Ulhôa Canto, Rezende e Guerra Advogados

Ulhôa Canto, Rezende e Guerra – Advogados (Ulhôa Canto) is a Brazilian firm dedicated to business law. Since its foundation in 1959, Ulhôa Canto has been assisting in drafting tax bills and administrative directives going back to the Brazilian Tax Code itself. The firm is acknowledged as one of the most traditional law firms in Brazil and holds a prominent position among corporate law firms. By combining this tradition with a commitment to providing innovative solutions to its clients, Ulhôa Canto has achieved precedent-setting judicial and administrative decisions in many different sectors and has taken part in some of the most relevant business transactions that have occurred in Brazil in recent years.

As a boutique firm with presence in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasília, Ulhôa Canto is not and does not aim to be the largest law firm measured by number of lawyers; instead, our goal is to help our clients with their most challenging matters. To do so, the firm hires the very best law school graduates, the majority of which take postgraduate studies in top law schools in the US or Europe or work abroad as foreign associates. The firm promotes lawyers to partner based on merit and entirely from among its own associates. The result is a partnership with a cohesive perspective and a strong culture of excellency and meritocracy, comprised by a selective group of lawyers that can offer in-depth and original solutions.

Main areas of practice: The firm’s legal practice is diversified and mainly focused on tax, corporate (including M&A, venture capital and compliance), and regulatory and administrative law (especially in the power and sanitation sectors), litigation and arbitration, and oil and gas.

Tax: Tax law is Ulhôa Canto’s most traditional and recognized area of practice. This expertise has led Ulhôa Canto to provide legal assistance in the drafting of tax bills and administrative directives. Ulhôa Canto’s performance has been outstanding in tax litigation, especially before the Federal Supreme Court, where some of the many legal disputes handled by Ulhôa Canto have become important leading cases in Brazilian case law. The firm provides tax consulting services in general, including review of the tax aspects involved in corporate reorganization and company acquisitions, drafting of legal opinions, implementation of tax planning, administrative and judicial tax litigation before Federal and State courts and Municipal boards, legal advice on the drafting of requests for advance rulings and for taxation under special rules and on the negotiations with public authorities in order to obtain tax incentives, whether for investments in a certain geographical region or based on the client’s economic activity.

Corporate, M&A and capital markets: The firm’s practice in corporate law and capital markets comprises all aspects of business law, providing complete assistance to its clients. The work performed by Ulhôa Canto in M&As and in corporate restructuring, whether or not related to tax planning, is one of the firm’s highlights not only due to the number and diversity of the transactions in which it has provided legal advice during the last decades, but also due to the innovative solutions proposed.

Wealth and estate planning: Ulhôa Canto harbors a widely recognized wealth planning practice, which handles succession and estate planning, relocation of individuals from Brazil to other countries, and complex asset-holding-structures for family governance. Ulhôa Canto is currently one of the leading firms in this sector.

Infrastructure and project finance: Ulhôa Canto has been very active in this area, providing its clients (lenders, sponsors or borrowers) with legal assistance in several project finance transactions involving the implementation and development of infrastructure projects, especially in the oil and gas, telecommunications, electric power, petrochemical and steel and iron sectors.

Power: Ulhôa Canto has been highly active in this field for the past years. Besides having legally advised the Brazilian Federal Government on the restructuring of the energy sector, Ulhôa Canto has advised clients regarding various aspects of this field including regulatory, tax, contractual and litigation matters, with strong practice before the regulatory agency of the sector. Ulhôa Canto is, nowadays, the leading law firm in this sector in Brazil.

Venture capital and start-ups: The firm advises founders, companies, and funds in structuring and investing in start-ups, including various financing rounds and divestment routes.

Compliance: The firm advises on the implementation and review of policies and internal rules, compliance due diligence, and identification of non-conforming practices in the corporate environment.

Oil and gas: Ulhôa Canto has provided legal assistance to domestic and international companies operating in the oil and gas sectors since the 70s and has been at the forefront of several projects that encompass all phases of the oil and gas economic chain, including specific regulatory and tax matters.

Sanitation: Ulhôa Canto has a broad knowledge of the basic sanitation and water sectors. We have participated in the discussions that led to the enactment of the New Basic Sanitation Framework (Federal Law no. 14,026/2020) and have a solid experience in the privatization of basic sanitation companies, the outsourcing of water caption, treatment and final disposal of industrial residues services, representation in public bidding proceedings, modeling of concessions and public-private partnerships.

Litigation and arbitration: Spearheaded by seasoned partners who constantly act as specialists in topics covered by Brazilian legislation before international courts (amicus curiae), the firm’s litigation and arbitration area provides legal counsel to domestic and overseas clients in alternative dispute resolution proceedings before key courts both in Brazil and overseas.

Real estate: Ulhôa Canto has experience in advising and representing clients in connection with real estate investments, deals, transactions, and urban development projects. Our practice also focuses on assisting a wide range of clients on acquisitions and dispositions of real properties, leasing, constructions and other traditional business models in the industry, as well as guiding them through transactional issues arising in the development and operation of shopping malls, real estate development, allotments, hotels, condominiums and other endeavors.

Clients: The firm has a vast and diverse clientele formed by Brazilian and foreign individuals as well as companies operating in Brazil and abroad, from all segments of the economy.