Trench Rossi Watanabe announces Francisco Niclós Negrão as new partner of the Antitrust and International Trade Practice Group
Trench Rossi Watanabe has just announced that Francisco Niclós Negrão is joining as a partner. An expert in international trade and antitrust with solid recognition by key legal rankings and directories, Francisco steps in to co-lead, alongside partner Paulo Casagrande, the practice group that will now be called — in order to reflect the expansion of its expertise — Antitrust and International Trade.
With the new structure, the team strengthens its position as advisers to Brazilian and multinational companies on complex legal issues concerning access to and expansion into markets in Brazil and abroad.
The team will offer services and solutions for trade defense cases (antidumping, subsidies/compensatory measures, safeguards, public interest analysis procedures), request for tariff changes, non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, trade facilitation, advisory on trade treaty negotiations, and commercial disputes, among other matters.
“We are further strengthening our ability to provide strategic legal advice. Antitrust and International Trade are complementary areas of legal expertise with strong synergies, since both require from their professionals in-depth knowledge of the workings and dynamics of domestic and international markets, as well as strong quantitative analytical capabilities, beyond the usual assessment of applicable laws and precedents. Furthermore, this reinforcement will generate synergies with the Firm’s very strong related practices, such as Customs, Regulatory, Litigation and Corporate Law,” says partner Paulo Casagrande.
The move takes place in a context of change of government at the federal level and rearrangements in the global geopolitical scenario, which has seen increasingly complex legal issues regarding trade and investment flows. Another simultaneous phenomenon consists of measures related to the potential accession of Brazil as a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a process which contemplates gradual regulatory updates with material impacts on the activities of multinational companies operating in the country.
“Francisco is coming to expand our operations in a segment of great relevance, in which we already provide cutting-edge advisory to clients on assessment of corporate transactions and trade policies, as well as representation in federal administrative investigations,” comments Jose Roberto Martins, partner and member of the Executive Committee of Trench Rossi Watanabe. “The hiring is also in line with our goal of always looking for versatile and multidisciplinary professionals — such as our new partner, who has sound economic expertise, with experience in government issues, specialization in the area and various recognitions in the legal market.“
Francisco has nearly 20 years of experience in handling complex cases in the areas of international trade and antitrust. In addition, he has experience as a civil servant at the National Treasury. He earned his law degree from UNICEUB, in Brasília, Brazil. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Economics and International Finance from Brandeis University, in the United States, in addition to a period of studies at Università Bocconi, in Italy. Moreover, he was for two terms a Director of International Trade at IBRAC, one of Brazil’s top think tanks in the field of economic law.
