(Português) Mattos Engelberg adds partners ahead of global expansion

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Mattos Engelberg adds partners ahead of global expansion

Brazilian firm Mattos Engelberg Advogados has hired two partners to fortify its IT and environment practices, ahead of announcing a strategic alliance with a major international law firm.

Braga now leads the firm’s IT practice. The department will focus on outsourcing, software solutions and cloud computing. Braga also has an administrative law practice, with experience advising companies on public contracts and biddings, as well as working with clients in litigation cases heard by audit courts and the judiciary. He was formerly a partner at MD&B – Marcial, Depine & Braga, an administrative and regulatory law boutique. The firm did not respond to a request for comment.

Environment lawyer Bosschart was formerly a partner at defunct firm Mattos Muriel Kestener, the former firm of Mattos Engelberg founder, Ubiratan Mattos, and several other Mattos Engelberg partners. Her practice is focused on providing consultancy services related to environmental legislation and licensing procedures, such as those governing solid waste, water resources, air emissions and the management of contaminated areas. She has conducted due diligence investigations in connection with environmental issues and helped clients develop compliance and training programmes focused on environmental management. She also assists clients with administrative proceedings and environmental litigation. Bosschart became a partner at David e Aniceto – Advogados Associados after leaving Mattos Muriel Kestener in 2016. Her former partner at David e Aniceto, Alexandre David, wished her luck in her new challenge.

Mattos Engelberg managing partner Ubiratan Mattos says his firm already offered clients legal services in both IT and environmental law, but that both hires add “further energy and expertise.” The hires bring the number of partners at Mattos Engelberg to 23. They work alongside nearly 100 associates.

The firm has expanded steadily since its formation at the start of 2016 by four partners from Mattos Muriel Kestener, seven partners from Engelberg Moraes Advogados and a trade partner and several associates from now-defunct Barretto Ferreira e Brancher. Mattos Engelberg still has ambitious domestic and international growth plans in the pipeline, including further office openings in Brazil and a strategic alliance with an international firm that will drastically expand its global presence. While it already has a representative office in Shanghai, Mattos says he will soon announce his firm’s strategic alliance with a Chinese law firm. The firm reportedly has a strong global presence, including 73 offices spanning Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the US, and a further 53 offices across China.

The firm also plans to open an office in Salvador, Bahia, which adds to its existing local network of offices in Brasília, Ribeirão Preto, and Rio Brilhante. The turmoil in the Brazilian economy represents significant opportunity for the firm, says Mattos. “We consider all gaps and instabilities as opportunities which allow us concentrate and diligently exploit them, he says. “Our partners are working to see opportunities in this crises scenario,” he continues. The firm has already moved to capitalise on increasing demand for compliance and white-collar crime counsel, merging with Brasília firm Lavinas Marinho Buzanelli Donati in March, and in doing so doubling the size of its office in the Brazilian capital.

Source: http://latinlawyer.com/article/1144225/mattos-engelberg-adds-partners-ahead-of-global-expansion