Law practiced with empathy
We base our work on the belief that empathy, understanding and sensitivity are valuable tools for good performance in our work.
JUSTICE FIRST
*Hotta Advocacia maintains an institutional collaboration with Pogust Goodhead, a law firm based in the United Kingdom and with branches in several jurisdictions, observing all the laws and regulations pertinent to the countries involved in this international collaboration.
We base our work on the belief that empathy, understanding and sensitivity are valuable tools for good performance in our work.
For us, law is a true tool for transformation. Through it we aim to make the world a better place for our clients.
Our clients are at the centre of all our strategies. Our mission is to bring the best result to those who choose to trust our work.
The environment is precious, but it is under fierce attack. We believe that it is our duty to protect biodiversity, and that is why this ideal permeates all of our work.
We are a team that prides itself on dynamism, vitality, and creativity combined with our experience and expertise.
Felipe Hotta has a degree from Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and holds a master’s in environmental law from Queen Mary University of London. He was a UNESCO Youth Ambassador and a researcher in Civil Rights and Social Actions in the World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ) campaign.
He also has years of experience as a partner managing the activities of the LATAM arm of a prestigious international law firm, with a special focus on human rights, indigenous and environmental law cases.
In this work, he was deeply involved with mass civil liability actions brought against transnational corporations that have been destroying the environment and violating human rights, in addition to providing management and leadership for the team and supporting the business operation and strategy.
Recently, Felipe settled a mass environmental disaster lawsuit on behalf of an indigenous community against Vale S.A., due to the Brumadinho dam disaster. Felipe structured a multimillion-dollar deal to compensate the families and rebuild the village.
Anna Lopes is an experienced attorney in strategic dispute resolution who has worked for over seven years in judicial and arbitration strategic litigation in one of the biggest Brazilian law firms, including giving consultancy to many national and international companies (pre-litigation assistance). Anna acted in strategic complex disputes concerning contracts, civil liability, business law, bankruptcy, and judicial reorganization law, an area in which she has a unique experience in a transnational dispute to one of the most significant insolvency cases in Latin America.
Bachelor of Law from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (2015), Post-graduated in Business Law (2019), and Master’s in contemporary civil law and legal practice (2023) by the Catholic Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro State (PUC-Rio). Current member of the International Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association of the State of Rio de Janeiro (2023).
Gustavo is a Brazilian Lawyer, admitted to the Brazilian Bar Association in 2018. He graduated with a LLB at the University of São Paulo. Gustavo has experience in litigations involving civil liability, consumer rights, and family and succession law. Having acted in areas involving public law and contracts, he has also experience with advocacy and accounting. During his time at the University of São Paulo, he participated in extra-curricular activities involving support for imprisoned women and students' representation. And acted as a trainee for a Judge in the State Court of São Paulo.
Yuri is a Brazilian qualified lawyer based in Rio de Janeiro’s Office. He has strong experience in Brazil with environmental licensing, dam safety, crisis management, climate litigation, complex dispute resolution, renewable energy, and biodiversity.
Before joining the firm, Yuri acted in Brazil for 8 years as an associate lawyer in a top-tier firm and in a huge mining company as a specialist on environmental matters. His practice involved administrative and judicial litigation, environmental licensing, dam safety, decommissioning and de-characterization of mining activities, management of contaminated areas, and biodiversity. Yuri also had experience with M&A, due diligence and alternative dispute resolution with environmental agencies, the Brazilian Public Prosecution Office, and third-sector organizations.
Yuri holds a Bachelor of Law degree (LLB) from Universidade Candido Mendes (2013), a Post-graduation in Environmental Law from the School of Judges from the State of Rio de Janeiro – EMERJ (2017) and a LL.M. in Civil Law and Legal Practice from the Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Law School – FGV-RIO (2022).
Karina is a fully qualified Brazilian lawyer and Law Professor member of the Justice and Constitution Research Group and the Access to Justice and Disaster Group at FGV São Paulo Law School. She holds a PhD in Law from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and a Master’s degree in Law from the University of São Paulo (USP). She was awarded federal government grants (CAPES-PDSE/Print) for guest research placements at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame (United States) and at the LawTransform at the University of Bergen (Norway). She was a researcher at the Rio Doce Project at FGV São Paulo Law School and she was a Temporary Lecturer at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Law School. She was awarded a grant to coordinate judicial gender equality studies in a project with Oxford/ Brazilian Federal Judges Association. She is a speaker and lecturer for private and public lawyers, judges, universities, think tanks and civil society initiatives focused on disaster law and structural litigation in Brazil.
Vitor has been a Human Rights lawyer for 7 years. Due to his unique approach to Human Rights law, encompassing all situations faced by Human Rights defenders and organisation, has experience in a diverse range of practices, from administrative law to criminal law, covering consumer, constitutional and civil law.
In 2021 was selected by the prestigious fully funded Chevening Scholarship, that selects global leaders to pursue Master level degrees in the United Kingdom to improve the social positive impact they make on their home countries. Holds a master’s degree in MA Applied Human Rights at the University of York, England, graduating with Merit. During his time in the UK was the Head of Operations and Logistics of the Brazil Forum UK, a student-led platform for high-level discussions on Brazil's status quo.
Before working at the firm, he provided legal support to a wide spectrum of organisations, mainly public sector labour unions and LGBT organisations. Worked closely with social movements and student representative organisations. Founded and coordinated “Direitos Pra Todxs”, a collective of lawyers focused on pro bono Human Rights legal assistance.
Danton is a lawyer and legal researcher. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Law (2015) and a Master's degree (2019) in Philosophy of Law and Justice from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG (FD/UFMG). He has a brief teaching experience in Legal Anthropology. He is a member of the Study group state of exception in contemporary Brazil and participates in the Study Group in Philosophy, Law and Power.
In his legal practice, Danton has focused since his graduation on collective action and the defence of the collective rights of disadvantaged parties, taking internships in the Consumer Protection and Defence Programme of the State Parliament of Minas Gerais - PROCON-ALMG and in the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office. His first significant experience as a lawyer was at the Union of Workers and Employees of the Brazilian Company of Post and Telegraph (2017-2019). In 2019, he started working as a researcher and lawyer in international law firms advocating for people affected by environmental disasters in Brazil.
Enhancing and developing his experience, Danton works since 2022 with collective rights and civil redress of damages due to antitrust practices.
Gabriel Mantelli is a Brazilian lawyer with a bachelor's degree in Law from the University of São Paulo (2015) and a master's degree in Law and Development from the Getulio Vargas Foundation (2019) with a research exchange at Kent University. He is currently studying for a PhD in Philosophy and General Theory of Law at the University of São Paulo, and has been awarded a scholarship to be a visiting researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute (2024)
During his undergraduate studies, he was one of the founders of the Paulo Nogueira Neto Environmental Law Clinic. After graduating, he took on important roles such as researcher at the Center for Global Law and Development at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (2017-2019), professor of environmental law and international law at the São Judas Tadeu University (2019-2022) and consultant for the Climate Litigation Accelerator (CLX) at New York University (2021-2022). He also served as a visiting professor at Lanzhou University for the summer course on climate litigation in 2023. He is the main author of the "Climate Litigation Guide" and, in 2021, co-organized the book "Human Rights in Multiple Views" published by OAB/SP.
João Paulo is a lawyer registered at the Brazilian Bar Association in Rio de Janeiro (OAB/RJ) since 2005, with extensive experience in highly complex litigation cases, acting in judicial proceedings at all levels, as well as providing national and international consultancy services. Throughout his career, he specialized in the field of civil liability and infrastructure insurance.
For three consecutive years, he has been recognized in the Legal 500 ranking in the "Next Generation Partners" section. Additionally, he served as a professor at the School of Business and Insurance (ENS), teaching courses on Civil and Environmental Liability Insurance. He also authored the course on Insurance and Reinsurance Law at FGV/IDE.
He obtained his Bachelor of Law degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in 2005. Later, he pursued a Master's in Business and Economic Activities Law at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in 2013. In 2023, he earned an LL.M. with a specialization in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Victor has been enrolled in the Rio de Janeiro section of the Brazilian Bar Association since 2019. A graduate of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (National Law School), Victor is currently completing a postgraduate programme (LL.M) in Tax Law at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). He has experience in civil, corporate and tax litigation, merger/acquisition operations (M&A) and corporate restructuring, having participated in the most recent Judicial Reorganization of large Brazilian economic groups. As a trainee, he worked for the Tax Division of the Attorney General's Office of the National Treasury (PGFN) and for a tax consultancy and litigation boutique law firm.
Isadora is a lawyer registered at the Brazilian Bar Association since 2016. She graduated in Law from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in 2015. She completed her master's degree in Criminal Law, Philosophy of Law and New Technologies in 2018, also at UFMG, as a fellow of the CAPES Excellence Programme of the Federal Government of Brazil. She is currently a PhD candidate in Law at the University of Coimbra, Portugal.
She has professional and academic experience in the fields of criminal law, environmental law, legal liability and strategic human rights litigation. Passionate about the themes of access to justice and gender equality, Isadora has worked as a volunteer in social organisations and as a lawyer advisor at the Legal Aid Division of UFMG.
Pedro Rolla is a lawyer registered with the Brazilian Bar Association since 2019, holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais and is a specialist in Environmental Law from the School Foundation of the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Minas Gerais.
Pedro worked voluntarily at the Public Defender's Office of the State of Minas Gerais, mainly in public service, in addition to experiences in other law firms in civil and labour litigation. He has lived in the United States and England, opportunities in which he was able to dedicate himself to English studies.
He is fluent in Portuguese and English.
Thiago de Freitas Pereira is a Brazilian attorney with more than eight years of experience in strategic civil litigation, having worked with various fields of legal practice before multiple courts in Brazil. He holds an Academic Master’s Degree in Law (MSc) with summa cum laude grade in Constitutional Law, Theory of State and Human Rights, Democracy, and International Order (obtained at the Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro – PUC-Rio in 2019). He has graduated in Law (LLB) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) with cum laude grade in 2015. Other relevant work experiences were his internship at the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), his time in touch with real estate strategic litigation at a major national law firm, and his teaching/researching traineeship at PUC-Rio during his Academic Master’s Degree in Law course. He is a native speaker of Portuguese, fluent in both English and French, and currently studies Spanish at an intermediate level.
Ana is a qualified brazilian lawyer, graduated in Law from the university Pontifical Catholic University Minas Geiras, where she chose to focus on Human Rights. Ana is also certified in Human Rights and International Law from the University Pontifical Catholic University in Minas Gerais. Ana has knowledge of Consumer’s Law, Civil Procedure, and International Law.
From a young age, Ana was enrolled in the Rotary International Program and lived in Denmark. She obtained a full scholarship in Tietgen Business School and is certified in International Business Development. During that experience, Ana was able to gain proficiency in English, Danish and Spanish. After returning to Brazil, Ana specialized in legal English.
In recent years, Ana has been working with mass civil liability actions brought against transnational corporations and has been focused in groundwork operations regarding indigenous and quilombola communities. She has been involved in the Municipality of Mariana and others Vs. BHP Case since 2018. She is passionate about working with women's rights, and participates in an NGO that helps women in vulnerable conditions in São Paulo.
Tannise Moura is a lawyer registered with the OAB/DF, graduated from the Centro Universitário de Brasília (UniCEUB) and specialised in Administrative Law at the Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa (IDP). She has extensive experience in Administrative Law and Civil Law. Since 2016, she has worked in renowned law firms in the areas of Administrative Law, Civil Law and Electoral Law. She has an interest in Academia, in which she acts as a tutor for Dr. José Eduardo Cardozo in the postgraduate classes in Administrative Law at UniCEUB.
Caroline’s academic journey includes a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, complemented by a double minor in International Politics and Classics, showcasing her multidisciplinary approach to legal studies. Caroline took part in the Law Junior Year Abroad Program at the University of Leeds in 2018 and participated in prestigious international law moot court competitions. Caroline further honed her expertise by studying to obtain a specialisation in Human Rights Law, while simultaneously immersing herself in the realms of International Law and Comparative Law.
Additionally, Caroline has actively engaged in remarkable research projects that shed light on complex issues, including international human rights standards on enforced disappearance within the scope of Memory, Truth, and Justice for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' Academic Network. Caroline's commitment to human rights advocacy extends beyond borders, having interned at the Human Rights Measurement Initiative and the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute in London, where she was involved in promoting, protecting, and enforcing human rights under a just rule of law.
Giulia Barbosa Lima is a Brazilian lawyer registered in the OAB. She holds a degree in Law from the University of Pernambuco (UPE), and a specialization in Economic and Regulatory Law from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).
Her previous work experience includes being an attorney for Brazilian law firms and being a postgraduate intern at the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE). In her academic career, she has dedicated herself to the study of antitrust damages actions.
In recent years, Giulia has supported competition advocacy initiatives, and has contributed to the dissemination of Economic Law in the Brazilian Northeast region.
Guilherme C. O. de Magalhães is a lawyer with expertise in finance, transaction structuring, corporate governance, arbitration, and litigation. He recently joined our office at Rio de Janeiro. Guilherme has worked for a top-tier litigation firm and a Chinese-Brazilian bank, gaining experience in areas such as financial regulation and corporate governance.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and a Minor in Economics from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-Rio), Guilherme received a full merit-based scholarship. He founded FGV's Mediation and Negotiation Centre and participated in international legal competitions on behalf of the institution. During his studies, he was selected for the J.D. exchange program at Columbia University, where he attended classes in international arbitration, contracts, deals, and studied capital markets at Columbia Business School.
Guilherme is fluent in Portuguese, English, and French.
Isabela graduated in Law from the Federal University of Uberlândia (2023), with an academic exchange at the Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies in Lisbon (2022). She was approved for a master's degree in public international law at the University of São Paulo, starting in the second semester of 2024. Isabela has academic and professional experience in climate litigation, environmental law, international law and human rights. She has published articles in Folha de São Paulo and Valor Econômico, and has collaborated with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University and The Climate Litigation Accelerator (CLX) at New York University, through research on climate litigation in Brazil and indigenous peoples. In 2020 and 2022, Isabela worked with the Center for the Analysis of Freedom and Authoritarianism (LAUT) to produce texts related to democracy, the environment, climate and human rights.