It is not an April Fool´s Day hoax. On April first 2014, Brazil will effectively become the 79th country to adopt the United Nations’ Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (also known as CISG(*)). Although Brazil already adopts several principles of the Convention, this is, no doubt, a great step forward, as…
Recently, one of the greatest maestros of our time passed away: Italian conductor Claudio Abbado. He led some of the most prestigious classical music institutions in the twentieth century. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Berlin…
It is almost a consensus nowadays that large and small companies, regardless of their business activity or industry segment, must integrate in their corporate and operational strategies a variety of social, economical, and environmental elements in order to not only effectively satisfy all stakeholders, but also to remain sustainable and competitive in the long run….
Recently I had contact with the Design Thinking process, which is a creative problem solving approach that attempts to bring together tools and techniques from several disciplines and apply them to real problems or challenges. Although it follows no real pattern, as each situation requires unique approaches and solutions, a simple framework can be applied…
As mentioned in a previous post, this month I will briefly talk about two high profile cases from the corporate sector which helped to improve mediation awareness in Brazil and, due to its widespread coverage, provided the general public clear examples of how it is possible to fix complex legal problems by not letting our…
After a long wait, Corporate Mediation is slowly becoming recognized as an important settlement tool outside the small circle of current practitioners and enthusiasts, reaching a widespread audience which was unimaginable in Brazil not long ago. Among other evidence, a regulatory framework for Corporate Mediation is currently being debated at the Brazilian Senate, the traditional…
According to the National Council of Justice, there are close to 90 million lawsuits currently in course in Brazil. On average, it takes around 10 years for a lawsuit to reach closure after all appeals have been exhausted. In an effort to face this almost unbearable situation, the Brazilian court system has been fostering several…
A lot has been said about how to spread the mediation culture in Brazil. Undoubtedly, it is critical to improve the awareness of mediation as a useful tool in dispute resolution, targeting potential users and clients especially. These are the people who will select and recommend mediation to solve disputes and lawyers are probably the…
In an unthinkable movement, unseen in Brazil for at least 20 years, the most important cities in the country have witnessed massive street protests over price increases in public transportation in the last few days. Much like in several other social movements throughout the world, social networks were the tool used to spread the initial…
Ever since I started Law School, and for some years throughout my legal career, I was trained to work with the Win-Lose negotiation approach. Our legal culture glorifies the winners, but lacks conciliation alternatives. It provides no other alternative rather than seeking victory at the expense of the other parties. However, as soon as I…
