Robert Ellison, who will now head Shearman’s Sao Paulo office, said that the firm is “well positioned” to handle the defections because Janszky was slated to be transferred to the New York office in June.

“This does not change the business plan,” Ellison said. “We have a huge history in Brazil, which is not just one guy, it’s a whole firm.”