Brazil’s Mattos Engelberg opens Mexico desk with hire

Latin Lawyer 250 firm Mattos Engelberg Advogados has launched a Mexico desk and bolstered its compliance practice by hiring an in-house lawyer as partner in São Paulo.

Eduardo Lacerda Fernandes, 49, joined the firm on 2 April, taking its partner count to 17. He focuses his compliance practice on corporate, labour and tax matters.

With over 30 years of in-house experience, Lacerda most recently held a position at Mexican drinks company Femsa, managing the company’s corporate affairs department in Mexico City for the last two years. Before that, he was based in the organisation’s São Paulo office, where he spent 11 years as legal manager. Prior to that role, he was legal manager at beverage company Cevejarias Kaiser Brasil for 15 years, focusing on tax and contractual matters.

Lacerda will lead and develop the firm’s Mexico desk, for which the firm believes his international connections will put him in good stead. Law firm partner Leonardo Santini Echenique says the new desk is still at an early stage of development and its inaugural role is to help companies invest in both Brazil and Mexico. The firm is currently working on selecting which business partners to work with, which includes partnering up with Mexican law firms.

Lacerda says the relationships he has built in his previous roles will be key for his new position and to help build further global connections for the firm.

Echenique says Lacerda brings versatile experience ranging from directing legal departments at multinational companies to corporate spin-offs and work with public entities, chambers and associations. “His vast experience will certainly help us achieve our goals for this year,” says Echenique.

The Mexico desk is Mattos Engelberg’s latest move to grow its international outlook. The firm entered a non-exclusive cooperation agreement with British firm Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP in July last year, which encourages referral work in the jurisdictions where the firms have offices. This gives Mattos Engelberg access to further work from clients in France, Greece, Singapore, Spain, the UK and the US.

Besides Lacerda’s experience of the Mexican market, the new partner will also have an important role in the firm’s compliance department. Partner Fernando Engelberg de Moraes expects the covid-19 pandemic to spur more compliance work since companies will need help to develop strategic emergency plans for prevention and mitigation of risks as they look to minimise losses amid the backdrop of economic instability. Companies will need help to create crisis committees and managing legislative changes among other things, says Engelberg.

Laceda’s hire comes on the back of two other hires earlier this year. In January it strengthened its disputes practice with two new partners.

Mattos Engelberg has good capabilities in corporate, antitrust, competition and tax law, alongside other practices.

Source: Latin Lawyer