Demarest announces promotion of 11 to partnership

From left to right: Amanda Sampaio, André Novaski, Camila Prado, Daniel Kaufman, Eduardo Alcântara, Fernanda Leão, Fernanda Stefanelo, Fernando Bueno, Fernando Vargas, Leticia Wanderley and Roberto Casarini. 

Of the new promotions, five are women, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to promoting gender equality

Demarest announces the promotion of 11 new partners to make up its team as of January 1, 2022. The professionals have worked for years at the firm and have stood out in their respective practice areas. Three of the new partners are part of the Litigation and Arbitration team – Amanda Sampaio, Daniel Kaufman and Fernanda Leão; two are from the Tax team – André Novaski and Roberto Casarini; and two others work in transactional areas, Fernando Vargas in Mergers and Acquisitions and Leticia Wanderley in Investment Funds and Capital Markets. Camila Prado in Insurance and Reinsurance, Fernanda Stefanelo in the Environmental area, Fernando Bueno in International Trade and Customs, and Eduardo Alcântara in the Labor area round out the partnership.

The promotions are in line with the firm’s Triennial Strategic Plan, which commenced its cycle earlier this year and provides for sustainable growth in areas considered essential for business development. Another highlight is the fact that the promotions reinforce the firm’s commitment to valuing its talent, as well as promoting gender equity. Special mention for their work carried out must go to firm affinity group D Mulheres, which has been doing a robust job of promoting professional valorization and empowering women in the firm.

“Valuing talent is something that is in the firm’s DNA. I myself started as a fifth-year college intern at Demarest. This series of promotions only reinforces that the firm is always open to talented professionals who stand out in their respective areas and, above all, provide to our clients quality and excellence in their work”, says Paulo Coelho da Rocha, managing partner of the firm.

Paulo also commented on the ascent of women in the firm: “We have a strong social commitment to equality, not only gender, but also racial, and to the preservation of LGBTQIA+ rights, based in large part on the work of our specialized affinity groups D Raízes and D Mais. It is part of our mission to make Demarest an example of the society we want. That is why we are continuously reducing historical differences”, he says.

See the profile of each partner:

• Amanda Sampaio holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from PUC do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), a postgraduate degree in Economics from Fundação Getúlio Vargas and a Master’s degree (LL.M) from Columbia Law School (New York), with the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year Scholarship in New York and from Instituto Ling in Brazil. She is admitted to practice law in both Brazil and the United States (New York State Bar), having worked as a lawyer in the international arbitration area of Kirkland & Ellis’s New York office. She has extensive experience in legal and arbitration litigation of a corporate, commercial, construction and infrastructure nature, including pre-litigation consultancy.

• André Novaski holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from USP, a postgraduate degree in business administration from FGV and a master’s degree in Tax Law from FGV. He has experience in tax consultancy and federal administrative litigation, especially with regard to the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, financial and capital market taxation, electricity sector taxation, wealth planning, international tax law and third sector taxation.

• Camila Affonso Prado holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (FAAP), a postgraduate degree in Civil Law from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, a master’s degree and a doctorate in Civil Law from the University of São Paulo (USP). With extensive experience in the insurance and reinsurance areas, Camila advises local and foreign clients in the regulation of complex claims, particularly involving Financial Lines, General Civil Liability, Guarantee Insurance and Cyber ​​Risk areas. She is involved in the drafting and review of contracts and insurance programs, in addition to acting in insurance litigation and arbitration.

• Daniel Kaufman Schaffer holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, a specialization in Administrative Law from Fundação Getúlio Vargas Law School of São Paulo, a postgraduate degree in Infrastructure Law from the same institution and a master’s degree (LL.M), with highest honors, from University College London – UCL (London). He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and member of other renowned associations, including YIAG-LCIA, YICCA, ASA-Below-40 and Young ITA, having acted as a lawyer in the area of disputes and investigations at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in the London office. He has extensive experience in multidisciplinary litigation and arbitration, involving issues of infrastructure, public law, capital markets, commercial, mining and competition.

• Eduardo Alcântara Lopes holds specializations in Labor Law and Process from Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC-SP/COGEAE), in Union and Labor Relations from Wilson Cerqueira Consultores Associados (WCCA), a Bachelor of Laws degree from Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul (UNICSUL), and is currently in course for an MBA in People Management from the University of São Paulo (USP). He concentrates his practice in highly complex individual and collective lawsuits. Among his main clients are companies in the fields of industry, retail, energy, consumer goods and technology. He is a member of the Brazilian Section of Young Jurists of the International Society for Labor and Social Security Law (ISLSSL) and a member of Instituto Latinoamercano de Derecho del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social (ILTRAS).

• Fernanda de Gouvêa Leão is a doctoral candidate and holds a master’s degree in Civil Procedural Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo (USP), a post-graduate degree in Civil Procedural from COGEAE (PUC) and a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo. She also holds a specialization in Arbitration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Fernanda has experience acting in and coordinating lawsuits and arbitrations for medium and large companies on a wide range of matters, in areas that include construction, infrastructure, corporate, environmental and intellectual property.

• Fernanda Stefanelo holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Faculdades Integradas Toledo, specializations in the areas of Environmental Law from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC/SP), and Environmental Management and Business in the Energy Sector from the University of São Paulo (USP), a master’s degree in Environmental Law from Universidade Católica de Santos (UNISANTOS), She has attended extension courses at Vermont Law School, USA, on European Community Environmental Law and Comparative USA-China Environmental Law, as well as on ESG: Corporate Governance and Social-Environmental Compliance. She concentrates her practice in environmental law, licensing, contaminated areas, energy, forestry matters, solid waste and reverse logistics, ESG, environmental liability, among others. She is a member of the Advanced Study Group in Agrarian Law at Fundação Arcadas, USP.

• Fernando Benjamin Bueno holds a bachelor’s degree and specialization in Law from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie. He is specialized in the areas of International Trade and Government Relations, with executive education from the “Mastering Trade Policy” program at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Academy of WTO Law & Policy from Georgetown’s Institute of International Economic Law, both in the United States. Fernando has worked at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, DC, United States and the Brazilian Mission at the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland. Fernando represents industries in investigations of trade defense measures, negotiations of free trade agreements, negotiations on barriers to international trade and other trade policy matters relating to the World Trade Organization and other international entities.

• Fernando Fracari Vargas holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Universidade Paulista and is specialized in the areas of Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions, having been recognized for his work in these areas. He advises large local and foreign conglomerates, with emphasis on the agribusiness, chemical and retail sectors. Between 2011 and 2012 he worked as Demarest’s lawyer representative at Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• Letícia Galdino Wanderley concentrates her practice in the areas of investment funds, capital markets, private equity and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at Demarest. She holds a degree in Law from the University of São Paulo (USP), participated in the Center for Transnational Legal Studies, in London, coordinated by Georgetown University, and completed her LLM in Corporate Law at New York University (NYU). Following this, she received the NYU International Finance and Development (IFD) Fellowship and worked in the legal department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Letícia is admitted by the OAB and licensed to also act as a lawyer in the state of New York (NY Bar). Letícia has extensive experience with investment funds, especially structured funds, in addition to advising investment banks, public and publicly-held companies, investors, managers and administrators of securities portfolios and financial advisors in local and international operations, in a variety of sectors of the economy (energy, infrastructure, agribusiness, finance, among others).

• Roberto Pinatti Casarini holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and specialization in Tax from the University of São Paulo (USP) and a master’s degree in Tax Law from FGV. He has concentrates his practice in M&A transactions and in the financial and capital markets, which has brought extensive experience in tax planning, structured transactions, international taxation, corporate reorganizations and private equity. He works with tax consultancy (direct taxes) and on M&A projects in the following sectors: finance, real estate, infrastructure, agribusiness, mining and technology. He also represents taxpayers in administrative and legal tax litigation. He was Assistant Professor of the Specialization Course in Tax Law at the Brazilian Institute of Tax Law (IBDT) between 2016 and 2019.