Alexia Raad
Alexia Raad is an associate at Milbank’s São Paulo office and a member of the firm’s Global Capital Markets group. Her practice primarily concerns the provision of New York law and US federal securities law advice in the areas of capital markets, corporate finance, M&A and corporate governance.
The majority of Alexia’s clients consist of Latin American companies and US and Latin American banks who seek her advice on cross-border equity and debt securities offerings, liability management transactions, debt renegotiations and M&A transactions. In addition, Alexia frequently advises SEC-reporting foreign private issuers on matters relating to corporate governance and US Exchange Act compliance, including their ongoing disclosure obligations. Her experience covers a broad range of industries, including mining, transportation, logistics, infrastructure, financial institutions, retail and manufacturing. Over the course of her career to date, Alexia has advised a number of high-profile Brazilian and multinational corporations. Her clients include Avianca, Braskem, CSN, Embraer, GOL Airlines, Itaú Unibanco, Klabin, Magazine Luiza, Minsur and Simpar Group, among others.
Alexia’s work has won her recognitions and accolades. While earning her JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, she was a dean’s scholar, as well as senior editor for the Virginia Journal of International Law and business editor for the Virginia Environmental Law Journal. She earned her BS summa cum laude from Babson College. She is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
Cross-Border Legal Strategies in Capital Markets
To begin with, can you share a little about yourself and your career journey to date?
After growing up in Miami, I did my bachelor’s degree in business in Boston. Without much clarity as to what would come next, I went to the University of Virginia for my JD.
The practice of law was an acquired taste for me, and it was only when I joined Milbank that my journey here actually looked like one deliberate path and not like a sequence of improvised steps. Capital markets provide a great fit for a lawyer with a business background, and what I learned from accounting and finance courses in college informs my work and my interactions with bankers, auditors and the treasury teams at our corporate clients every day.
Could you describe the work that you handle today?
We work as an extension of the New York capital markets group focused on transactions of Brazilian companies. The Brazilian market is active enough to have justified a physical presence by Milbank since 2010 and this physical and even cultural proximity to our clients in Brazil is critical to the service we provide. I am the only American in the capital markets team in São Paulo but I always say I have a Brazilian soul, and while personal reasons brought me to Brazil in the first place, Milbank was the reason I stayed.
What sets your team at Milbank apart in your sector?
We have the resources, precedents and pool of knowledge of a global firm with numerous practice areas and offices around the world, but our day-to-day is defined by close relationships with our colleagues that we build by working together as a team on deal after deal. The Brazilian world of capital markets is a surprisingly small community. We see the same handful of Brazilian and US law firms and auditors on almost all of our deals and many of our clients are repeat clients – either frequent issuers or banks that advise regularly on transactions. This means we have the opportunity to build relationships with the broader working group. If there is one thing I love most about our work, it is that everyone in a working group wants the same thing: a successful deal. I try to not lose sight of this mindset because it is what fosters collaboration and gets us to the finish line effectively and with a smile.
What are your plans for the future of your work?
My career only began in a meaningful way at Milbank. When I joined, like many junior associates, I thought it would be a chapter of my life that would last at most a few years, but as I learned and worked on more deals and looked forward to what was next, the years passed by, and now this firm, this practice area and this city are my home. In our work, perfection is expected always, everything is due yesterday and the pace and pressure do not look sustainable from the outside. If it were not for the partners and clients I work with and the transactions we work on, this chapter would have ended a while ago for me.
Looking forward, I hope to stay at Milbank forever – I do not think our team dynamics, our client roster and our reputation in the market are easily matched. I used to feel uncomfortable with any type of ‘sales’ or ‘marketing’ initiative, but I now find it natural to network and speak about our team and our work enthusiastically and to seek out new clients because I truly believe that we offer the best.
