Biography: Competition

Tercio Sampaio Ferraz Jr established Sampaio Ferraz Advogados, a highly renowned Brazilian boutique law firm specialised in economic law, in particular antitrust, trade defence and regulatory law.

Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr leads the economic law practice of Sampaio Ferraz Advogados, which has among its clients companies such as ABECS (Brazilian Association of Credit Card and Service Companies), ABICLOR (Brazilian Association of Alkali, Chlorine and Derivatives Industry), ABRATEC (Brazilian Association of Container Terminals for Public Use), Aché Laboratórios Farmacêuticos, ALL, Alstom, Banco do Brasil, Carbocloro, Casas Bahia, Constran, Cosan Group, CSN, Dr Oetker, Gerdau, Globo, GVT – Global Village Telecom, Itaú, Libra Terminais, Mahle, Mossi & Ghisolfi Group, Philips, Pioneer, Saint-Gobain Group, Saraiva and Siciliano, Siemens, Sony, and Telemar (Oi).

Recognised by many celebrated national and international publications as one of the best law firms in Brazil and as an 'elite' law firm in competition law, Sampaio Ferraz Advogados values technical rigour, experience and practical skills in setting strategies, gathering economists and lawyers, mostly university professors, and lawyers with PhD and Masters degrees, with solid experience in the field.

With decades of professional and academic experience, Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr is a well-known lawyer and esteemed jurist in Brazil and abroad. Greatly acknowledged as a Brazilian law connoisseur, Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr is well known for his legal opinions that range from antitrust and competition law to tax, administrative, financial and constitutional law. He holds a PhD from the University of Mainz (Germany) and another from the University of São Paulo, where he has been lecturing as a full professor for over 30 years.

Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr was a key member of the governmental commission that drafted the bill resulting in the current Competition Defence Act of Brazil. His public professional experience includes being attorney general of the Brazilian Treasury and deputy minister of justice of Brazil. He also acted for many years as head of the legal department of the Industry Federation of the State of São Paulo (FIESP) and of Siemens Brazil. Besides acting as lawyer, Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr has also been working as an arbitrator and was nominated by Brazil as arbitrator in international pending cases before Mercosul.

Admired jurist, Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr is author of many important law books and hundreds of articles that influence the Brazilian law practice and society. He has also been invited to participate and speak in numerous national and international events such as legal and economic conferences, seminars, symposiums, classes etc.

Given his up-to-date academic and professional experience, allied to his international background, Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr has been playing a key role in the Brazilian law practice, being recognised in many honorific tributes, recognitions and awards.

Mr Sampaio Ferraz Jr is member of the Brazilian Bar and is fluent in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.