About

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 in corporate law and tax law at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo (PUC/SP), MBA at Fundação Getúlio Vargas and Masters in administration at Mackenzie University. She has extensive experience in M&A, litigation and consulting (tax, civil, consumer, labour, criminal, environmental, regulatory matters), including corporate/tax planning, due diligence and legal marketing, crisis and risk management. She is also responsible for development of policies and corporate governance of the companies.

Naiana Prosini is a lawyer who graduated at Pontificia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo (PUC/SP), with post-graduation in contracts at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo (COGEAE) and an extension course in business agreements at FGV/SP and in compliance at Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics. She is Green Belt certified and a key person in the legal department to control and approve contracts and agreements, documents and provisions for M&A and financial operations. She is responsible for intellectual property and corporate matters for the Group Companies.

Camilla Caetano is a lawyer who graduated at Universidade de Osasco/SP, with a Masters of business administration at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, postgraduate in real estate law “Latu Sensu” at Instituto Paulista de Educação Continuada; corporate law applied at CEU Centro de Extensão Universitária/SP and contract law at Instituto Paulista Ensino/SP. She is a strategical lawyer is of lawsuits by controlling and organising of all information for the management of labour, administrative and judicial suits of the Group. She is in charge of labour issues of the sites and business units.

Julio Cezar Thomaz is a lawyer, graduated at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP), with post-graduation in contract law at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo (PUC/SP)
and corporate law at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV/SP). Responsible for civil, tax, consumer and criminal administrative and judicial suits of the Group. He upgraded the legal software to have fast information of all legal cases. He is also responsible for consulting, administrative procedures and bidding.

Joacks Lemos is an accountant and lawyer who graduated at UNICID/SP, with a postgraduate in tax law at Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo (PUC / SP) and a postgraduate in compliance environmental Law at CETESB/SP. He specialises in environmental law, working with strategic knowledge to negotiate with environmental experts and the official government department; he proposes different alternatives to maximise results and reduce tax costs. He is also responsible for real estate and corporate regulatory issues. Due to his extensive experience in accountancy, he also works with corporate law, with great experience in opening companies in Brazil.

Ana Lucia Celotto is a paralegal. She is responsible for the legal operation of the department, controllership of the department, payments, files and power of attorney.

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 been involved in an international M&A project, worth around €100m, closed in December 2018. In this M&A process legal team was responsible for the construction of the documents to support the operation (data room, contracts, regulatory matters, real estate and envirolmental discussions etc). Working as a business partner of the financial team, the legal deparment was very important in the entire deal process.

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 in-house lawyer to possess?

The legal team is focused on results and tries to do the jobs as a business partner. Working to simplify the day-by-day of the business areas and trying to avoid risks with the Group’s operations. For me, the best soft skill in a legal professional is the empathy, because it is possible to work as a real business partner.

How can in-house legal teams be an integral part of their firm’s business? How does the legal team demonstrate its value to the company?

The language of companies is numbers. In-house lawyers have the “mission” to translate their achievements and goals into numbers to create credibility and confidence in the company’s boards. The new lawyer should think how to attract the attention of his internal clients with the most appropriate language to make possible the comunication with other areas.

Does the team use any “legal tech” products and do you find them a helpful management device?

Yes. Last year we upgraded the existing litigation system to improve controls and create reports to help manage the department and verify outside counsel performance. We also implemented a contract system (customised by us to our needs) to manage and approve contracts of the companies. Additionally, we had the opportunity to talk to many law and legaltech firms (more than 20 firms) to decide wich one could deliver the best result for contract management with the best cost for the company.

What do you feel are the most effective techniques for getting the most out of external counsel, in terms of how to instruct them?

Clear and objective talking, increased with the best (and permitted) strategic information is the best way to involve outside counsels in the business.

What political, economic or regulatory changes have impacted the company and the team the most recently?

The Brazilian economy is still an issue for the company, especially because of the deepest recessions during the past years, deeply connected to the political environmental, even after the elections. The legal team continues to work close to the finance area to support the company in its new challenges related to generating new business and improve the cash flow.