Former Vale GC sets up law firm in Brazil
Clovis Torres, former general counsel of mining giant Vale, has launched Souza, Mello e Torres, together with Luis Antonio de Souza, formerly with Souza, Cescon, Barrieu & Flesch Advogados, as well as Carlos Mello, an ex Machado Meyer partner. The latter initially launched transactional boutique Rolim de Mello – Sociedade de Advogados in 2016.
Torres graduated in law from Catholic University of Salvador, has a Master’s in International Law, Commerce and Finance from the University of Tulane (New Orleans) in 1993 and an Executive MBA from the Fundação Getulio Vargas.
According to his Linkedin profile, his legal career included Clyde and Co in London, UK and Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados in Sao Paulo. His extensive in-house experience includes roles at the IFC, Cargill and Bahia Mineração.
Torres joined Vale in 2003, as corporate legal counsel for four years. In 2011, after stints elsewhere, he returned to Vale as General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer.
Joining Torres at Souza, Mello e Torres are Carlos José Rolim de Mello, who left Machado Meyer in 2016 to set up his own firm, as well as Luis Antonio de Souza, a founding partner of what is now Cescon, Barrieu, Flesch & Barreto who left that firm in December 2017.
