Rafael Francisco Alves

MAMG Advogados

São Paulo www.mamg.com.br

rfa@mamg.com.br Tel: +55 11 3074 7925

Biography

Rafael Alves is a founding partner at MAMG Advogados, a dispute prevention and resolution boutique. Rafael is a professor at FGV Graduate Program in São Paulo (FGV DIREITO SP). He is also an officer at the Brazilian Arbitration Committee (CBAr), CPR Council member and co-chair of the CPR Brazil Advisory Board. Rafael holds a PhD, Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree from University of São Paulo (USP), and an LLM from New York University (NYU).

Our clients are usually corporate groups trusting their strategic matters to our legal advice and representation in dispute prevention and resolution (arbitration and litigation). Those matters frequently involve complex high-profile disputes. To be an effective counsel in those high-profile disputes is to provide timely and qualified legal responses to the client’s problems within a flexible, reasonable, and efficient fee arrangement. Qualified legal responses in such context frequently mean strategic tailor-made solutions, thinking “outside the box”, and finding creative options to reach the clients’ real goals and interests.

What do you enjoy most about acting as arbitrator?

My work as arbitrator has increased significantly for the last couple of years. Sitting as arbitrator, I have had the privilege of working with outstanding professionals: my fellow colleagues at the tribunal, parties’ counsel and representatives, experts, administrative secretaries, case managers, etc. In such a rich environment, what I enjoy most is the opportunity to debate solid legal reasoning and arguments, the intellectual challenge of deciding cases (including the analysis of the evidence produced), and the continuous search for excellence and fairness when rendering decisions to the parties. I take the duty of acting as arbitrator very seriously. Arbitrators should always honour the trust that the parties have placed in them and the best way to do it is through commitment, dedication and hard work. Parties and their counsel/representatives spend a considerable amount of time, energy and resources to advance their positions and views in arbitrations. Arbitrators should match those efforts when rendering their decisions, to make sure that they got it right and fulfilled the parties’ expectations to the best extent possible. Acting as arbitrator is a noble and fulfilling mission.

What challenges and opportunities do virtual arbitration hearings and proceedings present to expert witnesses?

I have worked as a national reporter for Brazil in the ICCA “right to a physical hearing” project (https://www.arbitrationicca.org/right-to-a-physical-hearinginternational-arbitration). In my report, I found out more opportunities than challenges, more reasons to be optimistic rather than concerned with virtual arbitration hearings. Likewise, in my professional practice, virtual hearings have proven to be valuable tools at the disposal of parties, counsel, arbitrators and expert witnesses. This is a new reality: moving forward, we will see more and more a mix of in-person with virtual hearings. I understand that they both have their advantages and benefits, particularly for expert witnesses. For instance, virtual hearings have made examinations and cross-examinations more objective and more efficient. Long hours of in-person examinations have been turned into brief and objective virtual examinations. This is certainly a positive development and a good opportunity for expert witnesses.

How has the market for arbitration work changed since you first started practising?

With respect to the Brazilian market specifically, I have been witnessing a robust development for the past 20 years, since I first started studying arbitration back in the early 2000s and since I started practising later on. I will further explain two of those positive developments. First, an impressive growth in the Brazilian arbitration market, both in terms of quantity and quality. The Brazilian market is certainly one of the biggest and most promising for domestic and international arbitration nowadays. Every year, we have more ongoing arbitrations and more professionals dedicated to arbitration in Brazil. The quality of the work executed has increased significantly as well, as we have embraced international standards for decades, even for purely domestic cases. Second, more recently, some progress has been made on the enactment and implementation of pro-diversity policies by Brazilian entities and arbitral institutions. We still have a long way to go in terms of reaching an adequate position for diversity in the arbitration community, but some progress has been made in recent years, at least in terms of raising awareness and establishing policies. One additional challenge for the arbitration leadership is to foster wellbeing and to find a better work-life balance for professionals in this field. In my view, diversity and wellbeing go hand in hand, and they should be at the core of any business plan now, the top of mind for any leader in this field.

You have occupied many roles in the arbitration space – to what extent do you feel that having a broad range of experience has enhanced your practice?

In my view, a wider range of experience has certainly enhanced my practice. At some point, one should focus his/her career, as our market is becoming more and more specialized. However, this does not mean that, throughout one’s career, some other roles could not play a major role as well. One example: I worked for the Brazilian federal government in the beginning of my career and that position also involved dealing with arbitration matters within the government. More recently, I have been engaged to work in several public law matters and disputes, dealing with public regulation, public concessions, publicprivate partnerships, etc. The knowledge I gathered during my time at the public administration has certainly helped me navigate through the public law issues that, now, I debate on a daily basis.

WWL says: Rafael Francisco Alves is “a logical and strong strategist” say sources, who note he “stands out for his intelligence and great client skills”.