Smith International Legal Consultants, P.A.

There's something about top ten lists that engages the reader but still provides helpful information. As part of the Association of Corporate Counsel's ongoing "top ten" series, Mauricio and I teamed up with Christiana Abbade do Couto, General Counsel for Iron Mountain do Brasil, to create our own list of Top Ten Tips when Negotiating Contracts in Brazil.

Our top ten list contains a range of helpful nuggests, with something for the novice as well as seasoned investor. One of the most interesting topics from recent news events is the influence of FCPA and SOX. From the article, our guide was the following:

"If you have to comply with FCPA and SOX and will contract with Brazilian company, it is best to research and learn about the company quite deeply before contracting with it. Not all Brazilian companies are in compliance with this legislation, and most of Brazilian companies have not heard about these laws. It is important to train your Brazilian counterparty and audit prior contracting."

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but there is much more lurking underneath. In the coming days, we are going to look a bit more deeply at this issue, including how it can impact both the dispute resolution and transactional spheres of lawyering. What would you include in a top ten list that we failed to mention? Did we miss something?

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