Acquisition International - Issue 1 2018 23 Rayes & Fagundes is a full-service law firm aiming to be different, to think different, and to find different solutions for its clients. We invited João Paulo Fagundes, one of the founding partners, to provide us with more information on the services that the firm offers. ayes & Fagundes is a law firm with its main offices located in the city of São Paulo. The firm has branches in three other important cities of the country (Campinas-SP, Belo Horizonte-MG and Rio de Janeiro-RJ), and also relies on independent local firms nationwide. Currently, the firm has around 100 lawyers, including partners and associates. Typically, the team assist domestic and foreign clients, individuals and legal entities from different industries. It has also been an honour and pleasure for the firm to provide legal services to cultural and philanthropic organisations. Moreover, it is important to point out that the firm maintains partnerships and alliances with national and international organisations, such as IBA, Lexwork International, International Law Firms, among others. João Paulo outlines the firm’s overall mission and describes what steps the firm will take in order to achieve this. Boasting an extensive portfolio and impressive track record, the practice is well- renowned throughout Brazil, meaning it will be able to build on its success going forwards. “Here at Rayes & Fagundes, we are 100% business- oriented and our work and advice are designed for performance and speed. This goal has been pursued with great determination and we are now recognised as a unique law firm. For consecutive years we have been ranked among the 30 most admired law firms in Brazil.” Differentiating itself apart from its competitors, the firm’s boutique nature is part of its success, and João Paulo mentions how the team are struggling to keep the company size as small as possible. Keeping the size of the firm quite small enables the staff to adopt a personal approach, tailoring solutions to each individual client. “While we are ranked among the largest and most admired Brazilian law firms, we struggle to keep the firm’s size as small as possible. We are recognisably large enough to assist and represent our clients in any type of transaction or case, from a simple one to a very sophisticated deal or a complex litigation. At the same time, we are able to ensure every client is provided with very personalised assistance.” Featuring in the 2017 Global Excellence Awards as the Best Full-Service Law Firm 2017 within Company: Rayes & Fagundes Advogados Associados Contact: João Paulo Fagundes Contact email:
[email protected] Address: Av. Chedid Jafet, 222 | Bloco C | 3º andar, São Paulo-SP, 04551-065, Brazil Telephone: + 55 11 3050 2150 Website: www.rfaa.com.br Rayes&Fagundes: Making aDifference R 1801AI25 Brazil, João Paulo tells us how it feels to have been selected for this award, and what techniques the firm employs internally in order to achieve this success. “It is an honour to receive the award. Awards like this one means the recognition of years of work in the area and it has a positive effect both for the current firm’s clients as for the possible future ones. We always try to hire the best lawyers in the market and we train, teach and push them to be different, to think different and to find solutions for our clients’ problems.” Providing us with a brief overview of the industry, João Paulo comments on the political and economic issues that Brazil as a country is facing. He notes that although this presents a variety of challenges for the firm, it also opens up avenues and opportunities which the team will look to explore. “Brazil has been facing a severe political and economic crisis. A few years ago, the country was downgraded in their degree of investment and has witnessed corruption scandals involving one of its major state company and large construction companies. This situation is a challenge for law firms (e.g. greater flexibility charging the fees to meet the needs of companies), but also brings many opportunities (e.g. assistance in the purchase and sale of assets, investment and disinvestment, reorganisations and others).” Ultimately, with the challenges facing Brazil at the moment, the future for law firms is difficult to predict, but João Paulo is staying positive. He refers us to the many areas which Rayes & Fagundes has benefitted from and how this will help them establish themselves as a leader within the legal industry. “Essentially, the crisis that has been affecting Brazil also brought many opportunities for the law firms. As an example, we can mention the following areas: purchase and sale of assets (especially distressed ones) and restructuring of businesses and companies; judicial reorganisation proceedings; issues related to compliance and so forth. “Moving forward, in the context of an increasingly globalised corporate landscape, the deals require legal assistance to be accurate, agile, and straightforward. Our firm is certainly able to provide advice with these features.” Joao Fagundes, Founding Partner Ronaldo Rayes, Founding Partner