Steptoe is pleased to announce that Pablo Bentes, a native of Brazil who most recently served six years as a legal officer in the Appellate Body Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, has joined the firm’s International Trade and International Regulatory Compliance practice groups as a director. Mr. Bentes will reside in the firm’s Washington office, traveling regularly to Brazil and other parts of Latin America in connection with Steptoe’s expanding practice in Brazil and South America more generally.
At the WTO, Mr. Bentes assisted members of the Appellate Body in reviewing decisions rendered under the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism on a variety of trade issues. He was involved in a number of significant and high-profile cases including the Airbus case, the beef hormones and clove cigarettes cases involving the United States, the European Community and Indonesia, and the retreaded tires case involving Brazil. During his tenure, Mr. Bentes assisted in drafting legal opinions, and in the preparation and conduct of oral hearings, and supported the Appellate Body in its final decision-making process. In addition, he periodically taught courses on various WTO disciplines to government officials of WTO members.
Prior to joining the WTO, Mr. Bentes was head of the international trade practice at a major Brazilian law firm based in São Paulo, Brazil, where he represented the government of Brazil in two arbitration proceedings under the Doha Waiver on Bananas, and represented petitioners and respondents in antidumping investigations in Brazil, Argentina and in the United States. He also assisted US counsel on issues arising under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Brazil.
In welcoming Mr. Bentes to the firm, Roger E. Warin, chair of Steptoe, commented: “Brazil, which is the sixth largest economy in the world and on its way to being the fifth, continues to enjoy stability and strong economic growth, and an increasingly preeminent position not only in Latin America, but on the world stage. Over the years, Steptoe has handled numerous types of matters for multinational clients doing business in Brazil, including in the FCPA, intellectual property and chemical regulatory areas, and has also represented Brazilian clients in a variety of areas. Pablo’s strong background representing Brazilian companies and trade associations as well as multinational companies investing or operating in Brazil will deepen and expand our capabilities in that market. In addition, Pablo’s years of experience at the WTO where he had an opportunity to see the decision-making process first-hand, will greatly benefit our clients engaging in WTO litigation and dispute settlement proceedings.”
Mr. Bentes added: “Steptoe is an international law firm with an outstanding reputation in international trade and with unmatched experience in other international regulatory areas that are emerging in Brazil, such as FCPA. The firm’s preeminence in the relevant fields of my expertise and background, coupled with my working relationships with members of the firm in previous positions, made Steptoe the ideal firm for my return to private practice.”
Steptoe’s International Department is large and well-respected. The past two years, Law360 has named Steptoe an “International Trade Group of the Year,” and the firm’s trade and regulatory practices and lawyers have consistently received the highest rankings from the legal reference guides. In the recently released 2012 edition of Chambers Global, the editors remarked that the firm has “strongholds of trade talent in the USA and Asia, and a highly respected European practice. The group offers an extraordinary breadth of capabilities, as evidenced by its standout work on remedies investigations, policy advocacy, and export controls and sanctions advice.” This past year, the firm secured a landmark victory for the government of China before the WTO Appellate Body, which ruled that several aspects of the implementation of US antidumping and countervailing duties were counter to WTO regulations. It also represented Korea in its Free Trade Agreement negotiations with both the European Union and United States.
Mr. Bentes is a co-founder and member of the ABCI Institute, an international think tank associated with the Brazilian embassy in Washington. He also is a visiting professor at the University of Miami School of Law, where he teaches an advanced seminar on WTO dispute settlement.
Mr. Bentes received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of São Paulo, where he also earned an M.B.A. in finance and risk management. In addition, Mr. Bentes holds an LL.M in comparative law from the University of Miami School of Law, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in international law and economics from the Instititut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement in Geneva. He is a frequent writer and speaker on international trade issues.
Along with his native Portuguese, Mr. Bentes speaks English, French, Spanish and German.
