Melissa Raciti-Knapp > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Offices
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
31ST FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States
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Melissa Raciti-Knapp
Position
Partner
Career
New York-based Melissa is co-head of the firm’s Latin America practice and head of our US energy and infrastructure group.
Melissa assists commercial banks, export credit agencies, multilaterals and other financial institutions as well as borrowers on a wide variety of financing, such as corporate, project financings, private placements, first- and second-lien financings and sovereign lending. Her sector experience includes power (both conventional and renewable), mining, oil and gas, water treatment, telecoms and other infrastructure.
While Melissa has significant experience in US matters, her expertise is focused on Latin American countries. These draw upon her language skills and ability to bridge cultural differences. Alongside local counsel, she and her team routinely negotiate and draft in Spanish and Portuguese.
All this experience, combined with knowing how the same issues are addressed in different contexts, allows Melissa to come up with thoughtful, constructive solutions – even in the most contentious and complex situations.
Education
- JD, Columbia University School of Law, Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, senior editor of the Columbia Law Review.
- BA, magna cum laude, Columbia College, Phi Beta Kappa.
- Admitted to practice in the State of New York.
Lawyer Rankings
Latin America: International firms > Projects and energy
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has an established reputation in Latin America project finance and project development, frequently representing commercial lenders, ECAs, multilaterals and borrowers in large-scale energy and infrastructure projects. This includes power and renewables, energy transition, mining, oil and gas, and transport infrastructure projects. Melissa Raciti-Knapp is co-head of the Latin America group, a fluent Spanish speaker, and has extensive experience in multiple Latin American jurisdictions from large economies such as Brazil and Mexico, to smaller nations including Honduras.
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Tax > Financial products
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- International trade > CFIUS
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Finance > Commercial lending
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism