José Luiz has been working with business law for over 30 years, focusing on corporate and M&A, corporate governance, business reorganization and national and international contracts. His practice also includes sustainability issues, especially involving environmental licensing, certifications, asset protection, crisis management and conflict resolution.

He was legal director of Fibria Celulose S.A. (formerly Aracruz Celulose S.A.) for almost 20 years. Throughout this career, he was responsible for advising Portocel Terminal Especializado de Barra do Riacho S.A. (at the time, a subsidiary of Aracruz and Celulose Nipo Brasileira S.A. – CENIBRA), coordinating the drafting of port terminal lease/use contracts, the contracting of port facility works, the use of port labor and stevedoring services, obtaining environmental licenses and permits for port facilities and activities in general.

He was also Legal Director of the Multiplic Financial Conglomerate, responsible for all the legal issues of the group’s companies, which ranged from a multiple bank and securities broker and distributor to an insurance company, a leasing company, a mining company, a reforestation company and a holding company.

He is a licensed assistant professor of Commercial Law at the Law Faculty of the Catholic University of Petrópolis.