Victoria Bright

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Leaders in Law endorses Victoria Bright as our exclusively recommended Infrastructure Law expert in Ghana. If you wish to get in touch with Victoria please use the contact information provided above.

Victoria is the Managing Partner and co-founder of Addison Bright Sloane.  She is qualified both in England & Wales and Ghana.  Victoria has been practising for over 26 years, mostly in the UK where she trained at Taylor Wessing, a leading international law firm, and subsequently practised as a senior associate and then a partner at DLA Piper, one of the world’s largest law firms (by revenue). Victoria is responsible for overall management and international strategy of the firm and works closely with the firm’s Senior Partner.  She also has responsibility together with the Senior Partner for business development and promotion of the firm in general.

Achievements

Victoria is a former legal advisor to former President J A Kufuor and a former Minister of State.

While in the UK, Victoria regularly wrote articles and spoke at conferences on technology and corporate issues.  She wrote the IT chapter of “The Euro in Law and Practice” and regularly chaired various technology and corporate conferences.

Victoria was chair of the legal sub-committee of a Ministerial team that reviewed Power Purchase Agreements in the energy sector of Ghana.

Highlights of Victoria’s work include advising on the US$547M Millennium Challenge Account Project, and leading negotiations on various major international projects including advising on two major telecoms privatisations of Ghana’s then two national carriers, advising on the Government’s first Sovereign Bond Issue, negotiating with the Kingdom Group (Prince Alwaleed’s company) for the development of the international standard five star Movenpick Hotel and retail and office complex and residences. Victoria was a key part of a Presidential delegation sent to familiarise itself with the bauxite industry in Jamaica.

In the UK, Victoria specialised in major technology, telecommunication, data protection, and infrastructure projects. As such, she advised on major projects including The Mayor of London’s Congestion Charging Scheme with a focus on IT and data protection issues. One of the largest projects she undertook was advising the UK government on its Broadband strategy for the country i.e. the Broadband Aggregation Project. This project, which was worth over 1 billion Pounds Sterling, was the largest broadband project in the world at the time.

Education

  • The University of Sussex (Double Honours Degree in Law and French)
  • Robert Shuman University, Strasbourg (now Universite de Strasbourg III Robert Schuman)
  • College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

Practice Areas

Victoria is a recognised expert in:

  • Energy (power (including renewables), upstream and downstream petroleum & gas)
  • Private equity
  • IP, technology & telecommunications
  • Joint ventures
  • Finance
  • Business process outsourcing
  • Data protection and Freedom of Information
  • Public Private Partnerships (PPP)

 

Emily Grunstein

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Leaders in Law endorses Emily Grunstein as our exclusively recommended Infrastructure Law expert in Australia. If you wish to get in touch with Emily please use the contact information provided above.

Emily Grunstein is a foreign qualified senior associate in our infrastructure practice. Emily has extensive experience in a variety of finance transactions. These include financings of construction, restructures of debt and equity positions and sales of assets and loan portfolios.

Emily has international legal experience, including several years spent working for a leading New York firm.

During her time in the US, the clients she assisted included Macquarie Capital USA, Annaly, AIG, Jefferies Group, C-III Asset Management, Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, the estate of Lehman Brothers, Archstone, Madison Capital, and the Union Labor Life Insurance Company.

Emily is qualified in the USA (New York) but is not admitted in Australia.

Firm Overview

A progressive global law firm

Our vision is to be the most progressive global law firm. For us, “progressive” is a mindset, an approach to how we do things. We instinctively take a fresh perspective on situations, exploring whether there are better ways of delivering practical, commercial solutions to the challenges our client’s face in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.

 

Gustavo Buffara Bueno

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Attorney at law with broad experience with contracts of the electric area, including the coordination of teams and advisory in legal, trade and strategyc matters

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

Pontifica Universidade Católica do Paraná (2001)

Bachelor of Law

Pontifica Universidade Católica do Paraná (2001)

Specialization in Business Law

Fundação Getulio Vargas – FGV (São Paulo) (2007)

MBA in Economic and Strategic Business Management

LANGUAGES 

Fluent English and intermediate Spanish

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

BFF ADVISORS

2015 to now 

Fouder Partner 

– Agency for companies, rasing within the market assets or structuring asset disposals;

– Advising for capital reconstruction; and

– Advice on developing business and deals, as well as project finance.

BUFFARA BUENO ADVOGADOS

2010 to now 

Founder Partner 

– Negotiation of national and international contracts;

– Participation in public and private bidding procedures;

– Leading Legal Due Diligence;

– Management of public grants in the area of energy and transmission;

– M&A transactions and their corporate consolidation for IPO.

GRUPO HAZTEC

2007 to 2010 

General Counsel 

– Leaded the due diligence and negotiation of the agreement for sale of Geoplan to the Haztec Group;

– Set up the Legal Advise (current name given by Haztec to the former Legal Management of Geoplan) in all companies of the Haztec Group;

– Headed a team of ten (10) attorneys, leading the advice and litigation area for the Haztec Business Units, namely: i. Waters (former Geoplan); ii. Environmental (former Haztec); iii. Residues (Gaiapan and another company being merged); and iv. Equipment (Aquamec);

– Colaborated with the due diligence and negotiation of agreements for purchases of the group in 2008 (which are already 4 companies fully purchased and being merged);

– Took part with the preparing Haztec corporately to its IPO in 2010.

GEOPLAN

2004 to 2007

Legal Director (2006 to 2008)

Legal Manager (2004 to 2006) 

– Developed and implemented concept of reconciliation and agreement in the labor and civil litigation of the company, with cost reduction in the management of outsourcers from the civil litigation by about 90%;

– Responsible for the contractual and litigation legal coordination of the company;

– Developed the standard drafts and implemented remote access by collaborators to the standard contract drafts through the company’s internet portal;

– Developed and implemented controls in the contractual management of the company’s BOT grants and contracts;

– Headed the project to recover the company’s receivables.

CAMARGO CORREA

2002 to 2004

Attorney (2003 to 2004)

Junior Attorney (2002 to 2003)

– Developed the standard contract drafts and implemented remote access to the drafts by the works collaborators.

– Headed the team responsible for managing the company’s claims.

– Responsible for managing civil, labor and tax litigation of the transmission and distribution area (CCES).

– Member of the Risk Committee.

– Developed and headed professionals with focus on management of the civil and labor litigation outsourcing, preparing successors.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 – Deliver a lecture on outsourcing of legal services, elaboration and writing of contracts to guarantee safety in the hiring of outsourcers, guarantees, liabilities and licenses in service contracting of international market and on water reutilization;

 – Associate of Inter American Bar Association – IABA, since 2010;

 – Vice President of the Committee V of Commercial, Banking, Securities Law, and Corporate and Institutional of the Inter American Bar Association;

 – President of the Arbitration Chamber (Rio de Janeiro) of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Brazil-China (CCIBC), since 2016;

 – Arbitrator of the Arbitration Chamber of the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná (CAMFIEP), since 2016; and

 – Brazilian. Native of Curitiba, State of Paraná, Brazil. Born in November 15th of 1977.