Rebecca L. Roman (2010)

Partner, Stephen Hood & Partners

About

Rebecca is a co-founding partner of Stephen Hood & Partners, the first independent New York and English law boutique on the ground in Brazil. Stephen Hood & Partners’ focus is on Brazilian and other Latin American cross-border financing transactions, with a particular emphasis on project finance and infrastructure sectors generally.

Prior to co-founding the new boutique, Rebecca practiced for seven years at Davis Polk & Wardwell’s São Paulo office, focused on project finance transactions, as well as acquisition finance, M&A, and restructuring primarily relating to infrastructure companies. Rebecca’s noteworthy recent transactions during her practice at Davis Polk include working on major restructurings involving Latin American infrastructure and transportation companies (the Latin American airlines LATAM (representing a major shareholder) and AeroMexico; one of Brazil’s largest engineering and construction conglomerates OEC (formerly Odebrecht Engenharia e Construção S.A.); and Brazilian oil and gas company Ocyan S.A. (formerly Odebrecht Oil & Gas S.A.)), significant acquisition finance transactions in the infrastructure sector including representing a syndicate of potential lenders to a consortium bidding for the acquisition from Petrobras of Transportadora Associada de Gás S.A., owner of the most extensive natural gas pipeline network in Brazil, the acquisition by CCR Airports of the remaining ownership of Juan Santamaria International Airport, Costa Rica, and the project financing and ongoing legal advice to multiple project companies in Brazil and Latin America covering the ports, toll road and oil & gas sectors. Before joining Davis Polk, Rebecca worked in New York in the finance practice group of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

While at William & Mary, she took a number of classes in international law, including public international law, comparative law, for which she received the CALI Award for Excellence, and Post-Conflict Justice and the Rule of Law. Rebecca was an Articles Editor of the William and Mary Law Review, a William & Mary Alumni Merit Scholar, recipient of the Legal Skills Scholar Award, a Legal Skills Teaching Assistant, and a founding member of the Women’s Law Society. The summer after her first year she studied abroad in India.

Rebecca continued her studies of international law after graduating from William & Mary, earning an LL.M. with a specialism in European Union law from The London School of Economics and Political Science, where she graduated with merit.

Quotation
"I distinctly recall the moment during my time at William & Mary that I knew I wanted to practice law abroad - I was committed from that point to make it happen and it has driven me ever since. My experience with Professor Warren in Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding was critical to opening my mind as to the various things that could look like."