LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Antonia Stolper
BY ELOISE HARDY
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Antonia Stolper
BY ELOISE HARDY
Over nearly three decades, Antonia Stolper – head of Shearman & Sterling LLP’s Latin America affinity group – has made a name for herself as a force of nature in the region’s capital markets space, as well as driving conversations about pro bono and gender diversity. We speak to the winner of Latin Lawyer’s Lifetime Achievement Award, as she steps back from Shearman’s partnership to become of counsel.
One summer in 1994, Stolper found herself questioning her decision to practise law.
She was planning to take her son to Patagonia to see penguins and whales just off the coast. In the weeks leading up to the trip, she was knee deep in an Argentine deal Shearman & Sterling’s New York office was working on and unsure if the deal would close before she was due to leave.
On the morning of the flight, Stolper checked one last time and was told the deal was off. Relieved, she flew out and spent the day exploring and relaxing. But returning to her hotel room later in the day, she found 15 voicemails telling her the deal was back on. She cut the trip short and travelled six hours across the Patagonian Desert to work from Buenos Aires. The next day, the deal was dead.
For anyone else, such a series of events might have put them off a private practice career entirely. But for Stolper, being a lawyer is worth the long hours and the constant demands for her attention. “[It] is not just a job, you have to go above and beyond that. If you do not want to get up in the morning because you don’t love what you do, then quit.”
Stolper, who retired from Shearman’s partnership to become an of counsel at the end of last year, is a US citizen who grew up in the Bahamas and, later, Brazil and Peru. From an early age she felt an affinity with Latin America and loved its culture, languages and people. She graduated from Yale University in 1979 and was swept up by the US Foreign Service straight after graduation at the age of 22. During her time as a diplomat she was stationed in Honduras, where she worked towards shaping the Central American Peace Accords, which were eventually signed in 1987. “The Foreign Service was the best job I ever had,” reminisces Stolper. “They paid me to make friends and influence people.”
But when Stolper was posted back to Washington, DC, and Republican President Ronald Reagan entered the White House, she decided she was too politically minded for a career at the Foreign Service. “That’s when I decided I hated it; if I’d stayed abroad, who knows, I probably would still be doing that. I just wasn’t apolitical enough.”
Alongside her long-term boyfriend – now husband – Stolper moved to New York to study law at New York University, with the intention of one day moving back to DC. But that never happened. After graduating she spent two years at a now defunct law firm and in 1991 was hired by Shearman & Sterling LLP, “just as the Latin American capital markets were opening up.” Her ability to speak Spanish and Portuguese and her time at the Foreign Service made her a prime candidate for the practice, given her knowledge of the region.
“It's not just a job, you have to go above and beyond that. If you do not want to get up in the morning because you don’t love what you do, then quit.”
Gaining traction
By the 1990s, Shearman had been doing work in Latin America for more than seven decades, carving out a formidable share of the market there by following established banking clients into the region. Its capital markets team had historically taken a leading position on sovereign finance work, as well as issuances by corporates. The firm had successfully forged links in Latin America through a foreign associate programme whereby local law firms sent associates to work at Shearman for a time before returning home. The scheme had been running for at least a decade by the time Stolper joined Shearman.
In her early years at the firm, Stolper worked under corporate partner John Millard, Jeanne Olivier (former co-head of the global project development and finance group), Robert Dineen and Cornelius “Casey” Dwyer. She describes the Latin America offering both then and to this day as an affinity group because “there has always been a group of partners across the firm’s offices and practices who have deep relationships in Latin America.” These stem from their backgrounds, interests and client portfolios, rather than because they are members of a formalised practice group dedicated solely to the region.
When Stolper entered the firm, Latin America was just emerging from la década perdida, the lost decade when Latin American countries’ foreign debt exceeded their earning power. Out of that period eventually came Brady bonds, US treasury-backed sovereign debt securities that are largely credited with pulling Latin American economies out of choppy waters. They made Latin American countries more attractive markets because their US treasury backing assured investors of consistent, timely payments of interest and principal debt. Issuing these bonds kick-started the emerging market bonds boom in the 1990s, when Latin American corporates began accessing international capital markets and generating transactional work for international law firms operating in the region.
A long-term relationship
One success story is that of Peru’s Interbank, which Stolper has been with since the beginning. In 1994, she helped British investment bank Morgan, Grenfell & Co provide financing for Rodríguez-Pastor-owned Intercorp Peru to acquire 91% of Interbank’s share capital. More than a decade later, she helped launch Interbank’s IPO. Most recently, Intercorp completed its own IPO in 2019 (breaking a six-year IPO drought in Peru), which Stolper also had a hand in. “1994 was the nucleus of the empire, and the rest after that, was history. I’ve watched it grow up. It’s a relationship I’m extremely proud of,” she notes.
In 1993, privatisations taking place under President Carlos Menem’s administration in Argentina ended up providing Stolper with a platform to raise her profile in the region. An associate at the time, she worked on two major deals that put her on the map. The first was the privatisation of Telefónica de Argentina in 1992, when the government sold its 30% stake in the company for US$849 million, exceeding expectations. Shortly after, Stolper was involved in the sale of Argentine state-owned oil company YPF. Menem privatised YPF through an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, selling a 45% share in the company worth US$3 billion.
A long-term relationship
One success story is that of Peru’s Interbank, which Stolper has been with since the beginning. In 1994, she helped British investment bank Morgan, Grenfell & Co provide financing for Rodríguez-Pastor-owned Intercorp Peru to acquire 91% of Interbank’s share capital. More than a decade later, she helped launch Interbank’s IPO. Most recently, Intercorp completed its own IPO in 2019 (breaking a six-year IPO drought in Peru), which Stolper also had a hand in. “1994 was the nucleus of the empire, and the rest after that, was history. I’ve watched it grow up. It’s a relationship I’m extremely proud of,” she notes.
Gaining traction
By the 1990s, Shearman had been doing work in Latin America for more than seven decades, carving out a formidable share of the market there by following established banking clients into the region. Its capital markets team had historically taken a leading position on sovereign finance work, as well as issuances by corporates. The firm had successfully forged links in Latin America through a foreign associate programme whereby local law firms sent associates to work at Shearman for a time before returning home. The scheme had been running for at least a decade by the time Stolper joined Shearman.
In her early years at the firm, Stolper worked under corporate partner John Millard, Jeanne Olivier (former co-head of the global project development and finance group), Robert Dineen and Cornelius “Casey” Dwyer. She describes the Latin America offering both then and to this day as an affinity group because “there has always been a group of partners across the firm’s offices and practices who have deep relationships in Latin America.” These stem from their backgrounds, interests and client portfolios, rather than because they are members of a formalised practice group dedicated solely to the region.
When Stolper entered the firm, Latin America was just emerging from la década perdida, the lost decade when Latin American countries’ foreign debt exceeded their earning power. Out of that period eventually came Brady bonds, US treasury-backed sovereign debt securities that are largely credited with pulling Latin American economies out of choppy waters. They made Latin American countries more attractive markets because their US treasury backing assured investors of consistent, timely payments of interest and principal debt. Issuing these bonds kick-started the emerging market bonds boom in the 1990s, when Latin American corporates began accessing international capital markets and generating transactional work for international law firms operating in the region.
In 1993, privatisations taking place under President Carlos Menem’s administration in Argentina ended up providing Stolper with a platform to raise her profile in the region. An associate at the time, she worked on two major deals that put her on the map. The first was the privatisation of Telefónica de Argentina in 1992, when the government sold its 30% stake in the company for US$849 million, exceeding expectations. Shortly after, Stolper was involved in the sale of Argentine state-owned oil company YPF. Menem privatised YPF through an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, selling a 45% share in the company worth US$3 billion.
Stepping up
Working on such high-profile deals in the first two years of her time as an associate made Stolper a prime candidate for the partnership. At the end of 1995 a partner took her aside and told her the firm wanted to make her a partner early, providing she spent two years at the Hong Kong office. Shearman had been one of the first international firms to prophesise the future importance of Asia as a hub for business, establishing an office in Hong Kong in 1978. “Various people were being shuffled around at the time,” notes Stolper. “It was a great opportunity for me, but I’d be back in New York soon enough.”
Stolper didn’t need to be asked twice. She relocated to Hong Kong as a newly minted partner in early 1996. “It was a baptism by fire to be dropped from a plane as a partner in Asia, but it was an extraordinary learning opportunity for me,” she remembers. When she returned to New York in 1998, she was a capital markets partner focussed on international finance, particularly in Latin America. “Shearman gave me the opportunity to work full time on Latin America again, and I cared deeply in helping the development of the region. It’s who I am and it’s what I do,” she says. She became head of the Latin America affinity group in 2010, following the departure of senior partner Andrew Jánszky, who had left to launch Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s São Paulo office.
In a lot of ways, Stolper’s career has been bookended by the booms and busts often said to characterise Latin American economies. For example, some of her earliest work in the region came in the aftermath of Brady bonds, when liquidity returned to the region and investors sought out higher returns on riskier investments. Almost three decades later, she was present on another deal that represented the resumption of investor interest after a period in the cold: Argentina’s 2016 return to the international capital markets after a 15-year absence. Stolper worked for Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan and Santander on the landmark US$16.5 billion bond offering, which – at the time – marked the largest ever bond issuance by an emerging market economy and was enormously significant for Argentina. More recently, she advised dealer managers Bank of America and HSBC in Argentina’s latest debt restructuring, in which the state restructured a US$65 billion international debt pile by activating collective action clauses.
It is a good example of both the cyclicity of Latin American markets and Shearman’s long track record in the region, as well as how both have combined to underpin the firm’s position in Latin America today. Experience built decades ago continues to be a source of strength that can be applied again and again.
Stolper’s relative niche for sovereign debt restructurings has also won her work outside of the region. She worked on behalf of the banks on Iraq’s sovereign debt restructuring in 2005, a series of transactions aimed at restructuring approximately US$22 billion in commercial claims against Iraq and Iraqi public sector entities dating from the Saddam Hussein regime.
“Shearman gave me the opportunity to work full time on Latin America, and I cared deeply in helping the development of the region. It’s who I am and it’s what I do.”
Paying it forward
Over the last two decades, Stolper has used her considerable influence to help better her profession.
Sat at breakfast one morning, she received a call from Todd Crider, head of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP’s Latin American practice. It was 2005, two years after the Vance Center was founded. Crider wanted to recruit Stolper to work on the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas, which would eventually be published in 2008.
The original idea came from the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, an organisation created by the New York Bar in 2003 to address what it perceived as a broad international crisis presented by lack of access to justice for all. The aim was to uphold fairness and rebalance high levels of inequality across the Americas – for which Latin America would be a prime target. However, while pro bono was almost a hallmark of legal work in the US at the time, little was known about pro bono in Latin America.
Today, the commitments set out by the declaration have served as the gold standard for pro bono work across Latin America and it is fair to say the region’s law firms are no longer strangers to the practice. There are now 13 clearing houses across Latin America and some are even drafting their own pro bono standards to address unique challenges local to them. Mexico’s three clearing houses – Appleseed Mexico, Centro Mexicano Pro Bono and Fundación Barra Mexicana – as well as Hogan Lovells (Mexico) drafted the Mexican Pro Bono Standards in 2018.
Latin American law firm partnerships: the gender gap
The Women in the Profession initiatives in Latin America have their work cut out for them when it comes to furthering gender equality in the legal market. Data collected by Latin Lawyer in 2019 indicated that women occupy just 23% of partner positions at firms ranked in the Latin Lawyer 250, a guide to leading law firms in the region. Some countries face a bigger gender gap than others; in Chile just 10% of law firm partners are women. Meanwhile, a 2018 study by Latin Lawyer’s sister publication the Latin American Corporate Counsel Association (LACCA) found that 35% of companies polled had a female GC.
Pro bono in Latin America could not have gotten to where it is today without the efforts of Stolper, Crider and several other key individuals. Part of Stolper’s role in 2005 was to draw on her experience at the Foreign Service and as a partner to recruit Latin American firms to the cause. “I became one of the key cheerleaders for the declaration, which has become an unmitigated success,” Stolper says. “It’s really transformative work. I’ll never forget being in Mexico, being in a meeting with Tom Mueller-Gastell from Ritch, Mueller, Heather y Nicolau, SC where he called me a missionary evangelist.”
The word has spread. Out of the Vance Center also grew the Women in the Profession (WIP) initiative, which aims to secure full and equal participation of women in the American Bar Association and the US legal profession and justice system. Backed by Carrie Cohen from Morrison & Foerster LLP, White & Case LLP’s Taisa Markus and Carmen Corrales from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, many Latin American lawyers – both private practice and in-house – were also integral into driving forward the initiative in Latin American jurisdictions too. Gómez-Pinzón’s Paula Samper, Cecilia Mairal and Patricia Lopez AuFranc from Marval O’Farrel & Mairal, and Carolina Zang from Zang, Bergel & Viñes Abogados were all key players. “A bunch of women, including me, spread out with two different missions; promoting WIP, but also creating connections between women lawyers – we essentially wanted to create women’s bar associations, although we never made that explicit.”
For Stolper, an important part of her work with WIP is helping women disproportionally affected by poverty and domestic violence. WIP is soon to publish a report on economic violence based on research initially carried out by its Buenos Aires arm, which eventually engaged the whole WIP network. “We all contributed chapters on which countries were doing their part to protect women, for example by protecting bank accounts,” she says.
The WIP initiative now has 19 country groups up and running in Latin America alone, with one soon to be set up in Africa. Stolper is excited to visit once she retires. “To me, just seeing the transformation in 15 years has been tremendous.”
Paying it forward
Over the last two decades, Stolper has used her considerable influence to help better her profession.
Sat at breakfast one morning, she received a call from Todd Crider, head of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP’s Latin American practice. It was 2005, two years after the Vance Center was founded. Crider wanted to recruit Stolper to work on the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas, which would eventually be published in 2008.
The original idea came from the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, an organisation created by the New York Bar in 2003 to address what it perceived as a broad international crisis presented by lack of access to justice for all. The aim was to uphold fairness and rebalance high levels of inequality across the Americas – for which Latin America would be a prime target. However, while pro bono was almost a hallmark of legal work in the US at the time, little was known about pro bono in Latin America.
Today, the commitments set out by the declaration have served as the gold standard for pro bono work across Latin America and it is fair to say the region’s law firms are no longer strangers to the practice. There are now 13 clearing houses across Latin America and some are even drafting their own pro bono standards to address unique challenges local to them. Mexico’s three clearing houses – Appleseed Mexico, Centro Mexicano Pro Bono and Fundación Barra Mexicana – as well as Hogan Lovells (Mexico) drafted the Mexican Pro Bono Standards in 2018.
Pro bono in Latin America could not have gotten to where it is today without the efforts of Stolper, Crider and several other key individuals. Part of Stolper’s role in 2005 was to draw on her experience at the Foreign Service and as a partner to recruit Latin American firms to the cause. “I became one of the key cheerleaders for the declaration, which has become an unmitigated success,” Stolper says. “It’s really transformative work. I’ll never forget being in Mexico, being in a meeting with Tom Mueller-Gastell from Ritch, Mueller, Heather y Nicolau, SC where he called me a missionary evangelist.”
The word has spread. Out of the Vance Center also grew the Women in the Profession (WIP) initiative, which aims to secure full and equal participation of women in the American Bar Association and the US legal profession and justice system. Backed by Carrie Cohen from Morrison & Foerster LLP, White & Case LLP’s Taisa Markus and Carmen Corrales from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, many Latin American lawyers – both private practice and in-house – were also integral into driving forward the initiative in Latin American jurisdictions too. Gómez-Pinzón’s Paula Samper, Cecilia Mairal and Patricia Lopez AuFranc from Marval O’Farrel & Mairal, and Carolina Zang from Zang, Bergel & Viñes Abogados were all key players. “A bunch of women, including me, spread out with two different missions; promoting WIP, but also creating connections between women lawyers – we essentially wanted to create women’s bar associations, although we never made that explicit.”
For Stolper, an important part of her work with WIP is helping women disproportionally affected by poverty and domestic violence. WIP is soon to publish a report on economic violence based on research initially carried out by its Buenos Aires arm, which eventually engaged the whole WIP network. “We all contributed chapters on which countries were doing their part to protect women, for example by protecting bank accounts,” she says.
The WIP initiative now has 19 country groups up and running in Latin America alone, with one soon to be set up in Africa. Stolper is excited to visit once she retires. “To me, just seeing the transformation in 15 years has been tremendous.”
Latin American law firm partnerships: the gender gap
The Women in the Profession initiatives in Latin America have their work cut out for them when it comes to furthering gender equality in the legal market. Data collected by Latin Lawyer in 2019 indicated that women occupy just 23% of partner positions at firms ranked in the Latin Lawyer 250, a guide to leading law firms in the region. Some countries face a bigger gender gap than others; in Chile just 10% of law firm partners are women. Meanwhile, a 2018 study by Latin Lawyer’s sister publication the Latin American Corporate Counsel Association (LACCA) found that 35% of companies polled had a female GC.
“I’ve brought laser focus on a defined business trajectory. It sounds trite, but I’m not a grand strategist; I’m an implementer. What I’m good at is putting one foot in front of the other and keeping going.”
Succession
For someone that has been at the helm of the ship for so long, the word ‘handover’ might seem daunting. But the way Shearman has institutionalised its Latin America group means new leadership will not equal an entirely new direction. Several colleagues helped get the practice to where it is today, says Stolper. These include head of the mining and metals practice Cynthia Urda Kassis (who refers to Stolper as “a force of nature”); capital markets partners Stuart Fleischmann and Manuel Orillac; and project development and finance partner Denise Grant. “You could say that we are all ‘lifers’ at Shearman,” says Stolper. “We practically grew up together at the firm, serving the region.”
The group has long been characterised by its collaborative spirit – lawyers work closely together and meet weekly to talk strategy and address work done in the region – and that will not change. “What I have done with the group over the years is to bring order and focus. On Monday mornings we always had to meet, come hell or high water, for example,” she notes. “I’ve brought laser focus on a defined business trajectory. It sounds trite but I’m not a grand strategist, I’m an implementer. What I’m good at is putting one foot in front of the other and keeping going.” This approach will remain central to the firm’s strategy in the region even after Stolper steps down from the partnership at the end of this year.
The firm has not yet said who will take over leadership of the Latin American practice. But along with the lifers named above, there are a good many other leading names making up the group. In São Paulo, there is Roberta Berliner Cherman, who has led the office since the departure of several lawyers last year and who has succeeded in sustaining a more-than-healthy deal-flow in spite of that turnover. There is also Carmelo Gordian, a partner based in Texas in the firm’s emerging growth practice who concentrates on venture capital investments, an area of growing importance in Latin America.
Stolper’s successor is likely to have their work cut out for them. The covid-19 pandemic has affected economies all over of the world, but especially Latin America’s. The region is about to enter its deepest economic recession in decades, having contracted around 8% in 2020 according to the International Monetary Fund. It is not set to return to pre-pandemic growth before 2025. International firms in the region may have to contend with reduced corporate and M&A work – often their bread and butter – but could gain from the return of work centred around asset-backed securities and trade receivables, and collateral debt obligations.
Stolper hopes 2021 will bring her new opportunities. She would like to take up board member positions, as well as increasing her involvement with the Vance Center’s pro bono initiatives in the Americas and Africa, including doing more ombudsman-style work for the centre. This is all, of course, covid-19 dependent. But the uncertainty is part of the excitement, she says. “It’s very hard to look into a crystal ball and predict the future.”
Succession
For someone that has been at the helm of the ship for so long, the word ‘handover’ might seem daunting. But the way Shearman has institutionalised its Latin America group means new leadership will not equal an entirely new direction. Several colleagues helped get the practice to where it is today, says Stolper. These include head of the mining and metals practice Cynthia Urda Kassis (who refers to Stolper as “a force of nature”); capital markets partners Stuart Fleischmann and Manuel Orillac; and project development and finance partner Denise Grant. “You could say that we are all ‘lifers’ at Shearman,” says Stolper. “We practically grew up together at the firm, serving the region.”
The group has long been characterised by its collaborative spirit – lawyers work closely together and meet weekly to talk strategy and address work done in the region – and that will not change. “What I have done with the group over the years is to bring order and focus. On Monday mornings we always had to meet, come hell or high water, for example,” she notes. “I’ve brought laser focus on a defined business trajectory. It sounds trite but I’m not a grand strategist, I’m an implementer. What I’m good at is putting one foot in front of the other and keeping going.” This approach will remain central to the firm’s strategy in the region even after Stolper steps down from the partnership at the end of this year.
The firm has not yet said who will take over leadership of the Latin American practice. But along with the lifers named above, there are a good many other leading names making up the group. In São Paulo, there is Roberta Berliner Cherman, who has led the office since the departure of several lawyers last year and who has succeeded in sustaining a more-than-healthy deal-flow in spite of that turnover. There is also Carmelo Gordian, a partner based in Texas in the firm’s emerging growth practice who concentrates on venture capital investments, an area of growing importance in Latin America.
Stolper’s successor is likely to have their work cut out for them. The covid-19 pandemic has affected economies all over of the world, but especially Latin America’s. The region is about to enter its deepest economic recession in decades, having contracted around 8% in 2020 according to the International Monetary Fund. It is not set to return to pre-pandemic growth before 2025. International firms in the region may have to contend with reduced corporate and M&A work – often their bread and butter – but could gain from the return of work centred around asset-backed securities and trade receivables, and collateral debt obligations.
Stolper hopes 2021 will bring her new opportunities. She would like to take up board member positions, as well as increasing her involvement with the Vance Center’s pro bono initiatives in the Americas and Africa, including doing more ombudsman-style work for the centre. This is all, of course, covid-19 dependent. But the uncertainty is part of the excitement, she says. “It’s very hard to look into a crystal ball and predict the future.”
