Brazilian law firm Lefosse has hired a partner to lead its compliance, investigations and white collar practice in São Paulo. 

Adriana Dantas joins the firm from her own boutique, Adriana Dantas Advogados, alongside counsel Alba Duarte, senior associate Marina Nicolosi and associate Eduardo Bassani. She brings with her more than two decades of experience advising on compliance and white collar defence matters to her new role, which will see her lead Lefosse’s 12-lawyer compliance, investigations and white collar team. 

Alongside her legal work in private practice, Dantas currently chairs the sanctions committee of the Inter-American Development Bank, a court of appeal for cases involving allegatoins of corruption, fraud and the formation of cartels in projects financed by banks in Latin America. 

Rodrigo Junqueira, Lefosse’s managing partner, said: “With her international expertise, Adriana shall hold a strategic position in our firm to offer tailored services to our clients, considering the business environment is undergoing deep and positive cultural transformations around the world.”

Prior to founding her own firm, Dantas worked for King & Spalding in Washington DC, Geneva and London between 2001 and 2011. Her practice focuses on administrative defences, negotiations of leniency agreements, internal investigations and crisis management among other matters. 

Her hire marks the latest installment in a string of growth moves from Lefosse, which has more than 50 partners firmwide in Brazil and operates across more than 20 practice areas. 

In April, the firm hired infrastructure partner Miriam Signor from regional rival Stocche Forbes Advogados, to lead its project finance and project development team in São Paulo. Signor’s arrival followed that of  competition and antitrust lawyer Paula Azevedo from competition regulator CADE in March, a move that coincided with the firm’s office opening in Brasilia where Azevedo is based. 

The firm also strengthened its ranks internally in May when it promoted six lawyers to its partnership, boosting the partnership beyond the 50 mark for the first time in the firm's 35 year history. 

Lefosse also added restructuring and disputes partners Felope Camara, from E.Munhoz Advogados, and Julio Neves, from TozziniFreire Advogados, in March to strengthen its insolvency and dispute resolution benches. And in December, the firm hired life sciences and healthcare partner Rubens Granja and a team from Kestener Granja & Vieira Advogados.