1. What is the current legal landscape for your practice area in your jurisdiction?

Litigation in Brazil is characterized by lawsuits based on a civil law system and processed before the Judiciary. This, in turn, is a paid function of the State, performed by judges and collegiate bodies distributed across specialized areas, such as Labor Law, Civil Law, Tax Law, etc., and organized into different court levels. Since 2019, most cases have been processed electronically, with the main set of applicable rules found in the Código de Processo Civil (CPC), the main procedural law applicable to litigation in the country. Arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods, such as mediation and conciliation, coexist with the government system, which have been encouraged to, among other purposes, relieve the burden on the Judiciary.

One of Brazil’s main challenges regarding litigation is the slowness of its overburdened justice system, which accumulates 84 millions of pending cases. Despite recent advances in digitalization and automation, a definitive solution to this problem has not been achieved yet. In recent years, the country has sought to strengthen binding precedents, invest in technology such as artificial intelligence for screening and classifying cases, and promote consensual dispute resolution through conciliation and mediation. These measures aim to reduce litigation and increase the predictability of judicial decisions.

2. What three essential pieces of advice would you give to clients involved in your practice area matters?

Civil litigation in the Brazilian judicial system is often lengthy and complex. Throughout the process, multiple petitions are filed, appeals are prepared, and evidence is collected, requiring the intense dedication of highly specialized and committed professionals to achieve the best possible resolution. However, it is also recommended that the party cooperate actively to ensure a satisfactory outcome.

The first of these steps is the proper preparation of evidence. When companies enter into a legal agreement, they almost always expect the partnership to be successful and the results to be positive for both parties. However, this optimism can also lead them to neglect the collection and storage of evidence. Similarly, when unexpected damage occurs, it is common for the victim to lack accurate records of their prior status, making it difficult to prove the loss in court.

In addition to obtaining and maintaining adequate evidence of rights, it is also recommended that the party seek the advice of qualified attorneys before the dispute begins. An early legal diagnosis of the client’s situation is essential for implementing an appropriate and assertive strategy.

Equally important is the planning that the party must undertake to face a long and laborious litigation. Legal disputes are notoriously time-consuming and require significant resources from the parties, which can lead to financial hardship if they are not adequately prepared to maintain their activities throughout the lawsuit. In this scenario, it is important to consider that preliminary injunctions may take longer than expected or have negative impacts that are difficult to reverse. The key to overcoming these effects, therefore, is good strategic litigation designed with a trusted professional.

3. What are the greatest threats and opportunities in your practice area law in the next 12 months?

In the context of Litigation, the next 12 months are expected to see even more developments in the transformative processes currently underway.

On the one hand, significant threats are emerging that could compromise the quality of judicial services and the predictability of judgments. The most immediate of these is the risk of “trial without a judge”. The pressure for speed is driving the use of artificial intelligence systems by courts to triage and categorize cases. However, this automation, when poorly applied, results in the particularities of complex cases being ignored and lawsuits being processed with standardized decisions without in-depth analysis.

Furthermore, a bill to amend the Civil Code is currently under consideration in Brazilian Congress. The change, in itself, is not necessarily negative, but it casts a shadow of legal uncertainty over rules that have been in effect for just over twenty years. In this sense, the transition period promises some instability and difficulty in defining prognoses until new positions adopted by courts are known.

On the other hand, the expansion of remote procedural acts and evidentiary innovation represent good opportunities for conducting complex litigation. This is because operational costs for performing procedural acts can be reduced without compromising the provision of high-quality legal services by lawyers uniformly throughout Brazil, which has enormous geographic dimensions. Furthermore, the development of technologies for analyzing large volumes of data puts jurimetrics in the spotlight, not only to defend against the risks of automation but also to build a more intelligent, efficient, and strategic legal practice.

4. How do you ensure high client satisfaction levels are maintained by your practice?

At Villamil Advogados, our business is to provide intelligent legal solutions to protect and enhance our clients’ results. To achieve this, we rely on specialized, committed, and innovative teams with technical expertise and in-depth knowledge of our clients’ businesses, striving for operational effectiveness, the value of human beings, and the prosperity of all.

Furthermore, we have a specific methodology based on the Deming Cycle PDCA, that leads to total quality system. First, we immerse ourselves in the reality of the client’s operations and their objectives. Next, we conduct a legal diagnosis, mapping risks and defining potential solutions, and then implementing the most intelligent solutions together with the client. Finally, we monitor legal solutions, assessing their effectiveness and proposing continuous improvements that align with the client’s strategies and objectives.

5. What technological advancements are reshaping your practice area law and how can clients benefit from them?

Certainly, the most transformative technology currently affecting legal practice in Brazil is artificial intelligence.

Lawsuits in Brazil were rapidly digitized after the 2020 pandemic, enabling the standardization of information and efficient collection of data that were previously a distant goal. The arrival of artificial intelligence models in this scenario enabled faster and more complex analyses of this data, ushering in an era in which legal practice cannot ignore the effects of this transformation in the way litigation is approached.

Several criticisms, however, can and should be leveled at these technologies and their use in the legal field. However, it is necessary to know how to play the game so that parties and attorneys can maximize the benefits of this new situation. One of the most common examples of this is the use of artificial intelligence for research and processing of judicial precedents, aiming to obtain a more accurate and rapid definition of litigation outcomes.

The syllabus system, historically used by most of Brazil’s Judiciary, remains precarious, and its analysis requires hours of dedication for legal professionals to extract the nuances of case law that can define the courts prevailing opinion on a specific legal case. However, skilled lawyers using appropriate technological tools improves and facilitates this analysis, which enables them to provide better guidance to their clients.