Meet Ana Tereza Basilio, the founding Partner of Basilio Advogados. Ana started her academic professional life at Universidade Candido Mendes do Rio de Janeiro- UCAM, where she graduated in Law in December 1989. After graduating, Ana took a postgraduation course in North American Law at the University of Wisconsin. She had the honor to be a partner at Sergio Bermudes Law Firm from 1990 to 1998 and an international partner at Baker & McKenzie. She was responsible for the civil and commercial litigation and arbitration areas in Brazil while working for the firm from July 2002 to 2005. After this period of great learning, Ana founded her own Basilio Advogados Law Firm, which, in the last 12 years, has grown exponentially and she believes that today Basilio Advogados is one of the main specialized civil litigation, arbitration, and consulting firms in the country. Ana was also a judge of the Regional Electoral Court of the State of Rio De Janeiro, from 2010 to 2015, to be a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), based in Paris, in the Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (ADR) commission, Director of Mediation and Arbitration of the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers elected in 2018 for the biennium 2018-2019 and President of the Mediation and Arbitration commissions of this Institute since 2019.
In 2019, Ana has indicated Member of the Permanent Forum of the Arbitration Commission of the Escola de Magistratura of State of Rio de Janeiro – EMERJ. Later in August 2021, together with a few great names in the legal profession, she founded the Instituto Brasileiro de Estudos em Protecao de Dados – IBRADADOS, assuming its Presidency. Finally, in November 2018, Ana was elected Vice-President of the Brazilian Bar Association, Rio de Janeiro State Chapter, for the 2019 to 2021 term and was re-elected for the 2022 to 2024 term. She has also been awarded the Medal of Judicial Merit, from the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro. She has also received the Medal of Merit from the Federal Regional Court of Rio de Janeiro in 2015 and, finally was awarded the Tiradentes Medal in September 2019 by ALERJ – Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Remembering Accomplishments
Ana has some great personal and professional achievements. However, becoming the Vice President of the OAB-RJ in 2019, and was to be re-elected in 2021. OAB-RJ is the largest sectional in the country. Ana feels honourable to be able to represent more than 100 thousand lawyers from Rio De Janeiro. To reach this position, which was historically male-dominated and the recognition that women are capable of successfully occupying management positions has given me great professional fulfillment.
Leading a Law Firm is Challenging
Ana feels, that leading a law firm in Brazil, is extremely challenging. The country has gone through and still goes through several unstable political and economic moments, which often makes it extremely challenging, especially for liberal professionals. Ana keeps in mind that one of the main principles that lead her life and professional performance is persistence. Ana and her team study daily, persisting, persevering, be resilient, and always do a good job. Transmitting this to the team is essential. In addition, Ana feels trust in the good performance of her team of professionals, establishing a clear and agile communication channel, and work focused on solving the clients’ demands in the best possible way.
When Technology is an Ally
Ana also feels, that being a woman in a historically male-dominated environment is a challenge in itself. Besides, she believes, that no one is fully up for a challenge. However, Ana believes that hard work, persistence, and resilience will eventually lead everyone to success. Ana tries to conciliate the attribution of wife, mother, law partner, and vice-president of the OAB-RJ in the best possible way. To do so, Ana counts on her team that supports her and helps her manage her commitments, and a specialized team of lawyers to serve Basilio Advogados clients. Ana often highlights that the platforms for contact and meetings in the virtual environment have helped her and the team to keep themselves closer and more connected, and more than that, it has optimized their time to the maximum and has helped Ana in this intense routine of work and commitments. Technology is a great ally for her.
The Driving Force
Ana’s motivation in life is good work achieving excellence. It is working with and for the love of the practice of law. It is to serve the client in the best way possible, to solve a question, reach a goal, make a good deal, change a legal position, create a relevant precedent before the Courts, to leave Basilio Advogado’s mark, the name Basilio, registered in the history of her profession. This is Ana’s daily motivation.
Future Roadmap
When it comes to the future, Ana understands that the challenge is always to seek new areas of performance for the fields of Law, prospecting for more clients and business. Therefore, Basilio Advogados counts on a team with an excellent legal background and in constant updating. The firm values excellence and prioritizes ethics in its business relationships.
