Campos Mello promotes two in Brazil

Source: Latin Lawyer

Brazilian firm Campos Mello Advogados has bolstered its tax and corporate practices by promoting two to partner, as it continues to strengthen its offering in line with a five-year strategic plan announced last year.

Victor Kampel and Rafaella Chiachio, both aged 37, joined the partnership last month. The firm now counts 29 partners in total.

Tax partner Kampel concentrates his practice on tax planning, customs and transfer pricing as well as private wealth matters. He joined the firm as a senior associate in 2017 after two years as a foreign associate at Grant, Herrmann, Schwartz & Klinger LLP in New York. Before that, he was an associate at Brazil’s BMA – Barbosa, Müssnich, Aragão between 2011 and 2015, which followed on from a four-year stint advising on tax matters at consultancy firm EY Law in its Brazil and US offices.

New corporate partner Chiachio focuses on merger, acquisition and corporate governance matters, and she regularly works on transactional deals with the firm’s energy practice. She began working at the firm in 2010 as a senior associate. Chiachio spent one year as a foreign associate between 2017 and 2018 in the New York offices of DLA Piper LLP – with which Campos Mello is associated – and has previously also advised at Brazilian firm TozziniFreire Advogados.

Campos Mello managing partner Fabio Campos Mello told Latin Lawyer that the new appointments are well-favoured by clients for their high standard of work and legal knowledge, making them a great fit for the partnership.

The firm’s corporate and tax practices have remained busy during the covid-19 crisis. For that reason, the promotions came at an apt time says the managing partner, who adds that the firm was “well-prepared to navigate through difficult times” due to “conservative financial planning, clients from a diverse range of sectors and portfolio of services.”

The firm revealed a five-year strategic plan in September last year, which included an ambitious growth plan amid high expectations for economic recovery in Brazil. At the same time, it hired IP and life sciences litigator Domiciano Noronha as a partner and set out its intention to make practice groups more industry-focused, with legal experts in specific sectors as opposed to traditional practice areas.

Campos Mello is noted for its well-established real estate group and also boasts strong M&A, finance and tax departments. These, among other practice groups, benefit from the firm’s association with international law firm DLA Piper, which grants it access to a steady flow of cross-border and transactional work through a referral agreement.

The Brazilian firm also recently entered a partnership with competition boutique Martarano Law, after hiring its managing partner, Luciana Martarano, as of counsel and head of Campos Mello’s antitrust practice in July. Martarano Law remains independent, though its antitrust department will work closely with Campos Mello’s white-collar practice to provide a more comprehensive legal offering. It also boosted its insurance practice in March by hiring from local rival Azevedo Sette Advogados.