Areas of Practice

Our firm is highly experienced in drafting, reviewing, analysing, negotiating and finalising international contracts, backed by extensive practical experience. Our services include guidance on the impact of preliminary discussions and documents, protection of information and e-mail exchanges, proper management of interrelated contracts and ancillary documents, international litigation, choice of jurisdiction, sovereignty and competence, as well as consolidating MOUs, LOAs, LOIs and similar instruments into definitive documents and their effects under Brazilian law. The firm's advisory work spans from our client's first negotiations through to closing, including support during the execution phase in the event of disagreements and disputes.

Our approach to corporate law is based on identifying our clients' specific needs on a case-by-case basis and proposing suitable solutions at every stage of a given transaction. Drawing on skills built over years advising companies across diverse industry sectors, we offer innovative solutions always aimed at the outcome expected by the client. In this area, we also advise on company formation, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, emerging-company/private equity funding, foreign investment regulations, corporate governance, asset administration, and other general corporate matters, including real estate and insurance, among others.

In the labour field, our firm is permanently committed to offering clients a wide range of services, with constant emphasis on refining labour law strategy. For corporate clients, we take special and routine judicial measures at every level of the Labour Courts, relating to collective actions and collective bargaining disputes, administrative monitoring and defence before the Regional Labour and Employment Offices (SRTE), oral argument before the courts, drafting of legal briefs and management of labour liabilities. On the corporate side, we carry out technical assessment of labour liabilities and contingency management, as well as guidance in labour inspections, occupational health and safety guidance, and participation in round tables to resolve disputes out of court.

In litigation, the firm acts both in the judicial and administrative spheres, through actions before the Judiciary and Public Administration bodies. We operate in the areas of Civil, Commercial, Tax, Labour and Intellectual Property Law, with our advisory work covering:

• Drafting of complaints, statements of defence and all other pleadings required to pursue judicial and administrative actions;
• Drafting, filing and follow-up of appeals before State Courts, Federal Regional Courts, Regional Labour Courts and the Superior Courts in Brasília;
• Recognition of foreign judgments before the Superior Court of Justice;
• Drafting and personal filing of legal briefs prior to hearings, as well as oral argument in defence of our clients' interests at trial sessions;
• Drafting and follow-up of appeals in administrative, customs and tax proceedings before public bodies of every level.

Our firm has extensive experience in aviation law matters, with full command of national and international legislation, as well as the conventions, treaties and protocols governing air transport and international civil aviation. Our expertise reflects more than 12 years of practical work representing and advising aircraft manufacturers, airlines, finance companies and banks – including BNDES – and aircraft leasing, through direct advisory work on acquisitions, financing, financial restructuring, finance and operating leases, negotiation of debts and guarantees, title documents, litigation involving air transport contracts, and aircraft repossession in Brazil and abroad, including before US courts. On the administrative side, we provide advisory services on registration and amendment procedures with the Brazilian Aircraft Registry (R.A.B.), whether for scheduled or non-scheduled public transport, specialised services or air taxi services, as well as administrative and judicial proceedings relating to concessions, permits and authorisations for the operation of public air transport services, the performance of air transport contracts and resulting civil liability.

Sales project financing is an innovative and timely technique that has been used in many high-profile corporate projects, such as the Channel Tunnel. Using a carefully structured financial mix, it has been used to finance large-scale natural resource projects, from pipelines and refineries to power generation plants and hydroelectric projects. Increasingly, sales project financing is emerging as the preferred alternative to conventional infrastructure financing methods and other large-scale global projects.

This alternative includes understanding the rationale for sales project financing, such as preparing the financial plan, assessing risks, designing the financial mix and raising funds. Our firm has the knowledge base required to advise you on:

• The package of contractual instruments needed to underpin the sales project financing;
• Matters relating to the legal provisions of the sponsoring country/government (Exim Bank) of the project;
• Public-private infrastructure partnerships;
• Public-private financial structures;
• Lenders' credit requirements and how to determine the project's borrowing capacity;
• How to prepare cash-flow projections and use them to measure expected rates of return;
• Accounting and tax considerations;
• Analytical techniques to validate the project's feasibility;

PEREIRASILVA ADVOGADOS' expertise can assist you with your specific project – whether a mine, highways, railways, pipelines, power stations, ships, aircraft, hospitals or prisons – to be repaid from that project's own cash flow. Under this type of financing, the lender looks primarily to the project's assets and revenue to secure and service the financing.

In contrast to an ordinary borrowing situation, in sales project financing the lender generally has little or no recourse against the assets of the borrower or sponsors that fall outside the project. In this case, the credit risk associated with the borrower is not as significant as in an ordinary lending transaction. What matters most is the identification, analysis and management of each risk associated with the project – aspects that form part of our advisory and consultancy work.

In the course of advising our clients on the best strategy or path to follow, analysing each case individually, we prepare specific advice and legal opinions to help you build your business – whatever your project may be, whether your needs involve acquiring land to build a Recycling Plant or selling an Airline – in addition to providing guidance on matters relating to logistics, customs, ports and airports.

Advisory work and legal opinions also cover bidding processes (public and private) in Brazil and abroad, such as those for the supply of specific equipment. We have extensive experience in meeting required documentation standards, as well as in negotiating so-called “Offset Agreements” in Government and Military tenders.