What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Our legal department is responsible for all the company’s legal matters and, in addition, manages the compliance program, union relations, internal controls and strategic risks. In the regulatory area, the legal department was responsible for conducting the renegotiation with the Ministry of Infrastructure and ANTAQ for the renegotiation of the term of mandatory investments provided for in the lease agreement of Tecon Santos, in the amount of R$1.5bn. In addition, still in 2021, we led Santos Brasil’s participation in the bidding for four new port terminals at the Port of Itaqui Maranhão, winning three, which represented an investment of over R$600m.

In the corporate area, our legal department led the company in adapting its corporate governance to the B3 Novo Mercado regulation, implementing the advisory committees and the new corporate risk control area. Concerning civil litigation, we were responsible for negotiating and recovering more than R$20m in debts from clients, in addition to promoting legal actions of extreme relevance to the port sector, such as the request for economic and financial rebalancing of the lease agreement of the Tecon Imbituba.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

The alignment of values ​​is fundamental when choosing a law firm. At Santos Brasil, we expect suppliers to have the same commitment to results that the company has. In addition, it is expected that the way to achieve results is also aligned with the way the company does business, that is, with integrity, seriousness, respect and above all, excellence. There is no doubt in that, as law firms that have not aligned with these values ​​were replaced over the last few years.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

There is no doubt that technological advances in the legal environment have greatly impacted the way legal departments work. All the work of contingency control, management of legal proceedings, drafting contracts, powers of attorney and minutes, can now be automated and this poses a greater challenge for in-house lawyers, who must increasingly seek functions and activities that effectively bring value to the companies and avoid repetitive and bureaucratic tasks, which at some point may be performed by some technology. Therefore, corporate lawyers increasingly need to be business and result oriented.