Leading a law business as it continues to experience multiple unexpected political and economic times is exceedingly difficult, especially for liberal professionals. That is why it is critical to prioritise excellence in customer service, particularly through offering prompt service and responding quickly to their demands, as one of the main principles that govern personal life and professional performance. One must have faith in his team’s ability to perform well, as well as develop a clear and agile communication channel and work focused on meeting the clients’ demands in the best way possible. In the broadest sense, success is a “result,” which Ana Tereza Basilio, Founding Partner of Basilio Advogados, says is the consequence of good work. Hard work, perseverance, and focus beyond everyday efforts are what she values and recognizes as useful for achieving good results.
Basilio Advogados
Basilio Advogados Law Firm was established by Ana Basilio. Over the past 12 years, the firm has experienced exponential growth and is currently among the top national civil litigation, arbitration, and consulting firms. It has a multidisciplinary staff that operates in several business sectors while placing a premium on ethics in its interactions and the never-ending pursuit of excellence. Today, it employs more than 100 lawyers who were carefully chosen in the competitive legal market. They are professionals with a track record of accomplishment who combine a consistent ethical-professional vocation, a sense of teamwork, and performance success before the federation’s most diversified courts. Additionally, the team is made up of the esteemed Professor Carlos Roberto Barbosa Moreira and Mr. Frederico José Leite Gueiros, both former presidents of the Federal Regional Court of the Second Region. Numerous members have completed post-graduate and specialised coursework at some of the world’s top colleges. The team’s training culture differs from other teams in that it is stimulated by academic practice.
Comprehensive legal services
Basilio Advogados, founded by well-known attorneys from the nation’s top law firms, has a strong track record of serving major businesses in a wide range of industries, including public service concessionaires, mining enterprises, banks, construction firms, shopping centers, and private individuals. The firm offers legal aid in complicated litigious judicial, arbitral, and extrajudicial situations thanks to its professionals, who are grouped in the most reliable and traditional technical-humanistic formation. Additionally, it offers legal consulting services, including the development of legal opinions and assisting with contracts, due diligence, real estate transactions, and estate and succession planning. One might highlight the following as some of the primary practice areas it devotes its attention to: arbitration, mediation, business recovery, real estate law, administrative and regulatory law, business recovery, constitutional law, environmental law, and succession law. The most valuable service was the court recovery process for Grupo Oi, Brazil’s largest telecom business. Grupo Oi’s judicial rehabilitation process was regarded as the largest in Latin America.
One Person in Multiple Roles
Ana Baslio, a founding partner, seeks to reconcile the roles of wife, mother, partner, and vice-president of the OAB-RJ as best she can. Managing, coordinating, encouraging, and supervising the upkeep of society’s identity and moral norms. She considers the sense of effective justice experienced when triumphs are publicly celebrated to be the most enjoyable aspect of her demanding daily schedule.
Attending to the expectations of our clients is, undoubtedly, the happiest part of my routine. ” —Ana says. She adds, “I believe, however, that personal and professional maturity are great allies for its maintenance.”
Recognition for Excellent Legal Work
In December 1989, Ana Basilio completed her undergraduate studies in law at the Universidade Cândido Mendes do Rio de Janeiro-UCAM, and she later earned her law degree from the University of Wisconsin. She had the privilege of serving as a partner at Sergio Bermudes Law Firm from 1990 to 1998 and as an international partner at Baker & McKenzie from July 2002 to 2005, where she was in charge of Brazil’s civil and commercial litigation and arbitration practices. She also mentions that she had the honour of serving as a judge of the Regional Electoral Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro from December 2010 to July 2015, as well as being a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), based in Paris, in the Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (ADR) commission, and as Director of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Director of Mediation and Arbitration of the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers, elected in 2018 for the biennium 2018-2019.
Ana Basilio recognises gaining the Medal of Judicial Merit from the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice in 2014 and the Medal of Merit from the Rio de Janeiro Federal Regional Court in 2015. She was chosen as the Institute’s President of the Mediation and Arbitration commissions in November 2018 and Vice-President of the Brazilian Bar Association’s State of Rio de Janeiro Section for the 2019–2021 term. She was appointed to the Permanent Forum of the Arbitration Commission of the Escola de Magistratura of the State of Rio de Janeiro (EMERJ) in 2019, and in August 2021, she established the Instituto Brasileiro de Estudos em Proteço de Dados-IBRADADOS, assuming its Presidency until April 2022.
Ana was re-elected vice-president of the Brazilian Bar Association, Section of the State of Rio de Janeiro, in November 2021 for the three-year period 2022–2024. She received a nomination in May 2022 to join the Permanent Forum of Transparency and Administrative Probity at the EMERJ School of Magistrates in Rio de Janeiro. In September 2019, ALERJ (the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro) finally bestowed the Tiradentes Medal.
Professionalism is the Key
The most important factors for a law practice are professionalism, transparency, and ethics. Basilio Advogados is skilled in all areas that lead to successful outcomes for the business, but especially for the clients. Being aware of changes in the market, in regulation, in court precedent, and in client and employee demands is crucial when in a position of leadership. Therefore, changes in the business environment must be dynamic just as the market is and the law is always changing.
In a world that is still adjusting to the context of digital court and arbitration processes, Ana claims that the key goal was to reconcile the face-to-face work environment with the home office and to fit the clients’ needs to the new reality.
Leading with Values
Ana upholds the values of humanity, profitability, and just compensation, as well as teamwork and information security. She also believes in the virtues of honesty, integrity, and loyalty. Persistence is also a cornerstone of this culture. Since she continually seeks the advice of this team of experts to help her make decisions, she views it as a blessing that she is recognized as a proactive and confrontational leader who is also very collaborative. She respects the team that works with her because, in her opinion, it would be impossible to be in front of numerous tasks at once without them.
Ana Basilio proclaims, “I am lucky to have a competent team, specialized and committed to the purposes of the office and the clients.”
Advice to New Leaders
According to Ana, a leader needs to set an example. Your team should reflect what you do in terms of attitudes, posture, problem-solving techniques, how you interact with others, and how you conduct your professional life. What she has learned most about leadership through her years of legal practice is that “the example drags.” She suggests setting a good example so that your team will be dedicated to your objectives, share your ambitions, and be motivated to work hard.
Written by Steve Sanchez.
