Ulhôa Canto takes care of the interest of each client in a personal and tailor-made manner. The results achieved represent the success of our permanent commitment in providing innovative and unique solutions. We apply our knowledge, experience and creativity to solve all challenges presented by our clients. During more than 50 years of legal practice, we have set precedents in the business, judicial and administrative levels and have become a reference in a number of legal issues. Our commitment to overcome challenges is renewed on a daily basis in an environment of constant learning, by means of training programs, interaction among different areas of practice and through exchange programs with premier legal international law schools and law firms. By combining tradition and innovation, Ulhôa Canto was able to forge its stellar reputation, written by the hands of well-regarded and talented lawyers.
1959
An experienced and prestigious attorney, Gilberto de Ulhôa Canto organized his own law firm in Rio de Janeiro in a partnership with Condorcet Rezende.
Decade 1960
Gilberto de Ulhôa Canto was a member of the special committees assigned to draft the bill for the Constitutional Tax Reform and the National Tax Code, while Condorcet Rezende was active in the academic environment as a professor in the Fundação Getúlio Vargas’ Escola Brasileira de Administração Pública and at Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).
Due to the outstanding activities by its founders, the law firm became nationally and internationally known and was requested to assist clients with projects involving the modernization of several infrastructure sectors, such as telecommunications.
Decade 1970
With the association of João Dodsworth Cordeiro Guerra, Ulhôa Canto becomes a uniprofessional legal society. The team was soon to be strengthened by the admission of Carlos Alberto de Ulhôa Canto.
As a result of the donation of 20,000 volumes from its partners’ private collection, Ulhôa Canto’s library started to be created, with a view to becoming a reference in the legal community.
As a result of the definition of a policy referring to risk agreements with private companies, the firm began to deal with the early projects in the oil industry and started to specialize in this field.
Decade 1980
The firm transferred its office to a new address in Rio de Janeiro with wide facilities.
With the rising market freedom, the business community increased its demand for external legal counsel. The firm continued as a well-known benchmark in Tax Law and its team grew, now forming a group of 19 attorneys.
Decade 1990
The opening of the economy and the privatization and globalization processes fueled the Brazilian economy. The firm expanded its areas of legal practice, increasing significantly its team of attorneys.
Due to the increased activity in São Paulo, the firm decided to open an office in that city.
With Gilberto de Ulhôa Canto‘s decease, his personal collection of rare books and historical documents were all donated to the firm’s library, which gradually became one of the most comprehensive in Tax Law in Latin America.
Decade 2000
Resumed growth by the Brazilian economy and technological breakthroughs led to an increase in business ventures in the fields of infrastructure and information technology, which gave rise to new legal issues.
The São Paulo office continued to expand and was transferred to an exclusive address, the Gilberto de Ulhôa Canto building, at Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima. The Rio de Janeiro office expands its facilities due to the strong growth of professionals.
The digitalization process of the library was entirely concluded with approximately 50,000 entries and 33,000 books duly selected, which made the collection a reference in the legal community.
Top of the Tax Law ranking as attested by the English publication Chambers & Partners, Ulhôa Canto now ends the decade known as one of Brazil’s best in a number of other specialties in Law, and has been designated for the Chambers & Partners Latin America 2010 Award for Excellence.
Decade 2010
Always focused on the future and in providing its clients with a personal and tailor-made legal service, Ulhôa Canto promoted a significant number of lawyers to partners in the recent years. This promotion comes as a recognition of their dedication throughout the years and the conviction that the major founding principles of our firm will be preserved to the next generations to come.
Our office in São Paulo has increase significantly in size over the years, confirming our position and distinction among other firms in the city. In Rio de Janeiro, a new office in Leblon is inaugurated, in a distinctive location with modern installations, bringing us closer together to our clients. The implementation of our new computer system was another important step taken in this decade, assuring more efficiency in the execution of our works, researches and preservation of data base.
Ulhôa Canto continues to be renowned for its participation in important business transaction, being awarded with the “Deal of the Year” in 2015, by Chambers & Partners. In the following years, the law firm and its lawyers continue with a successful reputation, keeping a prominent position in the main clients’ guide publications worldwide.”
Created with the donations from our founding partners’ private collections, our library became one of Latin America’s most complete in Tax Law with over 30,000 volumes, including rare edition and historical materials. Domestic and international doctrines, jurisprudence from every court and administrative levels, and matters published in the country’s key newspapers are classified in a database that is updated on a daily basis and currently contains over 500,000 entries. This is a powerful research tool available to our lawyers and a benchmark for domestic and overseas law schools. With the conclusion of the digitalization process of all our database, we offer an efficient mechanism of research and preservation of the history of Brazilian law.
Known to have innovative solutions and strict professional standards, Ulhôa Canto has a distinguished position in the Brazilian legal scenario. Its permanent commitment to excellence is recognized by the most relevant institutions and publications worldwide, among which we highlight:
In addition to strict professional standards and permanent commitment to excellence, Ulhôa Canto‘s office is also guided by transparency and ethics. Our Code of Ethics, Standards and Conduct reflects the fundamental principles governing the activities of the firm, followed by all lawyers, employees, trainees, service providers and consultants.
The firm has a Compliance Committee to deal with various issues related to its legal practice, promoting periodic training for all its members in order to ensure the adoption of good governance practices and compliance with applicable laws. Ulhôa Canto‘s Code of Ethics, Standards and Conduct complements the Code of Ethics and Discipline of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and guides the relationship with our clients.
Moreover, a Compliance Committee channel is available in our law firm´s intranet, where such messages, sent by eletronic (compliance@ulhoacanto.com.br) or paper, will be carefully analysed.
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Click the links below to view the Ulhôa Canto‘s compliance policies.
General Contracting Conditions
Money Laudering Prevention, Anti-corruption and Client Identification Policy
Manual of Ethic, Standards and Conducts
