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Ricardo Gardini de Andrade

Partner
Ricardo Gardini de Andrade is highly qualified, extremely available and easy to work with.
— Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2024
London
About

Ricardo Gardini is a lawyer qualified in Brazil as well as in Italy and is registered as foreign lawyer with the Law Society from England and Wales (and he was registered with the Vienna Bar Association from 08/2020 to 08/2025). Ricardo specializes in international arbitration and cross-border litigation as well as in M&A / transactional matters, with a particular focus on providing assistance to Brazilian clients globally and international clients involved in Brazil.

Ricardo has a longstanding experience in handling matters for clients in different sectors, including consumer goods, infrastructure and transport, energy and natural resources, financial services and telecoms.

During the last almost 20 years, Ricardo has been assisting the largest Brazilian multinational companies and financial institutions in their most complex disputes and transactions abroad, particularly in Europe. He has built up a powerful network with leading Brazilian and European chambers of arbitration, associations, governmental bodies and agencies.

Ricardo is a multilingual and multicultural lawyer with unparallel experience as lead counsel on Brazil-related international arbitrations, cross-border disputes and transactional matters involving multi-jurisdictional teams from different practice areas.

Areas of FocusLitigation, Arbitration and InvestigationsConsumer Goods, Food and RetailFinancial ServicesTechnologyInfrastructure, Construction and TransportEnergy and Natural ResourcesTelecomsMergers and AcquisitionsInternational Arbitration
Professional QualificationsAdvogado registered with Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (National Bar Association of Brazil)Avvocato registered with the Consiglio Nazionale Forense (Italian National Bar Council)Avvocato / Niedergelassener europäischer Rechtsanwalt registered with Rechtsanwaltskammer Wien (Vienna Bar Association), 08/2020 to 08/2025

EXPERIENCE

  • Assisting the largest Brazilian private conglomerate on parallel multi-billion post-M&A ICC arbitrations and judicial proceedings in Brazil, UK, Austria, Singapore and US related to the control of a paper & pulp company against an Asian group. This is one of the largest historical disputes involving a Brazilian party.Assisting one of the world’s largest food companies as its trusted counsel on a wide range of matters in several countries in Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and Americas, including, an ICC arbitration related to the termination of its joint venture agreement entered into with a leading European multinational company in the food sector involving several jurisdictions in Europe and Africa, IP litigation matters in UK/EU, a product liability matter involving several jurisdictions in UK/EU, multiple commercial litigation cases in Italy, a number of disputes and transactions in China/Hong Kong and Middle East, high profile deals in UK, Germany and Italy, corporate reorganizations in Italy, UAE and China, among others.
  • Assisting the Brazilian subsidiary of an Italian leading telecommunications company on a high complex ICC arbitration against its minority shareholder, a Brazilian group.*
  • Appointed by the Arbitration Chamber of Milan as sole arbitrator in international commercial disputes.*
  • Assisting a Brazilian listed company on cross-border disputes arising out of a multibillion EPC agreement entered into with a listed Italian construction company for the construction of three coal-fired power plants in Brazil before the courts of Brazil, Italy and Portugal.*
  • Assisting a large Brazilian mining company in a complex class action in UK in relation to a dam disaster which occurred in Brazil.*
  • Assisting a Brazilian oil & gas listed company in a third party insolvency proceeding in Italy.*
  • Assisting the Brazilian trade and investment promotion agency under the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on all legal aspects in connection with the planning; construction, managing and decommissioning of the Expo 2015 Brazilian pavilion, including drafting and negotiating of all EPC contracts and service agreements.*
  • Assisting a Brazilian mining company on two significant long term take-or-pay transportation agreements in addition to other several iron ore sale purchase contracts and related agreements.
  • Assisting one of the largest Brazilian banks on the reorganization plan of its European operations in Austria, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, the most important overseas project of the bank in recent years.*
  • Assisting the minority shareholders on the sale of their stake in an Italian leading company in the coating sector to a Brazilian multinational company, one of the world’s leading players in the coating sector.*

*Denotes experience from previous firm.

Languages
  • Portuguese
  • Italian
  • English

Recognition

  • Recommended for Dispute Resolution: Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Arbitration in Austria, Legal 500 EMEA 2025
  • Between 2012 and 2018, Ricardo was the only lawyer ranked by Chambers Global as expert on Brazil related M&A/Corporate and Dispute Resolution matters in Italy.

Pro Bono

Ricardo has been involved in two large pro bono projects in cooperation with NGOs:

  • Assisting immigrants on their European Court of Human Rights application procedures, the so called project Rule 39.*
  • Leading a cross-office and cross-practice team involved in the drafting of country-specific briefings with information on the current legal immigration situation at the countries’ borders, entry requirements, the different routes to protection available to people fleeing Ukraine in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic and Sweden.*

*Denotes experience before cooperation with DLA Piper.

Education

  • University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Law, LL.M. on Transnational and European Law, 2005

  • University of Milan (Italy), Faculty of Law, Post-graduate course on Private International Law, 2003/ 2004
  • Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), Faculty of Law, J.D., 2002

Seminars

  • Moderator at 2021 São Paulo Arbitration Week’s seminar on  “How the ICCA Guidelines on Standards of Practice in  International Arbitration may contribute to internationalarbitrations seated in Brazil” held on 21 October 2021.
  • Moderator at 2020 São Paulo Arbitration Week’s seminar on“Delay & Disruption in Construction Arbitration: Effects onMajor Projects in Brazil and Latin America” held on 21October 2020.
  • Co-speaker at ABRASCA´s seminar on “Class Action and  Class Arbitration” held on 27 November 2020.

 

Prior Experience

  • 2018 – 2022, Principal Associate with a UK-based international law firm, at the firm's Vienna office.
  • 2009 – 2018, Senior Associate with a UK-based international firm, at the firm's Milan office.
  • 2008 – 2009, Associate with a UK-based international law firm, at the firm's Milan office.
  • 2007, Associate with the Brazilian Desk of an Italian law firm in Turin.
  • 2006, Trainee with a leading Italian law firm in the firm's International Arbitration Group in Milan.
  • 2004, Trainee with the Secretariat of the Chamber of Arbitration of Milan.
  • 2002, Trainee with the Secretariat of the CAMARB – Câmara de Mediação  e Arbitragem Empresarial (Brazil).
  • 2000-2001, Trainee with the Civil Court of First Instance of the Minas Gerais State - district of Belo Horizonte (Brazil).

Memberships

  • Advogado registered with Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil - Brazilian Bar Association
  • Avvocato registered with the Consiglio Nazionale Forense - Italian National Bar Council
  • Vienna Bar Association (from 08/2020 to 08/2025)
  • Appointed as a Vienna International Arbitration Centre -VIAC Ambassador for Brazil
  • Listed in the Vienna International Arbitration Centre - VIAC’s list of practitioners
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Connect

Phone

+44 (0) 20 7796 6173
(Work, London)
+44 (0) 20 7796 6666
(Mobile, London)