Campos Mello Advogados reinforces its public law group, opens governmental affairs group with the addition of two partners

Opening of Brasilia office and arrival of new partners Carolina Caiado and Paulo Renato Barroso expand CMA’s operations in Brazil’s capital city

Rio de Janeiro, September 15, 2020 – Campos Mello Advogados is reinforcing its public law practice group and starting to offer legal services on governmental affairs with the arrival of new partners Carolina Caiado and Paulo Renato Barroso. Their arrival marks the opening of CMA’s Brasilia office. The firm is already present in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, New York and London.

“In addition to the pleasure of having Carolina and Paulo lead such a promising practice group, we are meeting our goal to have a stronger operation in Brasilia by opening an office in the capital,” points out Fabio Campos Mello, CMA’s managing partner.

With wide experience in these two fields, Paulo Renato Barroso, 40, and Carolina Caiado, 39, will reinforce the firm’s interface with the public sector, especially the Executive Branch, National Congress, superior courts, and regulatory agencies.

The practice of public law has become increasingly more strategic in Brazil in the last few years when there started a gradual process of reduction of the state presence in the country’s economy with various utilities being granted to the private sector through concession agreements and public-private partnerships, explains Carolina Caiado.

This transformation, according to Paulo Renato Barroso, has led domestic and foreign companies in the privatized industries to require differentiated services in view of Brazil’s complex legal regulatory framework.

“We will work transversally with several of the firm’s practice groups, providing contributions to clients in sanitation, telecom, oil and gas, logistics, urban mobility, defense, life sciences, and other industries. The new privatization programs already announced, such as the PPI (Partnership and Investment Program), the new sanitation legal framework, and the new Gas Bill, for example, will require even more rigorous intelligence work in providing legal services to clients, making CMA’s portfolio even more complete,” emphasizes Paulo Renato Barroso.

CMA will expand its services with the preparation of strategies for clients in monitoring the progress of bills in Congress and proposals of interest in Ministries, in addition to preparing risk reports, political scenario reports, and technical notes for public hearings, as well as providing advice for interactions with public authorities. The firm will also increase its existing work in litigation before superior courts.

The Public Law and Governmental Affairs practice group will also be to provide our clients with assistance in government procurement, including information technology, life sciences, transportation, defense, and cybersecurity.

Carolina Caiado has over fifteen years’ experience in Administrative Law, infrastructure, regulated industries, and compliance in the interface with the public sector. She has broad experience in assisting domestic and foreign corporate clients. Moreover, she has worked as legal consultant to the Minas Gerais State Economic Development Department. She has a Law degree from UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), a Master’s Degree in Public Law from USP (University of Sao Paulo), and a specialist title in Corporate Law from CEU Law School, in a partnership with ISE.

Paulo Renato Barroso has a Law degree from UERJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and is studying for an MBA in Government Relations at FGV (Getulio Vargas Foundation) in Brasilia. He was a partner at Barroso Fonteles, Barcellos, Mendonça & Associados, as well as at Cascione Pulino Boulos Advogados. He was the Chief Legal Officer at a company in the oil and gas technology industry for ten years. With experience in government contracts and public procurement proceedings, he has advised foreign and domestic companies in structuring and conducting activities in Brazil, including investment and partnership negotiations.