Major Brazilian firms on recruitment drive as technology and corporate work increases
Major players boosting practices to meet demand from technology businesses after Brazil pledged to make significant investment in sector – meanwhile, flow of big-ticket M&A work continues
Increases in technology-related matters, as well as corporate work, in the last 12 months has resulted in leading law firms in Brazil recruiting lawyers to boost their M&A and technology media and telecommunications (TMT) practices.
Growth at Pinheiro Neto Advogados, which has 395 lawyers (including 95 partners), has been largely driven by a surge in technology-related instructions in 2018. This work has included advising technology businesses, including e-commerce companies, on matters such as intellectual property, banking and finance, consumer regulations, tax and labour. The clients the firm represents come from a wide range of industry sectors e-commerce, the collaborative economy, Internet of Things, streaming, cloud computing, social media, e-learning and blockchain technology. In response to the rise in client demand, the firm added six partners to its ranks in January this year, including technology and corporate specialist Larissa Galimberti.
The potential for growth in the Brazilian technology sector is significant – last year, the government pledged to invest $200 million in the industry in an effort to boost the production of semiconductor chips in Brazil. Under the terms of the initiative, the funding will be invested by the federal government in partnership with foreign technology companies.
The recent boom in data law work, as well as the enactment of Brazil’s new data act, meant Pinheiro Neto took the decision to accelerate its expansion. “Our pioneering role in this industry has been to work alongside regulatory bodies in the development of a new regulatory framework, and to work in leading cases that will set the standards for future litigations,” a firm spokesman said. “Our role also involves translating this new environment to our clients, and helping them achieve their goals.” It was in this context, that the firm took the step of opening an office in California’s Silicon Valley earlier this year. The firm will not be practice US law, but will rather connect start-ups and large technology companies with the Brazilian market, while strengthening its relationship with clients in Silicon Valley.
New anti-corruption laws
Meanwhile, TozziniFreire, which has 510 lawyers in total (including 78 partners), has strengthened its corporate and M&A practice with lateral hires. In the first six months of this year, the firm advised on eight M&A deals with a total value of $16.1 billion. The firm has also recruited antitrust, capital markets and life sciences lawyers from rival firms.
TozziniFreire has also experienced an increase in litigation work as well as rising demand for compliance advice. “We hired lawyers for the litigation and arbitration practices, while the firm has also seen a significant expansion of its compliance practice,” a spokesman said. “Due to the intensified enforcement actions and issuance of new anti-corruption laws and regulations, companies have expanded their global efforts, resulting in an ever-growing demand for the firm’s investigative work.” Indeed, the firm reported a 37 per cent increase in investigative work in the past 12 months.
