2023-06-16 12:10:35
Continuing with what was decided two years ago, Alexandre Bertoldi stepped down this week as managing partner of Pinheiro Neto – which he held for 16 years – to become chairman office, leaving Fernando Alves Meira alone in the executive leadership.
The two have shared command of the office since 2021.
Fernando, the former head of the firm’s M&A practice and who has been at Pinheiro Neto for 34 years, assumes a mandate that runs until the end of 2025.
The transition was already planned by Bertoldi, who wanted to make the transition until he was 60 years old. Now 62, he plans to retire in 2026.
“Fernando will take over the office in a kind of relay race: he received the baton with the office in first place. [lugar]and has to deliver first and still increasing the distance,” the new chairman told the Brazil Journal.
One of the largest corporate law firms in Latin America, Pinheiro Neto has around 1,000 employees, 480 of which are lawyers – not counting almost 300 interns.
The passing of the baton shows the success of the institutionalization of the office founded by José Martins Pinheiro Neto in 1942.
Visionary in many ways – he was the first to introduce the concept of the firm at a time when there were only individual offices – the old Pinheiro decided that his office should outlive him.
It sought the help of an American consultancy – a sort of McKinsey of law firms – which proposed the partnership model that is still in force today, with governing bodies elected by the partners and a sovereign assembly. The 114 partners elect the Steering Committee, which concentrates powers, decides policies and strategies and proposes new partners.
A partnership it is (surprisingly) democratic, with capital dispersed as much as possible among the partners. Despite having been with the company for 40 years, Bertoldi, for example, has only 1.1% of the office’s quotas, the maximum allowed.
Fernando takes over the office at a time when two of Pinheiro Neto’s most important areas – M&A and capital markets – are working much less than in the past, given the market conditions in the last year.
“Even so, we grew in the first half in the annual comparison, mainly with the increase in tax cases, especially those involving CARF,” said Fernando.
A sensitive agenda for the new manager will be the impact of artificial intelligence on the world of law, and its potential to eliminate the human factor – especially the more junior positions.
Fernando said that this is a debate that the office has been having for months – still without conclusion.
“We talked to many foreigners and AI can bring more security and quality to the tasks of newer lawyers to meet the demands of clients. But our office always seeks continuity by renewing itself, so it’s a broad discussion,” said the managing partner.
André Jankavski and Geraldo Samor
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