About

Despite his relatively young age, Rafael Martins has been in important legal leadership positions for the past six years. He started working in a number of prestigious law firms in Brazil, and gradually made his way to work with clients saying, ‘the way I see it, that was a natural development, since I’ve consistently favoured following-up projects from start to finish, something an outside counsel does not always have the opportunity to do’. Martins has worked in logistics, insurance, infrastructure and, since 2017, chemical companies, mostly on B2B operations, in heavily regulated markets. Martins currently serves as legal manager of Galvani Indústria, Comércio e Serviços, a joint venture between Yara and GPI, operating in the chemicals and fertilisers industry. During his tenure, Martins has worked tirelessly towards greater integration between Galvani and Yara, its largest shareholder, especially with regard to operational procedures and contractual drafts. In addition, he has invested heavily in software to keep track of corporate deliberations, contracts, lawsuits, settlements, consultations and powers-of-attorney, all electronically. He has also instigated legal letters and monthly legal reports to clients to become closer. Martins has managed a number of significant, multi-million reais deals, such as the contracting of a new mine operator and construction company for the Galvani’s mining-industrial facility at Serra do Salitre. On these achievements Martins says he ‘believes all those achievements have made legal a more business-oriented and important part of our company, at the same time making us more aware of risks and opportunities connected to legal aspects of our activities’.