Araújo e Policastro Advogados

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Araújo e Policastro Advogados has built a reputation as one of the most respected law firms in Brazil, with a long-standing prestige for excellence in various areas of legal practice. Throughout almost 50 years of practice, the founding partners José Theodoro Alves de Araújo and Décio Policastro have been successful in keeping to the firm’s original goal: providing its clients with the highest quality of legal services on a professional, creative and practical manner.

Araújo e Policastro is a full-service law firm with headquarters in the city of São Paulo, Latin America’s main business and industrial centre. The firm was founded in 1962, when it was located in the downtown area of the city. In 1987 the firm moved in to Avenida Faria Lima, one of the most prestigious business zones in the city. The opening of the branch in Rio de Janeiro was part of the firm’s ongoing expansion plan and represented an important move towards a more complete practice, especially in the corporate, energy and oil & gas sectors – key areas of the firm that have grown significantly over the past years.

By the late 60s, the firm had already developed its general corporate and litigation practices. Even before the boost of international legal practice in Brazil from the 70s to 90s, the firm had developed the internationally-oriented practice which is one of its hallmarks.

The firm’s core practices are international corporate law, contracts, mergers & acquisitions and tax, which are complemented by numerous specialty areas, including real estate, environmental, telecommunications, energy, oil and gas, labour, alternative dispute resolution, litigation, intellectual property, information technology, banking, finance, securities, regulatory and public law, consumer protection laws, antitrust, family law, trusts and estates. In addition to the areas of legal practice performed by the firm, it has a German desk headed by Professor Gerd Rothmann, which services German clients, especially companies and their subsidiaries in Brazil.

The firm’s attorneys have studied in the finest institutions in Brazil and many have also attended specialisations or masters of law programmes in the US and Europe, as well as worked at law firms abroad. They perform to the standards of the international legal community for a prompt and efficient practice towards clients’ legal and business needs.

By keeping up the vision of delivering personal and high-quality services to its clients, present since the foundation of the firm, Araújo e Policastro has been able to grow and diversify without losing focus on its original profile and goals. The personal attention and hands-on involvement of the partners in the legal work have been the clients’ most appreciated aspect of the firm. Araújo e Policastro’s carefully planned growth and focus on the quality of its legal practice has resulted in sound reputation across the Brazilian and worldwide business and legal communities.

Due to the recent and growing interest of China in relation to the Brazilian market observed by the firm, in view of the contacts established by the firm with the Chinese community in Brazil and Chinese companies in the past years, as well as the great expectation for business expansion in the Chinese market, the firm has also developed a strategic plan to attend Chinese clients and for such reason created its website in Chinese.

According to Theodoro Araújo: “The site will help Chinese companies to become familiar with our firm, to learn about our expertise and to understand our principles. The new multi-language website will make it faster and easier to obtain all necessary information.”

“This newly launched site has, among its main contents, information about the firm, areas of expertise and curriculum lawyers, allowing a convenient access to our information by the Chinese community”, noted Camila Araújo, senior partner at Araújo e Policastro. “The website project in Chinese is one of several initiatives the firm has taken to increase and expand our communication with our contacts.”

www.araujopolicastro.com