Campos Mello Advogados bolsters team with new partners in oil and gas, maritime, environmental, litigation and arbitration
DLA Piper announced today that five new partners have joined Campos Mello Advogados (CMA), in cooperation with DLA Piper. The expansion strengthens its capabilities in oil and gas, maritime, litigation and arbitration, with a particular focus on environmental and sustainability initiatives. This significant lateral group expansion represents the latest step in CMA’s alignment with DLA Piper and its relationship firms throughout the region and in Canada.
“We have been working with our Latin America and Brazil leaders and clients to identify key areas where we need to respond to marketplace demands,” said Frank Ryan, DLA Piper's Americas chair. “This outstanding group of partners demonstrates the commitment of CMA and DLA Piper to meet the most critical needs of our clients in the global legal marketplace.”
To strengthen its energy offering in response to the increasing legal needs of the changing energy industry, Campos Mello Advogados have added partners Alexandre Calmon and Marcelo Frazão in oil and gas, energy transition and maritime. Alexandre Calmon is one of the leading oil and gas lawyers in Brazil and brings vast experience in acquisitions of oil and gas exploration and production assets and the development of energy projects in Brazil. Marcelo Frazão advises domestic and international companies on matters related to shipping, oil and gas, and energy projects. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, finance, and oil and gas and energy projects involving ships, maritime terminals and offshore works.
CMA has also added partners Paulo de Bessa Antunes and Vilmar Gonçalves to its environmental and ESG practice. Bessa Antunes served for 30 years as Regional Federal Prosecutor at the Brazilian Federal Prosecution Office and as Head of Legal of the Secretariat of Environmental Protection of Rio de Janeiro State. He has extensive experience in environmental law and has frequently dealt with environmental, indigenous and diffuse rights issues. Vilmar Gonçalves joins the firmwide, global International Arbitration group and will be an active participant in DLA Piper’s Latin America regional practice group. He focuses his practice on representing clients in various industries in legal and administrative proceedings, providing legal-environmental consultancy, environmental crisis management and alternative dispute resolution methods, including for multi-party cases.
CMA has also added João Marçal Martins to its civil litigation and arbitration practice. He has been recognized by The Legal 500 – 2021 as a “rising star in litigation” and joins the panel of arbitrators of the Brazilian Center of Mediation and Arbitration (CBMA) and of the Sao Paulo State Arbitration Council (CAESP). He is also Vice Chair for Special Projects of the American Bar Association (ABA), Section of International Law, a member and Brazilian Ambassador of YCIArb.
“We are confident that the vast experience of these new partners, alongside CMA’s 40-year history, will bolster our capabilities. We wanted a team with focus on the high-demand parts of the practice - in particular energy, infrastructure and environmental – and we know our clients are attentive to ESG. These additions will expand our capabilities even further,” said CMA managing partner Fabio P. Campos Mello.
