DLA Piper's Brazil affiliate hires a team of lawyers from Mayer Brown

DLA Piper's Brazil affiliate hires a team of lawyers from Mayer Brown

The move comes in wake of clients demand for expertise in the energy sector

DLA Piper's Brazil affiliate, Campos Mello Advogados (CMA), has hired a five-lawyer team from Mayer Brown's Brazil associate Tauil & Chequer Advogados. This was done to boost its litigation and arbitration offerings related to oil and gas, maritime, sustainability and environmental issues.

DLA Piper's Americas chair stated, "We have been working with our Latin America and Brazil leaders and clients to identify the key areas where we need to respond to the marketplace demands."

He added that the hires reflected the firm's wider commitment to "meet the most critical needs: of clients acting in the global marketplace, particularly within the energy industry.

Even as the four partners - Alexandre Calmon, Marcelo Frazao, Paulo de Bessa Antumes and Vilmar Gonsalves join CMA's office in Rio de Janioro, senior associate Joao Marcal Martins moves across to shore up the firm's litigation and arbitration bench in Sao Paulo.

Welcoming the new entrants, CMA's managing partner, Fabio Campos Mello listed, "We wanted a team with a focus on the high-demand parts of the practice, particularly in the energy, infrastructure and environmental sectors. We know our clients are attentive to environmental, social and corporate governance. These additions will expand our capabilities even further."

Calmon is moving to CMA after a three-year stint at Tauli & Chequer (T&C). A recognized leader in the Brazilian oil and gas sector, his focus of practice is acquisitions of oil and gas production assets and the development of domestic energy products.

On the other hand, after working for four years at T&C, Frazo brings with him a wealth of experience in the field of mergers and acquisitions, finance and energy projects involving maritime and offshore works.

Meanwhile, Antumes and Gonsalves specialize in environmental law. Their focus will be to advance CMA's environmental, social and governance mechanism.

Prior to joining T&C, Antunes spent three decades as a regional prosecutor at the Brazilian Federal Prosecution Office and headed the Secretariat of Environmental Protection of Rio de Janeiro state's legal team.

Gonsalves handles dispute resolutions and environment crisis management and consultancy matters for clients across a wide range of industries. He will serve as an active member of DLA Piper's Latin America regional practice group, in addition to his work with CMA's international arbitration team.

CMA joined DLA Piper's international network way back in 2010. Currently, it has over 30 partners and 230 professionals working across 22 practice areas in Rio de Janeiro, Sau Paulo, Brasilia, New York, London and Miami.