This area comprises mass tort litigation and actions deriving from product liability, as well as suits for environmental
damage. Suits of this kind, which have usually targeted at companies acting in the tobacco, beverages & liquor, food,
chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and related industries, involve highly complex legal issues and oftentimes have
a multijurisdictional reach.
The high-profile nature and significant repercussions of these claims, which may also be commenced by political entities
(the federal, state and municipal governments, independent government entities, and the like) expose the company to
challenges that urge a more sophisticated treatment than that accorded to ordinary litigation.
Mass tort litigation goes beyond the handling of legal variables only. The nature and magnitude of such disputes usually
draw the attention of the press, government bodies, non-governmental organizations and a number of other opinion-making groups.
Hence, a multitude of players and factors have a decisive role in mass tort litigation.
The challenges posed by these myriad factors are relatively new to Brazilian standards, and require the development of a detailed
strategy and metholodogy to defend the company's interests. In addition to legal practitioners, a multidisciplinary staff must
also come into action, comprising experts in forensic medicine and media, scientists and other relevant professionals. Oftentimes,
this type of litigation demands a concerted action with international law firms and the creation of a crisis management committee.
This new scenario, in which the company's business is sometimes put at risk, urges a new client-attorney relationship, far closer
than usual: a long-term partnership in which client and attorney develop a staff with variegated professionals working in synch and
devising a defense strategy from its very outset, fully committed to the overall solution conceived for the problem.
Competition and Antitrust Laws
The Competition Law team of Mattos Muriel Kestener Advogados is a renowned authority on cases handled before the Brazilian
competition authorities (CADE, SEAE and SDE) in a number of segments, such as information technology, electronics, mining
(metallig and non-metallic ore), food, beverages & liquor, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, retail, banking & finance, telecommunications,
automotive, and advertisement.
Review of acts and contracts with potential anticompetitive effects, since their inception.
Opposition (as interested third parties) to deals notified to the competition authorities.
Development of antitrust compliance programs.
Antitrust acts are those viewed by the law as a restraint of trade. They may evolve into cases in the administrative
and/or judicial spheres for abuse of dominant position, vertical restraints (exclusive dealerships, exclusivity and
non-competition clauses, etc.), predatory pricing, and other acts that may injure open competition.
Emphasis is placed on cases involving cartels originating from concerted or collusive actions among competitors. These cases generally
develop on three fronts - administrative, judicial and criminal -, thus calling for a decisive presence of expert practicioners backed
by proper economic and criminal advisors.
Trade Remedies
This area of practice encompasses antidumping measures, subsidies and safeguards. The Trade Remedies team has built a vast experience
in multidisciplinary cases handled in conjunction with renowned economists and professionals who once worked for governmental bodies
dealing with foreign trade issues and trade remedies in Brazil (DECOM, SECEX, CAMEX).
The firm also resorts to a wide network of contacts with foreign law firms specializing in trade defense, which allows us to fashion
the most effective strategies and solutions to overcome the barriers raised in international investigations.
The firm provides the following services in the trade defense area:
Assessment and preparation of opinions on the commencement of investigations into unfair trade practices (antidumping
measures, subsidies and safeguards) in Brazil.
Representation of domestic companies in requests for commencement of investigations into unfair trade practices or
for review of antidumping duties already in place.
Representation of interested third parties and/or in defense of foreign companies that are being investigated by
Brazilian trade defense bodies.
International Trade
The International Trade team has a marked presence on import and export procedures, as well as on cross-border (bilateral and
multilateral) negotiations and litigation. The firm provides the following services in the International Trade arena:
Counseling and assistance during the negotiation and preparation of cross-border contracts, including on the Brazilian
export and import systems, tax incentives, and special relief programs (PROEX, Drawback, Back-to-Back Credits, REPETRO).
Classification of goods and services based on the Harmonized System of the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM), and prosecution
of administrative cases in the best interests of both our client and its industry as a whole.
Classification of goods/services and exceptions vis-à-vis the tariff systems adopted by Mercosur (TEC) and by LAIA.
Follow-up and assistance in bilateral, regional and multilateral negotiations (WTO, Mercosur, European Union, the Andean
Pact, FTAA, and others), preparing studies and opinions of relevance.
International trade litigation submitted to the Dispute Resolution Bodies of WTO and Mercosur, assisting our clients in
the identification and effective use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (such as arbitration and mediation).
Domestic and International Commercial Arbitration
The domestic and international commercial arbitration comprises the prosecution of institutional arbitration proceedings before the
most renowned arbitration institutions the world over (such as the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce - ICC),
as well as of ad hoc arbitrations governed by the UNCITRAL rules.
The Arbitration team has earned a reputation in cases handled before major domestic and international arbitration institutions,
including the São Paulo Mediation and Arbitration Chamber ("Fiesp"), the Mediation and Arbitration Chamber of the Brazil-Canada Chamber
of Commerce, ICC, and the London Court of International Arbitration - LCIA.
Arbitration has clear advantages over judicial disputes, such as:
The possibility of selecting procedural rules for arbitration.
Greater flexibility and lesser formalities.
Celerity (18 months on average).
The possibility of selecting arbitrators.
The expertise of arbitrators in the matter at issue.
The professional role of lawyers in arbitration covers a whole gamut of activities, among which:
First phase: preparation of an agreement to arbitrate and the arbitration commitment; filing of suits for specific performance
of an agreement to arbitrate; analysis of the validity and feasibility of arbitration.
Second phase: prosecution of arbitration itself, in the language chosen for arbitration.
Third phase: enforcement of the Brazilian and/or foreign arbitral award, as well as an analysis of challenges to the arbitral award in court.
Negotiation and Mediation
Negotiation and mediation also operate as effective alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. They seek to settle a controversy while preserving the commercial
relationship between the companies in dispute. The firm acts in negotiations and mediations, including as a referee.
Financial and Securities Market Litigation
The firm has been at the forefront of complex financial litigation involving banking and financial market regulations, investment funds,
asset management, foreign currency, securities, recovery of credits and out-of-court interventions. Our firm acts on the judicial and administrative
fronts, with emphasis on the Central Bank of Brazil and the Brazilian Securities Commission.
Corporate Law
The legal practice in this area comprises a wide range of projects related to mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, consortiums, purchase and sale of corporate holdings,
assets and plants, corporate reorganizations, shareholders agreements, divestiture, corporate governance, and transactions in the regulated sectors of energy,
telecommunications, oil and gas with a significant interface with the regulatory authorities - ANEEL (National Electrical Energy Agency), ANATEL
(National Telecommunication Agency) and CVM (Brazilian Securities Exchange Commission).
This area also encompasses due diligences in corporate and commercial transactions that demand a greater awareness about actual and potential contingencies, which may oftentimes
have a direct bearing on the closing of a deal.
The legal audit comprises the full review of the civil, tax, labor, social security and environmental proceedings, assessing their potential risk by means of a critical analysis
of the legal arguments raised by the parties, resulting in a legal opinion on the potential impact of such contingencies on the intended deal.
Judicial and arbitration disputes among partners, partial winding-up, ascertainment of assets and other related matters also fall within the realm of the corporate law practice.
Family Law and Estate Planning
Litigation involving personal interests and assets after the end of a marriage or stable union, or in case of death, must be mediated and handled by a professional that is attentive
and responsive to the client profile and needs. In these situations, a lawyer must know how to evaluate, on a case-by-case basis, the pros and cons of an amicable negotiation or of
a litigation that involves such sensitive aspects as family separation, the setting of alimony and support payments, the sharing of common assets, and child custody.
When a marriage or stable union breaks up, special attention must be given to the involvement of minor children, who suffer the most from separation and around which
some decisions on custody, support and visits will gravitate. This same attentive and professional eye is required upon the death of parents leaving minor children, who are thus
entrusted to the care of third-party guardians.
The Family Law team works in conjunction with social assistants, physicians and psychologists, with expertise in:
Legal separation and divorce.
Guardianship of minor children.
Alimony and child support.
Paternity checks and the respective impact on estate decisions.
Adoption.
Interdiction
The importance of estate and equity planning stands out in family-owned companies, where personal and corporate relations are often intertwined, which may give birth to sizable disputes.
To perpetuate its business, a family must take upon itself the duty of conducting the necessary changes and then pass the command on to future generations, preferably under a professional management.
Premarital estate and equity planning is also relevant in the corporate world; it is advisable that mechanisms for protection of the family and business be devised as soon as practically feasible, comprising:
Premarital agreements and stable union arrangements.
Wills and testaments.
Inter vivos gift and distribution of assets.
Trusts.
Corporate restructuring.
Health
The health area has become incresingly complex as the administrative authorities are decentralized and the policy-making/inspection
duties of regulatory agencies augment. Since the inception of the National Public Health Agency (ANVISA), the Brazilian administrative law in
the public health area has grown more and more sophisticated. And all players in this sector are striving to adapt to the new issues and
challenges emerging in such a rapidly changing regulatory climate.
The regulatory scope in the health area is ample, covering medications, cosmetics, medical products, health services, foods, diet products,
cleaning products, blood and blood derivatives, tobacco products, pesticides, biotechnology, and a number of others.
All activities inherent to these areas - such as research, import, export, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, sales,
labeling and advertising - feel the effects of regulation, with a direct impact on the day-to-day operation of companies.
This regulated segment demands an ongoing legal assistance and counseling on the following issues:
Federal and state licensing.
Product registration.
Labeling requirements.
Advertising and disclosure requirements.
Clinical research using medications and medical products.
Product withdrawal and recall.
Health plan operations, etc.
To provide comprehensive legal assistance to clients in the health arena, the firm has developed a valuable interface with governmental
bodies, such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Justice, ANVISA, the National Private Pension
Agency (ANS), state and municipal health offices, the Consumer Protection and Defense Department, the National Council on Research Ethics, consumer
protection bureaus (PROCONs), and the National Institute for Industrial Measurements, Standards and Quality (Inmetro).
The Health Law team is also fully equipped to prosecute complex judicial and administrative cases involving domestic and cross-border public health issues.
Agriculture
Agribusiness plays a decisive role in the Brazilian economy, accounting for a substantial portion of the country's GDP and exports. And the role of lawyers
is making a difference in this segment. An increasing standardization of rules on agricultural products, especially agricultural commodities, fresh food,
beverages, stockbreeding, veterinarian products, pesticides, new plant varieties and trade relations in the production chain, as well as a host of other
issues that are essential to the smooth development of agribusiness, are urging the presence of law professionals in this field of law.
The firm offer the following services in this area:
Assistance in the setup and operation of new companies in Brazil.
General and preventive counseling for existing companies.
Administrative and judicial litigation in agriculture-related issues.
Counseling on export activities, especially in terms of access and barriers to specific markets.
Interface with Brazilian government authorities, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Stockbreeding and Supply; the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade; and federal agriculture offices in several Brazilian states, among others.
