BPGM hires enforcer in Brazil

BPGM hires enforcer in Brazil

Thursday, 8 October 2009 by Rachel Bull

Brasil Pereira Neto Galdino Macedo Advogados has hired Paulo Casagrande to bolster its competition practice in São Paulo.

Casagrande, 30, joined from Brazil’s Secretariat of Economic Law of the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, where he was head of its public procurement unit. He moved to the firm on 1 October as a senior associate.

“I have accomplished what I set out to do when I joined the public sector, and decided it was time for me to return to private practice,” says Casagrande. “BPGM’s competition law practice team is superb, and has been active in some of the most sophisticated cases in Brazil’s recent history. I am very happy to become part of this successful team and help to further enhance the practice by employing the capabilities I acquired in both the private and the public sectors.”

Casagrande will focus on competition matters, and will also deal with regulatory issues in the telecoms, energy and transportation sectors.

“With broad experience and a solid technical background, Paulo is a Paulo Casagrande great addition to our regulatory and competition law practice group,” says Caio Mario da Silva Pereira Neto, partner and head of the competition practice at BPGM. “He is an asset any leading law firm would appreciate and we are very excited to have him as part of our team.”

Before joining the authority in 2007, Casagrande worked in private practice at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Brussels, where he focused on competition law, as well as public bids and administrative contracts.

BPGM has eight lawyers who focus on competition. The firm changed its name last month from Leoni Siqueira Advogados, after name partner Siquiera, 72, stepped down to open a consultancy alongside his son.