Although the law firm
Gonçalves,
Arruda,
Brasil &
Serra, Sociedade de Advogados -
GABS is only recently incorporated (May 2, 2007), the founding partners have in fact been working together successfully for many years - 25 years, on the average.
The founding partners were initially associates at Pinheiro Neto Advogados (&ldquot;PNA&rdquot;), where they worked for some three decades, thereby achieving a uniformly excellent professional expertise and exposure to the most varied multinational clients and cases. The time came, however, when they decided to take on the challenge of setting up their own legal venture, GABS.
Antonio Carlos Gonçalves, while still a student at the Law School of Pontifícia Universidade Católica in São Paulo, was initially hired in March 1969 as a trainee at PNA.
In April 1973, now an attorney who had spent time working in Brasília, Gonçalves enthusiastically recommended setting up a branch of the PNA offices in the federal capital, Brasília.
This recommendation was seconded by the PNA partners at the time, and in January 1974, the newly-wed Gonçalves arrived in Brasília with his wife, Salete, who supported him in his mission of establishing Pinheiro Neto Advogados in the federal capital and then, after two years, returning to São Paulo, leaving the PNA offices in Brasília as a going concern. There was just one thing that did not work out as planned: Gonçalves never returned to São Paulo.
Since then, more than three decades have passed and Gonçalves is still in Brasília, providing his legal services nationwide, and protecting his clients' legal interests in matters involving the most varied markets: industrial (the pharmaceutical, food, chemical, mining sectors, among others), commercial (supermarkets, wholesale businesses, distributors, and so on), as well as services (banks, telecommunications providers, and the like).
Gonçalves developed hands-on professional expertise in a wide range of fields: (i) the Executive Branch (the Administrative Council for Economic Protection - CADE, the Economic Law Office SDE, the Brazilian Agency for Sanitary Vigilance ANVISA, the Pharmaceutical Market Regulation Chamber - CMED, the Brazilian Mineral Production Department - DNPM), by means of an assortment of administrative proceedings, including (ii) the Judicial Branch, with appeals filed with the Federal Supreme Court (&ldquot;STF&rdquot;), the Superior Court of Justice (&ldquot;STJ &rdquot;), among other courts ruling on business affairs in the Federal District; as well as (iii) the Legislative Branch, with legal assistance for matters being studied by Parliamentary Investigation Committees, or even for assistance with drafting of upcoming legislative bills.
Mauro J. G. Arruda graduated from the Law School in São Bernardo do Campo, and has been involved in Intellectual Property activities ever since the first year of law school. In April 1974 he joined the legal staff at PNA with the mission of creating an Intellectual Property Department, along with a group of attorneys to provide both litigation and consultancy services. This mission has been more than amply achieved, as can be seen from the current international rankings in the field.
Furthermore, Mauro Arruda, in addition to involvement in many activities related to trademark, patent, copyright, unfair competition and other Brazilian Industrial Property Institute - INPI matters, also started to handle the interests of clients with issues involving advertising of their products, both at the Brazilian Self-Regulating Advertising Council - CONAR, as well as at ANVISA, especially with regard to the highly successful handling of pharmaceuticals advertising.
Marçal de Assis Brasil Neto, while still in his first year at the Law School of Centro de Ensino Unificado de Brasília UniCEUB, was hired as a trainee by PNA Brasília, in October 1977. As an attorney, Marçal has dealt with tax, social security and labor matters, either as a consultant or litigation lawyer, both in and out of court.
With regard to tax and social security matters, Marçal handles both (i) the administrative phase, especially at the Taxpayers' Councils, Administrative Tax Funds Court, Office of Supplementary Social Security, and Council for Management of Supplementary Social Security; and (ii) the court phase, especially with cases before the Federal Supreme Court - STF, the Superior Court of Justice - STJ, the Regional Federal Court of the First Circuit, and the State Court of Appeals - TJ for the Federal District and the Territories.
In addition to striving to deal with the legal concerns of the clients with regard to labor matters, Marçal has also expanded the labor department, interfacing with diplomatic representations of foreign governments set up in Brasília as clients.
And this ongoing relationship with foreign governmental embassies, doubtlessly advantageous to both, became even closer due to the legal services that Claus Nogueira Aragão, in more than 13 years at PNA Brasília, and now at GABS, has provided in regard to extradition issues. Claus is a recognized expert in this field, and has written at length on the topic.
João Berchmans Correia Serra, when hired by PNA Brasília, in April 1982, was still in his third year of Law School at Universidade de Brasília (&ldquot;UnB&rdquot;). Once becoming a lawyer, João Berchmans specialized in administrative proceedings as well as, in the Judicial Branch, litigation issues arising from administrative proceedings.
In this way João Berchmans developed a department dealing with bids and administrative contracts of the most varied kinds in a wide spectrum of scenarios, always keeping the lawful interests of the clients firmly in mind, ranging from assistance with preparation of all documentation needed to qualify, from the technical documentation up to the follow-up on the bid proceedings leading to adjudication of the object bid on.
Additionally, João Berchmans has also handled many economic law matters with regard to bids and consumer relations. He has handled cases referred to the Economic Protection and Defense Department (&ldquot;DPDE&rdquot;), or to the Consumer Protection and Defense Department (&ldquot;DPDC&rdquot;), both under the Economic Law Office, as well as the Administrative Council for Economic Protection - CADE.
After so many years working together, based on the same legal profile, the same model as to professional dignity and character, always bearing in mind that the GABS lawyers were all trained along the very same lines of professional conduct, the school of José Martins Pinheiro Neto, from whom they absorbed the dominant teachings and ethical principles essential to the practice of law, Gonçalves, Arruda, Brasil e Serra resolved to join efforts and create GABS. They have left at PNA colleagues with whom they share ongoing bonds of friendship and good will and the possibility of future professional cooperation.
And this professional association also benefits from the participation of João Guilherme Guimarães Gonçalves, who graduated in 2004 from the São Paulo University Law School. Trained in Civil Procedural Law, João Guilherme has had the opportunity of dealing at various instances with not only litigation matters but also sports law issues.
The organization of GABS is the result of the desire of its founding partners to continue to practice law based on the time-honored principle of hard team work that is both honest and competent, with one eye to the heavens and one to the future, confident of ever-increasing challenges.
Based on the firm union of principles and values, fruit of proven professional experience anchored on unflinching seriousness of purpose, and boasting both stability and professional tradition, GABS is uniquely well positioned to, with full regard for professional ethics and strong emphasis on human relations, offer the highest quality services so as:
- To comply and achieve compliance with the Law, with all due respect for Brazilian institutions and authorities;
- To serve the clients well, enhancing their business dealings;
- To provide prompt solutions that are secure as well as creative, should this be necessary, for all matters referred to them;
- To always heed the cost/benefit ratio, making high-level work accessible in various legal segments, at a fair and reasonable market price; and
- To grow systematically in an orderly manner, so as to always be a reliable and high-quality option for legal services in Brazil, for both domestic and multinational clients, serving as consultants or litigation counsel.
Gonçalves, Arruda, Brasil & Serra
Law Firm
December 2007
