Wald, Antunes, Vita e Blattner Advogados

Wald, Antunes, Vita e Blattner Advogados is one of the most efficient and dynamic Brazilian law firms, providing personalized legal services to clients in Brazil and abroad. The firm is headquartered in São Paulo and has offices in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília. The firm was founded in 1954 by Prof. Dr. Arnoldo Wald, along with his sons, Alexandre de Mendonça Wald and Arnoldo Wald Filho and it is currently managed alongside four other partners: Mariana Tavares Antunes (São Paulo), Marcus Vita Ferreira (Brasília) and Marina Gaensly Blattner (São Paulo).

The firm is a highly specialized boutique, focusing on strategic legal counseling. For many years, the firm and its managing partners have appeared among Brazil’s first tier litigation and arbitration firms, as well as leading individuals in several specialized publications, such as Latin Lawyers 250, Chambers Latin America, The Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal. Recognized as a leading firm in its field, the firm won the 2019, 2018, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2009 and 2008 ‘Latin Lawyer Deal of the Year’, due to its outstanding work in some of the major dispute resolution cases and M&A deals.

Main Areas of Practice:

Litigation: The firm’s litigation department is specialized in various areas, private or public, such as disputes over civil, commercial, administrative, banking, international, corporate, competition and tax law, environmental, infrastructure (telecommunications, energy, sanitation, transport and aviation), among others. Throughout a 68-year history, the firm consolidated its role in the resolution of high-profile disputes, such as the economic plans, the restructuring of the Brazilian Foreign debt, the economic and financial balance of administrative contracts, corporate conflicts involving the country’s largest companies, patents, environmental and competition issues. In the administrative litigation field, the firm represents public service concessionaires before regulatory agencies, notably in the infrastructure sector, to enforce agreements or review their terms, in administrative processes for non-compliance with obligations, or even to challenge previously held bids.

Arbitration & Mediation: The firm has a department specialized in arbitration and mediation. Its lawyers work as counsels, arbitrators, mediators, legal experts and consultants in proceedings before Brazilian and foreign arbitral institutions (ICC, AAA/ ICDR, LCIA and UNCITRAL). Furthermore, the firm’s practitioners represent clients in state court proceedings related to arbitration. One of the team’s most recent highlights regards the defense of the port authority of Santos, Brazil’s biggest and most relevant port, in the first public arbitration involving the Federal Government as a party, discussing contractual obligations involving billions of reais. Regarding mediation, the firm has a leading role in the construction of mediated solutions to matters with significant economic impact, such as corporate recovery cases and the Brazilian economic plans. It has worked recently on a successful mediation that ended with the first agreement in a concentrated constitutional control suit before the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Administrative, Regulatory & Infrastructure: The firm’s practice covers regulated industries such as energy, telecommunications, gas, oil, airlines, toll road concessions and pharmaceuticals, representing them before several government agencies, as well as repre- senting their interests in lawsuits that aim to set aside these administrative bodies’ rulings. Having assisted both domestic and international clients throughout the privatization process and relying on extensive practice and experienced lawyers with knowledge of varying regulatory regimes, the firm has a comprehensive understanding of the complex issues emerging in these industries. The firm also has significant experience advising clients in administrative, judicial and arbitration proceedings commenced against these agencies, in public procurement procedures in general, public-private partnerships and public utilities companies.

Commercial/Corporate: The firm’s lawyers have been active in both domestic and cross-border transactions and private equity practice, representing foreign and multinational corporations, financial institutions and other organizations on a full range of specialized services. Lately, the main focus has been on solving disputes brought before judicial and arbitration courts.

Debt Restructuring & Bankruptcy: The firm has vast experience in advising and representing both debtors and creditors in debt reorganizations and also acts in corporate recovery and bankruptcy cases, as lawyers or judicial administrator/liquidator. It is actually working as the judicial administrator of the biggest reorganization case in Brazil regarding a telecommunications company.

Banking & Finance: The firm provides counsel to both companies and financial institutions in transactions of a varied nature, including loaning, acquisition financing and financing of exports, among others. Active in medium-size and large complex litigation proceedings, involving project financing and infrastructure development transactions to create tailor-made structures, both aiming to prevent controversies from arising or to propose a solution after they erupted.

Languages: Portuguese, English, French, German, Spanish.