Azevedo Sette arbitration head launches boutique

Felipe Moraes, partner and head of arbitration at Brazilian Highly Recommended firm Azevedo Sette Advogados' Belo Horizonte office, has left to open a disputes-focused boutique. 

Felipe Moraes, partner and head of arbitration at Brazilian Highly Recommended firm Azevedo Sette Advogados' Belo Horizonte office, has left to open a disputes-focused boutique. The launch of Belo-Horizonte-based Felipe Moraes Advogados was announced on 25 May. Moraes brings with him two associates – Stephannye Arcanjo and Eduarda Martins – along with a group of interns. Partners Marcos Augusto Leonardo Ribeiro, Leonardo Farinha Goulart and João Capanema will continue to lead Azevedo Sette’s Belo Horizonte-based arbitration offering following Moraes’ departure.

The boutique will offer arbitration, strategic negotiation, pre-litigation and mediation advisory services, and will also support matters related to post-M&A contract management, legal opinions, shareholder disputes and the drafting of contracts and dispute resolution clauses.

It will serve clients across several industries, including infrastructure, construction, metals, mining, energy and agribusiness. “After six years leading and developing the firm’s arbitration practice, we mutually agreed to bring the partnership to an amicable close,” Moraes explains, noting that he sees his new firm as an opportunity to create an offering “focused on a more select caseload – one that allows for an even closer involvement with clients and matters.” Moraes joined the partnership at Azevedo Sette in 2020, following a six-month stint in the same role at fellow Highly Recommended outfit Mattos Engelberg Echenique Advogados. In addition to his legal practice, he holds roles in various arbitration chambers, such as the Câmara de Mediação e Arbitragem ACIF (CMAA), the American Chamber of Commerce Brazil, the Comitê Brasileiro de Arbitragem (CBAr) and Câmara de Arbitragem Empresarial – Brasil (CAMARB). The partner highlights that the launch of his new boutique responds to an emerging trend within the local dispute resolution market – particularly in terms of arbitration – in which senior practitioners and practice heads are leaving full-service firms to establish firms with “leaner structures or boutique firms to handle strategic arbitration matters” on both a domestic and international scale. Illustrating this trend, two litigation partners from Highly Recommended firm Dannemann Siemsen Advogados launched their own Rio de Janeiro-based disputes boutique – Marcelo Mazzola Advogados – in September. A former partner at Elite firm TozziniFreire Advogados also departed to open an arbitration and mediation department at São Paulo-based boutique Advocacia Adriano Dib last May. Looking ahead, he anticipates disputes-focused firms and the disputes groups of larger outfits to become more technologically advanced, enhancing their efficiency and quality of work. “My view is that those who can advance the use of appropriate technological solutions – while preserving the craft of thorough, meticulous work – will find strong opportunities to deliver truly tailored service,” he elaborates, concluding that he and his team “aspire to be ‘tailors’ in the prevention and resolution of strategic disputes through arbitration.” A spokesperson for Azevedo Sette wished Moraes success in his future endeavours. “We would like to express our appreciation for the period during which Felipe was associated with our firm as one of our arbitration partners.” Moraes’ departure follows on from a slew of additions to Azevedo Sette’s partnership, with former Campos Mello Advogados partner Renato Lopes da Rocha having joined the firm last month – bringing three associates with him. The outfit also promoted Maíra Konrad de Brito and Juliano Tadeu Ferreira Lisboa to the senior rank across its tax and litigation practice groups in March, while Caio Martins Cabeleira joined its disputes partnership in October.

Isabella Ankerson Senior Reporter Latin Lawyer

Fonte: https://latinlawyer.com/article/azevedo-sette-arbitration-head-launches-boutique?utm_source=Azevedo%2BSette%2Barbitration%2Bhead%2Blaunches%2Bboutique&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latin%2BLawyer%2BAlerts