HOUSTON, March 23, 2017—Reed Smith has welcomed veteran attorney William W. Russell to its International Arbitration practice and Latin America Business team. Russell joins from Houston law firm Schirrmeister, Diaz-Arrastia, Brem LLP, where he was senior counsel, and which he had joined from King & Spalding in 2006.
Russell is the third attorney focused on Latin America to join Reed Smith’s growing Houston office in recent weeks, following the arrival of associates Diego Perez Terry, who joined from Mayer Brown’s Houston office February 28; and Rodrigo Morales Draxl, who (as previously announced) joined from King & Spalding February 21. All three are fluent in Spanish and have represented numerous clients from Spanish-speaking countries.
Russell has handled scores of international arbitrations in the United States, the EU and Latin America before each of the major arbitral institutions, including the LCIA, ICC, ICSID, ICDR, and AAA. A member of the AAA Roster of Neutrals, and the AAA National Energy Panel of Neutrals, Russell was also selected by the Center for American and International Law (Institute for Energy Law Section) for inclusion on the Energy Arbitrators List. Additionally, Russell has taken more than a dozen major cases through jury verdict, final arbitration hearing, and appeal.
Russell obtained his JD from South Texas College of Law in 1995, where he ranked 11th in his class, and was an assistant editor of the South Texas Law Review, a member of the Order of the Barristers, and the Magister of the Order of the Lytae, and reached the national final round in the ABA National Moot Court competition.
Perez joined Mayer Brown straight out of Columbia Law School in 2014. Prior to re-locating to the United States, he practiced for six years in Peru at Muniz, Ramirez, Perez-Taiman & Olaya, doing corporate and oil & gas law. He is a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators and the Lima Bar Association.
Morales joined King & Spalding in 2010 from Rubio, Leguía, Normand in Lima, Peru. With experience in a variety of complex cross-border business transactions, Morales has assisted clients with mergers and acquisitions, project development transactions, corporate matters, and other complex energy-related deals in Latin America. Morales earned his law degree from the University of Lima, and he also holds an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
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