London-based Latin America law specialists, Nabas Legal International Lawyers, has expanded into Colombia and widened its Brazilian operations on the back of their role in the Olympic 2012 Games.

The firm, set up by a Brazilian business woman, Vitoria Nabas, has recently won a long term partnership with Colombian insolvency specialists, Alternativas Juridicas, which could potentially bring in £150,000 over the next few years, following their work to help organise the Brazilian Olympic Committee’s visit to London 2012.

The firm estimates that this new engagement will mean an increase in jobs from its current 17 staff members to a total of 25 employees at its Southwark offices in the next two to three years.

Vitoria Nabas, Founder of Nabas Legal and a Brazilian and European qualified lawyer, explains how the legacy from the London Games, by putting British expertise on a world stage, has helped to further cement the company’s foothold in the Colombian and Brazilian market. She said:

“The Olympic legacy has given us huge exposure, introducing many new companies to us. It has brought us credibility in Brazil and Colombia, and we have received many enquiries from other Latin American Embassies including the Colombian Olympic Committee.

“Although the work with the Colombian Olympic Committee didn’t materialise it led to a partnership with Alternativas Juridicas. This all came from the work we had done for the Olympics. We would not have reached the Colombian market without it.

“Currently in this financial year we have already accumulated £90,000 from case work alone. This was all off the back of the Olympics.

“All the contacts in Brazil that we developed were thanks to UKTI, including the joint venture that we now have in Brazil. This was the starting point to which the legacy has flowed from. As a Brazilian business woman, who set up her own English law firm in London, I would never have thought I would have gone on to internationalise back to my home country of Brazil and now onto Colombia.”

As a specialist Latin American law firm, last summer a partnership was formed with Brazilian firm G&C to work for the Olympic Brazilian Committee and Rio 2016 to organise the Brazilian team’s visit to the London 2012 Olympics. This partnership, which was formed through UKTI’s trade missions to Brazil back in 2011, led to the organising of the Casa Brasil (Brazilian House) for the visiting team at the prestigious Somerset House in London.

Casa Brasil showcased the art and culture of Brazil for the build-up of the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio, of which 25,000 visitors from the public attended. Nabas Legal organised the legal work for this large project, including organising insurance, analysing agreements, policies and procedures under English Law which the Brazilian organisers were required to fulfil.

The work in Colombia and in Brazil will help companies from both sides of the Atlantic to do more business, providing legal assistance in setting up abroad, selling internationally, and protecting intellectual property rights among others.

As a law firm with a dual specialisation in Brazil and the UK, Nabas Legal has recently been working with four British firms interested in working with the Rio 2016 Committee. By providing a bridge for UK companies to the Olympic organisers in Brazil, Nabas Legal has furthered the legacy of the Games in the UK.

Nabas Legal’s on-going relationship with UKTI has led to numerous opportunities to work collectively on seminars regarding Latin America to introduce and educate the British investment community to the region.

Contacts

If you are based in London and looking to develop your business overseas contact UKTI London for assistance:

London International Trade Team

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7234 3050

Email: [email protected]

Information about the range of support services from UKTI is available through your local UKTI office.

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