Alumni Spotlight: Miguel Alvarez Malvido (2013-2015, 2016-2021; New York)

Cleary Gottlieb alumni often reflect upon their time at the firm with fondness and gratitude.

Miguel Alvarez Malvido (2013-2015, 2016-2021; New York), Senior Vice President at Blackstone, shares some of his thoughts below.

When were you at Cleary, and what group were you a part of? What attracted you to Cleary and that particular group?

I was part of the Latin America group as an international lawyer from 2013-2015, and then as an associate from 2016-2020. I then transitioned to the Debt Finance group in 2021 to focus on fund finance.

If you are an attorney from Latin America, want to live in New York and have an interest in geopolitics, the LatAm group is the place to go work. From the outside, Cleary is something like the common denominator in the region for any high-stakes debt restructuring (sovereign or otherwise), IPO, M&A transaction, or infrastructure project. It is also hard to miss the enthusiasm that clients share for the firm. I knew people in Mexico who had been working with Cleary for decades, had multiple “war stories” from past transactions or sovereign crises and, over time, developed deep and long-lasting relationships with lawyers at all levels. The client branding and name recognition is just special.

From the inside, after sitting through multiple meetings in Chantal Kordula or Jorge Juantorena’s office, I realized that the secret sauce boiled down to teamwork. Strategic decisions were made as a group and lawyers seldom operated in a silo, which means that a lot of energy was spent on building trust within the team. There was a consistent focus on fostering new talent – associates in the LatAm practice do client-facing work faster than in other places and there was the shared commitment to quality and solution-oriented work. The job was never about just being smart; it was about giving practical solutions to clients. All these traits are easier said than done, and there is work behind the scenes devoted to keeping this well-oiled machine going. When I transitioned to the Debt Finance group, I was not surprised to find out that Duane McLaughlin, Meme Peponis and Amy Shapiro had started their careers in the LatAm group as well.

What skills or experiences from your time at Cleary have been the most valuable in your career?

I remember colleagues used to say that Cleary was a place where things happened “organically.” How do you interpret that as a junior associate? Once I got a sense of Cleary’s culture and openness to associates charting their own paths, I decided that “organically” really meant, “if I’m interested, I need to get involved.” I got comfortable with calling people, including partners, and asking them what they meant when they said “X” or how did their idea fit into something else that was happening. I realized something that may seem obvious: senior lawyers don’t know everything, and they appreciate when associates make the effort of trying to propose a road map or frame the discussion for how to deal with a difficult situation.

While I still don’t know what Cleary colleagues meant by “organically,” it is safe to say that “run with it” was a good translation, and because of lessons like these, my default is that no one has a plan unless you start the conversation. A lot of what we do as lawyers is leveraging the resources around us to deal with uncertainty, like framing a discussion with specialists, socializing issues, being open to feedback and willing to put ourselves out there and make mistakes. I reflect on these lessons whenever I catch myself making assumptions about what other people may do or not do because this means I need to add one more conversation to my to do list.

After five years as an associate at Cleary, you transitioned to Vice President at Blackstone and were promoted early this year to Senior Vice President. In your current role,

a. What’s the biggest misconception about your job?

Attorneys at law firms aren’t always aware of how many internal clients we have as in-house transactional lawyers. My daily interactions involve portfolio managers, sales teams, operations, treasury, tax, a reputation group, government affairs and sometimes other legal teams within the organization, all looking at the same transaction and expecting an answer. Most of the questions that we are asking external counsel are ones that originated from conversations with these internal clients, and the timelines that we set out are seldom discretional.

b. If you can share, what legal issues do you often need to consider?

As a transactional attorney, I mostly manage three types of legal workstreams: (1) when we receive money from clients, I negotiate the investment management agreements that deal with how to allocate risk, investment restrictions and the disclosures that we provide to clients regarding our firm; (2) when our funds deploy money, I ensure each investment is appropriate for the fund(s) and that we are managing conflicts appropriately, e.g., how do we allocate an investment opportunity between multiple funds, or how do we manage a situation where our funds own different parts of the capital structure of a company; and (3) management of regulatory risk, particularly coordinating with our compliance and technology teams to make sure that we have the right systems and processes before launching a new product (private or registered) or making new investments.

c. What has surprised you?

I am fortunate that transactional lawyers at Blackstone are well respected and have influence. In some ways, our role is that of a corporate counselor and our advice extends to areas beyond strictly legal aspects of the job. There are two reasons for this: (1) Blackstone has a strong legal team that includes a lot of lawyers that started their careers at law firms like Cleary and (2) a considerable number of business professionals at Blackstone are former lawyers and have sincere appreciation for the value we provide.

Are there certain subjects/matters associates should seek exposure to while at the firm that may help them in their in-house endeavors?

Absolutely – understand your clients’ businesses, including their strengths and vulnerabilities. If you are doing capital markets work, drill down on the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and try to understand what your clients’ financials are saying or not saying. If you are doing a restructuring transaction, dig deep into why a company is in distress. Is it because of poor management? Failure of internal controls? Bad financial planning? External factors? If you are doing debt finance work, how does your client manage negative covenants in their day-to-day? Are they properly set up to deal with reporting obligations? When you are in-house, you “live and breathe” your covenants, your disclosures, etc., and associates have an opportunity to set themselves up for a successful transition to an in-house role by going the extra mile for their clients.

What do you look for in outside counsel?

I mostly look for two qualities. First, the ability to provide nuanced advice that helps me frame the conversations I need to have with internal stakeholders. If outside counsel thinks a specific investment is aggressive or risky from a regulatory standpoint, I want to understand why, what the specific concerns are and whether there are ways to mitigate the risk, if any.

Second, good process management. I understand why a law firm may need additional time to consider a complicated issue or to improve the work product, but I want that visibility. In-house attorneys at firms like Blackstone have various stakeholders and pressure to deliver quickly, so we look for outside counsel to provide us with the tools to make good decisions and manage expectations

What advice do you have for a junior Cleary associate who may want to pursue a similar career path?

Be patient about your transition to an in-house role. Law firms like Cleary provide a unique platform to learn and grow fast, and attractive in-house roles expect you to have a certain level of expertise and experience. I would also advise associates to be selective. If you are interviewing for an in-house role, try to find out about the culture, what role lawyers play, the path to growth, and salary expectations. Law firms tend to be more transparent about associate salaries, and there is also a natural progression, particularly at the associate level, but that is not always the case when you are in-house.

Can you tell us about a favorite memory from Cleary?

I have plenty, but I really miss the Fridays when some of my LatAm friends and I went to Eataly for a drink before heading home for the weekend, even if that meant working more during the weekend.

Is there anything I haven’t asked you about yet that you would want to share with the Cleary community?

This feels like a pre-pricing due-diligence question (DDQ)! Can I just say, “not to my knowledge”?

I do want to say thank you. Cleary really is a community, and I am proud to continue to be a part of it.

Learn more about Cleary’s global alumni network here.