The Suit Magazine

Ronaldo Martins has never shied from the spotlight. In fact, in 1975, when Fiat decided to introduce their manufacturing plant in Brazil, Martins was hand-picked for a top-notch position. “I was selected to manage the recovery of several [large] tax benefits granted by the local government. In that moment I decided to focus on a legal career,” Martins explained.

At Universidade Mackenzie in São Paulo, Martins originally earned degrees in economics and accounting. “My inspiration was to ally [both economics and accounting] with a legal practice, since few professionals are able to achieve this level,” he said.  Eventually, Martins received a Master’s degree in Policy and Economic Law.

When Ronaldo Martins decided to establish his own law office Ronaldo Martins & Advogados, his goal was to create an outside-the-box offering – a law firm that was designed specifically to work well with his clients’ own legal departments.

“I had always worked for multinational companies,” Martins told The Suit Magazine.  His job was to choose outside law firms to handle legal matters, and then to work with them to get the job done.  So he had first-hand knowledge of the relationship between corporate legal departments and outside legal firms.  “We started from two fundamental premises: not to be just one more regular law office, and to extinguish all the barriers between the internal legal department and the external law office,” he said.  “Thus, gradually, we developed the concept of a highly specialized law office as an extension of the internal legal departments of the companies that are now our clients.” The firm now has offices in São Paulo, Campinas, São José do Rio Preto, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and Uberlândia.  Martins is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association and is licensed to practice law in São Paulo.

In his native country of Brazil, the law has a great deal of influence on day-to-day life.  Martins considers lawyers to be an essential element in the fight to protect people’s rights. “This is what motivates me to practice law,” he said.

Martins’ background in economics and accounting has provided an ideal foundation for his work in tax law and tax planning, but he hasn’t stopped there. “I initiated my activities in the tax field at IBM.  But now, [I typically work on] merger and acquisition transactions and business development support for our clients... I also handle federal cases. Nowadays, 45 percent of my practice time is spent on transactional law cases,” he explained.  He is also Co-Chairman of the Ethics Committee of BRITCHAM - the British Chamber of Commerce for Brazil.

As an entrepreneur, Martins appreciates how difficult it can be to start and manage a business. “Doing business in Brazil is a difficult task because it demands knowledge of several subjects... Nevertheless, doing business in a responsible manner and following the laws really helps us to develop our economy,” he said. When asked about his favorite moment as a lawyer, he replied, “The first time I did an oral hearing for the Federal Supreme Court.”

Martins believes that the court system still has room for improvement. “[We need to] use technology and improve the quality and training of lawyers and of judges. In accordance with our educational system, it is important for all law students to study judgments on all legal levels. Thus, students can participate in relevant cases several times.” Above all, Martins knows that a constant thirst for knowledge is the most important trait a lawyer can have. “The best advice anyone has given me,” he said, “was to keep studying and to always improve my knowledge of legal practice.”

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