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José Carlos Meirelles joined the Pinheiro Neto Advogados’ team in 1984 and became a partner of the firm in 1996, having also worked as a foreign associate at the Chicago office of McDermott, Will & Emery in 1989. He has been working in Pinheiro Neto’s São Paulo office for over 35 years and focuses his practice on the corporate area, especially in M&A; corporate law; private equity; capital markets; project finance; infrastructure, structured finance; investment funds; banking law;public private partnerships; and securitization of receivables. He is specialized in securitization and has participated in the structuring of several structured finance and securitization transactions in the local and international markets.  With an expertise in PPPs (Private-Public Partnerships), at the invitation of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), he has participated in the Infrastructure Experts Group, which consists of leading practitioners from across the private and public sectors dedicated to identifying solutions to the impediments that restrict developing country access to infrastructure finance.

As a current PhD student and with a Master Degree in Political and Economic Law at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (2020/2023), José Carlos is graduated with an LLB from the University of São Paulo Law School (USP) (1986) and with an LLM at the University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign, IL (1989), where he also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008 and has been an Adjunct Professor since 2005. Currently, he is a Guest Faculty Member and also a Lecturing Fellow Senior of Duke University School of Law, Professor of Executive Education in Business Law at Mackenzie University, Higienópolis Campus, Representative of Continuing Education (REDUC) and Professor of Corporate Law at Mackenzie University, Alphaville Campus, as well as Professor of Roman Law in the Master Course of the São Paulo Apostle Canon Law School.

Since 2012, at the invitation of the African Development Bank (ADB), he has participated in several projects throughout the African continent (Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and South Africa, among others), lecturing about public private partnerships and giving legal support to the government of these countries on infrastructure contracts. José Carlos is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) – Section of International Law, Member of the Advisory Board of Global Compact Network Brazil , and Pinheiro Neto Advogados’ representative in the New Champion of the World Economic Forum (WEF), as well as Pinheiro Neto Representative in the New Champions Local Chapter Brazil. He is also recommended by publications Chambers and Partners and Latin Lawyer in the Corporate, Banking & Finance practices.

For 15 years, he was the Coordinator of the Social Responsibility Commission of Pinheiro Neto, and still is a Counselor of Vocação, non-governmental entity which watches children and youngsters of underprivileged communities via education, culture and citizenchip, a Counselor of The Adus Institute that has been promoting the integration of refugees, and a Counselor of Pro Bono Institute, that combats the inequality of access to justice by freely serving vulnerable populations and civil society organizations, by stimulating voluntary advocacy and the production of legal knowledge. In 2019, José Carlos Meirelles was one of the nominees for the award for best pro bono lawyer in Latin America by Latin Lawyer Magazine. Fluently in Portuguese and English.