| A. P. Moller Maersk Group
What is the legal team’s structure? After the Hamburg Sud Group acquisition, the company’s legal departments across South America were merged into one centrally controlled team with regional segments. In...
| Accenture
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured? The legal team in Brazil is organised by function. A commercial team, called sales and delivery, is responsible for negotiating...
| Ajinomoto do Brasil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal department is divided into the following areas: legal, intellectual...
| Amcor Flexibles Latin America
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The Amcor legal team in Latin America is a flat organisation...
| Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Patricia Ulian joined ADM in May 2018 bringing a new conception...
| Atvos Agroindustrial
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The department is composed of three lawyers and one paralegal who...
| Banco Modal (Modalmais)
Plínio Pistoresi leads a team composed of outstanding lawyers, namely: Leticia Namie handling dispute resolution matters, Eduardo Horita focusing on credit collection and Emanuel Correia as ombudsman.
| Biogen Brazil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our team is built only with senior legal and compliance professionals....
| BrasilAgro
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our team is headed by our general counsel and CCO, Mariana...
| Bravante
Larissa Veloso C. Santos Brechbühler leads a small but very active legal department with Fabio Cunha focusing on civil litigation matters and Juliana Siqueira on labour litigation.
| Bunge South America
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? We have structured the legal department on three pillars: in one...
| Cast Group
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Currently the structure is responsible for Legal and Contract Management. I...
| China Construction Bank - CCB Brasil
China Construction Bank is the second largest Chinese bank and among the top ones in the world. Five years ago, it bought BIC Banco, a traditional Brazilian bank with a...
| Cielo
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured? Our team is structured with corporate, M&A, contracts and IP; litigation; governmental relations; and regulatory affairs. The four managers reports...
| Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is separated into three major areas. Each area...
| Concentrix
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The structure of the legal department: one head of legal who...
| Discovery Networks Brasil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is divided in two main areas. Business affairs,...
| Essilor
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is structured by sub-region, then country and most...
| Formitex
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Amira Chammas is a lawyer who graduated at Mackenzie University, post-graduated...
| Fresenius Medical Care
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The Brazilian legal team of Fresenius Medical Care reports directly to...
| Grupo Abril
As the head of Abril’s legal team, Candice Buckley leads a group of very talented attorneys, including Mariana Macia, a seasoned and very skilled lawyer who handles April’s strategic matters;...
| Grupo Verzani e Sandrini
What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years? The team has led a strong reduction in litigation...
| J.P. Morgan
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Managing director and senior legal advisor Márcio Bonfiglioli has taken on...
| Janssen
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? My direct reports are responsible for supporting all business structures mainly...
| JTI Brazil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The team works as a single cell, with no segregation of...
| Klabin
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Klabin’s legal department is divided into three management areas: Corporate, with...
| Logicalis
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal and compliance department aims to support the decision making...
| Marsh
Marsh is the worldwide leading brokerage company. Daniela Frangioni is the head of legal and compliance for Brazil and South America. She handles all day-to-day legal aspects of the brokerage...
| Microsoft Brazil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our CELA – corporate, external and legal affairs team in Brazil...
| Mitsui & Co Brasil
How important have “soft skills” or personal attributes outside of technical legal skill been to the team’s success, and which “soft skills” do you feel are most important for an...
| MWM International (Navistar Group)
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? As a lean legal department it is important to us as...
| Nextel
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The current structure of Nextel’s legal department under Flávio Franco’s management...
| Oi
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The team is led by Thalles Paixão, who is the final...
| Olympus Optical do Brasil
In Brazil, Vivian de Moraes Simoes works with Carla Ortuzal, head of the legal department, a corporate attorney with substantial in-house legal experience in Latin America. She handles strategic contracts...
| Oracle Brazil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Marcio Silveira is the senior vice president, regional general counsel and...
| Polo Capital Management
Felipe Salgueiro Novaes leads a small but experienced team, with Mariana Pedrosa and Victor Rocha focusing on credit recovery matters, and Pedro Machado handling distressed assets.
| Profarma
Profarma is the most diversified player in the health sector in Brazil, which has grown constantly starting with distribution and, for more than five years now, very active in sales...
| Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda.
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The team is responsible for handling all disputes the Shell Group...
| Souza Cruz
Daniela Vilhena leads a team of 30 attorneys that is responsible for more than 5,000 lawsuits (totaling an amount of approximately R$5bn), providing more than 4,000 legal opinions to the...
| Suzano
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is structured into four different management teams: Corporate...
| Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is one of the world’s most trusted provider of answers for customers in law, tax, compliance, government, and media arenas, acting in 140 countries. It is at the...
| TIM
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? Our tax department is structured in four axes: Tax planning, consulting...
| União de Lojas Leader
Carolina Matos Costa Bayão leads a very active legal department with Laura Afonso Cataldi handling contractual, real estate and corporate matters, Amanda Christinne dos Santos Mello focusing on criminal, civil...
| Usiminas
What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years? Our internal legal team, along with an external law...
| Vale
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is composed by two lawyers in charge of...
| Vale Tax
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The Brazil tax planning team has, besides its manager, four tax...
| Volvo do Brasil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is formed by nine lawyers; one paralegal; two...
| Walt Disney Company Brasil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal department of The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) is structured...
| White Martins
Julianna Toscano is the head of the legal department and works with the support of Fernanda Amorim (litigation manager), Marcelo Santos (indirect tax manager), Ingrid Azevedo (tax operations manager) and...
| Yara Brasil
Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department? The legal team is divided in three areas, business, labour, litigation...
Since first being published as The Corporate Counsel 100, The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist series has grown exponentially since its beginnings in 2013. It started by covering four of the world’s most established legal markets, and whilst the core objective of the publication – highlighting the most capable,
outstanding and innovative in-house counsel in a jurisdiction – has remained the same, the reach and scope of the GC Powerlist has since become almost unrecognisable. Now present in a vast array of jurisdictions and with a portfolio of 70 unique editions, the GC Powerlist series has gone from strength to strength and has firmly been established as the “go-to” title that assesses and features leading corporate counsel across the globe.
Not content to rest on our laurels, we at The Legal 500 are evolving the GC Powerlist series even further, deepening our commitment to ensuring not only the widest geographical coverage, but to highlight and explore issues and challenges at the forefront of the minds of leading in-house lawyers. Therefore, this and future editions of the GC Powerlist will have a very diff erent look to their predecessors. Instead of profiling individual counsel or in-house legal teams, more incisive insights from in-house thought leaders
on the topics of the day will be featured extensively throughout our new look GC Powerlist publications.
This new look entails the publication of Q&A transcripts regarding legal and business challenges, comment pieces on specific industry or regulatory affairs, more detailed analysis as to where the market is heading and content related to soft-skills, work ethic and business relationships that general counsel utilise. This new format will not only provide more thought leadership and insight, but provide more clarity on what is driving legal business forward in each market that we cover.
In the GC Powerlist: Brazil Teams 2019, we showcase the considerable strength of the in-house legal market in Brazil. This talent is demonstrated in this edition’s compliment of in-house legal teams representing the innovation, adaptability and technical versatility that encapsulates the Brazilian inhouse
legal market.
This market is known for its changeable pace and this year has been no exception. Our interview subjects explained significant changes in terms of privacy, trade and tax laws as well as adaption to political volatility and the impact of the 2018 truck drivers’ strike. Despite this seemingly disruptive atmosphere, the Brazilian in-house legal market has been keeping up with global trends in innovation particularly around diversity and inclusion policy, legal technology and team management technique. This edition features a range of legal teams of different sectors, sizes and functions and showcases a high level of expertise. I offer my congratulations to this year’s entrants and thank them for their insights.
2019 is drawing to an end. Not the happiest end, but also not the worst.
Although many expectations regarding the performance of the current administration failed to materialise, very important steps towards the recovery of our economic growth have been taken, among them the reduction of the bureaucratic requirements that hampered entrepreneurship in Brazil and the restructuring of our social security system. Hopefully, the results will start to be noticed in 2020. In the meantime, companies are still struggling to survive in a cash strapped environment.
Such scenarios highlight the importance of a skilled and determined legal department, acting in close cooperation with management, to be able to deal with the challenges posed by an economy that is starting to recover, though still remaning weak and vulnerable.
Versatility, innovation, pro activity are some of the key aspects of a successful legal team that shall be always alert to risks and opportunities. The legal teams nominated for this year’s GC Powerlist: Brazil meet or even exceed such requirements.
We from Castro Barros are happy and proud to team up again with The Legal 500 in honouring ourcolleagues who are pursuing careers as in-house counsel, and are hereby well represented by the nominees for this 2019 event. Congratulations and keep up the good work!
Yours truly,
José Augusto Leal
Castro Barros Advogados
As our annual legal gathering, the GC Summit Argentina 2025, continues to grow, it now encompasses the most up-to-date legal challenges faced by in-house counsel. All the sessions offered a dynamic and thought-provoking exploration of the country’s evolving business environment. From labour law to corporate deregulation and the evolving role of legal leadership, panellists delivered valuable insights that painted a comprehensive picture of the challenges and opportunities facing professionals in Argentina today.
In the first session, sponsored by Deloitte, panellists delved into the complexities of Argentina’s labour law landscape, focusing on pressing challenges and strategic planning. The discussion began with a reflection on the country’s pending labour reforms, many of which are seen as crucial to modernising employment regulations and reducing the administrative burden on companies. One of the key themes was the high financial cost of employment in Argentina, driven by rigid regulation, social security contributions, and the influence of powerful trade unions. The panellists discussed how economic instability and high interest rates have further complicated labour litigation, leading to increased exposure for employers.
The conversation moved to dispute mitigation strategies, with practical examples of how companies are navigating contentious employment environments. The speakers also highlighted the significant implications of mergers and acquisitions, particularly the challenges of integrating workforces while maintaining compliance with complex regulatory frameworks. In an increasingly globalised economy, cross-border employment considerations—ranging from legal to cultural—were also explored. This included issues around remote work, tax obligations, and varying employment standards across jurisdictions. The panel concluded by urging companies to adopt more agile and preventative legal strategies to better manage risk and cost in this demanding environment.
Led by Gastón Miani and Leonel Zanotto, Tavarone’s session focused on the intricacies of Argentina’s tax system in the context of its volatile economic environment. A major point of discussion was the tax inflation adjustment mechanism, which has become essential for accurately reflecting economic realities and preventing distorted tax liabilities. The speakers examined the evolving legal interpretations surrounding loss carryforwards and updates, noting how these can significantly affect corporate tax planning and financial forecasting.
Another key issue was the growing concern around gross income tax credit balances, which many businesses are struggling to reconcile due to inconsistent administrative responses and a lack of clarity around refund procedures. The PAIS tax reimbursement process was also scrutinised, particularly in light of increased foreign exchange restrictions and the bureaucratic hurdles that companies must overcome to claim refunds.
The panel offered a comprehensive look at recent legislative developments and court rulings, highlighting the increasing importance of litigation in shaping tax policy. Overall, the session underscored the urgent need for clarity, consistency, and reform in the tax system to foster a more predictable environment for businesses.
Following a brief coffee break, PAGBAM’s panel discussed the impact of Argentina’s sweeping deregulatory reforms, particularly under Decree 70/2023. These reforms, which aim to eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies and modernise economic governance, have significant implications for corporate lawyers.
The speakers noted that with the dismantling of cumbersome regulatory processes, legal departments are increasingly freed from routine compliance tasks and are able to focus on strategic matters. M&A activity, corporate structuring, and international expansion were highlighted as areas now demanding more attention and proactive legal guidance. The discussion also addressed how anticipated reductions in labour and consumer claims may reshape legal strategies, encouraging lawyers to shift from reactive to forward-looking roles.
General Counsel were encouraged to embrace a more business-oriented mindset, aligning legal work more closely with organisational goals. As regulation continues to evolve, adaptability and strategic foresight will be critical for legal teams navigating this new and less constrained operating environment.
In a compelling fireside chat, Héctor Ferreira of Hughes & Hughes spoke with Margherita Birri, editor of The Legal 500, about Uruguay’s emergence as a regional leader in business and legal stability. Ferreira outlined the country’s political and legal predictability as a major draw for investors, especially in contrast to the volatility in neighbouring countries. He emphasised Uruguay’s strong institutions, transparent legal system, and open economic policies as foundations for sustained growth.
The conversation touched on key sectors such as renewable energy, tech, and agribusiness, where Uruguay is actively fostering innovation and foreign participation. Ferreira also discussed the country’s push for sustainable development, highlighting initiatives that combine economic growth with environmental responsibility. Attendees were left with a strong impression of Uruguay as a safe and attractive jurisdiction for both corporate activity and long-term investment.
Elevating General Counsel as a Strategic Business Partner (5:20pm – 6:05pm)
The final panel of the day focused on the evolving role of the General Counsel. Rodrigo Hermida, Ivana Di Carlo, and Federico Martinez explored how legal leadership is becoming integral to corporate strategy. No longer limited to risk and compliance, GCs are now expected to influence decision-making, shape business direction, and proactively manage legal and reputational risks.
The speakers discussed how the use of data, performance metrics, and cross-departmental collaboration has become essential in elevating the GC’s role. They stressed the importance of effective reporting and communication with leadership, as well as the need to understand the company’s commercial objectives deeply. The panel also acknowledged the impact of digital transformation, which requires legal teams to be agile and tech-savvy. As the business landscape becomes more complex, the General Counsel is increasingly seen not just as a protector of the company, but as a vital contributor to its success.
As per usual, the day concluded with brief closing remarks, followed by a networking session with delicious local drinks and canapés, allowing attendees to reflect on the day’s discussions and connect with peers and experts in a more informal setting. The panels throughout the afternoon provided attendees with a rich and nuanced understanding of the legal and regulatory developments shaping Argentina and its regional neighbours, equipping legal professionals with actionable insights to navigate the path ahead.
