Rayes & Fagundes Advogados Associados

Rayes & Fagundes Advogados Associados is a full-service law firm, with particular strength in the areas of corporate/M&A, tax, labour, digital, real estate litigation, and restructuring law. It has more than 25 years of existence in the Brazilian legal market, being well known for its presence in the pharmaceutical and technology sectors. The advice provided by the firm is always led by a partner, meaning clients can be assured they will always be speaking with an experienced lawyer.

Please find below some more information about the work of our core practice areas:

Corporate: The team covers the full gamut of corporate services, ranging from day-to-day advice and legal opinions, contracts to complex cross-border M&A transactions (covering all phases of an M&A deal, from its first negotiations to post-closing advice). It acts on due diligences and offers advice to foreign businesses looking to start operating in Brazil.

Tax: The team covers both consultancy and litigation work as well as offering legal opinions. It offers the full gamut of tax services. On the consultation front, it provides relevant day-to-day advice to clients, including on issues related to direct and indirect taxation, due diligence, tax planning and tax optimisation/recovery. On the litigation front, the team has been particularly busy on tax recovery cases, acting before CARF as well as the lower and superior courts in the country. It is the go-to firm for pharmaceutical companies and major companies from the IT and software sector looking for tax advice and representation in Brazil.

Labor:  The team is well versed in all matters concerning labor, employment and social security. It provides both litigation and consultancy services and was and still is extremely engaged in all discussions concerning the new labour reforms in Brazil. On the litigation front, the team is experienced in all levels of the courts, in a range of cases covering collective disputes and bargaining, occupational accidents and disability, for example. It also has strong experience acting before the Ministry of Labor and Public Ministry of Labor. The group also advises on due diligences for M&As, union negotiations, variable pay schemes, voluntary redundancy, overtime issues, collective agreements, strikes, outsourcing, global mobility and health and safety, amongst other matters.

Litigation: The department is well equipped to act on all court levels in Brazil, being able to undertake both administrative and judicial litigation cases. The group has market-leading expertise in credit recovery cases and frequently acts in the defence of banks and other financial institutions. It acts on fraud investigations, class actions, civil disputes involving contracts and provides preventative litigation advice.

Restructuring:  The department acts on relevant, strategic corporate restructuring and bankruptcy cases for its clients, being particularly strong representing creditors. It is active on both judicial and non-judicial restructuring matters. It often advises on preventative private debt restructuring negotiations and on purchase and sale transactions involving distressed assets and companies in special situations.

Digital law: Our team encompasses experts from various areas of practice, which is essential to respond to all types of demands involving digital matters, both in consulting, for instance matters that include due diligence in the context of transactions, revision of privacy agreements and other contractual issues, and LGPD compliance projects and in litigation ones. We also assist clients in matters related to trademark protection in the digital realm,  liability for unauthorized use of search engines and impacts arising from the Internet Civil Framework (Marco Civil da Internet), data privacy policies, online service  privacy policies, and projects to adapt local and international companies to the new data processing standards set by local legislation, with an emphasis on civil, labour and tax impacts.

Real Estate: The real estate department covers both litigation and consultancy matters. As well as representing clients in complex litigation cases, it also offers advice on the structuring a broad range of real estate developments (residential, commercial, or industrial, including hotels and shopping malls), assists clients with the drafting and negotiating of various types of contracts – such as sales, lease, built to suit and rural area partnership agreements – and in implementing developments and allotments. The firm also has broad knowledge and experience in conducting real estate due diligence and handling regularizations and other procedures before real estate registries and the Government Property Management Office (SPU).

Diversity
Rayes & Fagundes has shown its commitment to expanding and further developing its socio-cultural initiatives and innovation implementing several new projects, such as:

• Ageism: We seek professionals with diversified backgrounds, experiences, views and references. In this regard, we have specific programs for the inclusion of people of all age groups, from apprentices to the elderly.
• Origins: Brazil is a diverse country in terms of ethnicity and origins. We recognize the structure of Brazil’s society and the impact it has, mainly, the life of black people. Our commitment to diversity is not only internal. Our initiatives also involve our partners and communities, including policies that promote ethnic diversity in our work environment, positive actions for participation, and social and ethnic inclusion. Such actions are essential for the construction of more comprehensive knowledge, in addition to contributing directly to the reduction of social and ethnic inequality.
• LGBTQ+: Aware of the discrimination related to the sexual orientation of each individual or their gender identity, we ensure a welcoming environment of freedom to our professionals, where we accept the different characteristics and lives of each person. We believe that, for purposes of inclusion of the LGBTQ+ individuals in the corporate world, the issue must be seriously addressed through concrete actions to attract, retain and engage these professionals.
  Supported by several measures, our purpose is to create a safe, respectful and inclusive environment; therefore, the professionals can be themselves both inside and outside the corporate environment.
• Gender Equality: We believe that companies also play an important role in the construction of gender equality in the world. Our law firm has always relied heavily on the talent of women. Currently, of our 70 lawyers, 51 are women; and many of them have grown in their professional careers within our firm.
• We believe that through ethics, awareness, and environmental responsibility, we can build a sustainable society focused on the future of our planet.

In our daily activities, we adopt simple measures that will make a significant difference over the years, such as:

• The use of natural light to avoid wasting electricity;
• The adoption of a paperless routine;
• The use of LED lamps;
• The continuous maintenance and improvement of our work equipment;
• The proper disposal of scrap and solid waste;
• The promotion of a conscious consumption culture amongst our associates and clients;
• The conscious choice to preferably use parts made with recycled raw materials.