Vilardi e Advogados Associados

What Vilardi e Advogados Associados does

Vilardi e Advogados Associados is a São Paulo-based Brazilian law firm founded in 1991, specializing in criminal law and economic criminal law (Direito Penal Econômico). The firm operates as a privately held partnership with 24 total employees, of whom 15 are lawyers/attorneys listed on the website, and is headquartered in the Itaim Bibi financial district. Its practice is organized around three interconnected service lines: (i) Litigation and Consulting (Contenciosa e Consultiva), covering personalized criminal defense and legal opinions across all court instances and tribunals; (ii) Crisis Management (Gestão de Crise), focused on representation of companies and coordination of executive criminal defense, risk assessment, internal investigations, and leniency agreement negotiation, with particular prominence following the 2013 Anti-corruption Law and Operation Car Wash; and (iii) Internal Investigations (Investigações Internas), providing fact-finding, documentary analysis (using third-party forensic technology firms), witness interviews, and final reports with recommended legal measures.

The firm serves a client base of national and foreign corporate executives, companies, and individuals facing criminal proceedings, with named matters spanning major Brazilian corporates (Camargo Corrêa, MMX/Eike Batista, Banco Panamericano executives) and high-profile political figures (Delúbio Soares, Luiz Murat Filho, Robson Marinho). Revenue is generated exclusively through professional fees on legal representation, with no publicly disclosed pricing or productized offerings; the firm does not maintain a website shop, API, or software product, and delivers services through direct, referral-driven client engagement. Marketing and lead acquisition rely on the firm's reputation, including Band 1 Chambers and Partners: Latin America ranking for founding partner Celso Sanchez Vilardi (held continuously since 2009), Análise Advocacia 500 recognition, Leaders League recognition, and academic positions at FGV Law and IBCCrim.

Ownership is concentrated among equity partners, with no parent company, external institutional investor, or public listing. The firm holds no patents, trademarks, AI/ML capabilities, or technology products; its sole "proprietary" capability is an internal investigation methodology encompassing forensic document analysis, interviews, and structured reporting. Operating geographies are concentrated in Brazil, with a single São Paulo office, and no disclosed international offices, though the multilingual website (Portuguese, English, Spanish) and historical representation of foreign clients indicate cross-border engagement.

Name

Vilardi e Advogados Associados

Legal name

Vilardi e Advogados Associados

Website

https://vilardi.com.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vilardi e Advogados Associados is a São Paulo-based Brazilian law firm founded in 1991 that specializes in criminal and economic criminal law, serving corporate executives, companies, and individuals through litigation, crisis management, and internal investigations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Criminal Defense and Economic Criminal Law Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Offices of Lawyers (54111)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Criminal Defense (BPAHAAAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fraud Risk Management & Anti-Bribery/Anti-Corruption (ABAC) (BPAHAFAL), eDiscovery, Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAKAHAD), Fraud Risk & Financial Crime Controls Advisory (BPAKADAL)

Keywords

• Criminal law services
• White collar defense
• Crisis management
• Internal investigations
• Economic criminal law

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Professional Fees: Fee-based legal representation services for criminal defense, crisis management, and internal investigations. Revenue generated through professional legal fees, likely hourly rates or fixed project fees for specific legal matters.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Vilardi e Advogados Associados is a São Paulo-based law firm providing specialized criminal and economic criminal law services. The firm delivers personalized counsel and litigation representation across all courts and instances, defends executives and companies in corruption, money laundering, fraud, and anti-corruption law investigations, conducts internal corporate investigations using forensic document analysis and witness interviews, and negotiates leniency agreements. Practice areas are organized into Litigation and Consulting Services, Crisis Management Services, and Internal Investigations Services.

Product overview

Vilardi e Advogados Associados is a Brazilian law firm offering a unified portfolio of legal services specializing in criminal and economic criminal law. The core offering comprises three interconnected practice areas: Litigation and Consulting Services (for defense and legal opinions), Crisis Management Services (for corporate crisis situations involving executives), and Internal Investigations Services (for conducting internal corporate investigations). The firm is recognized as a reference in Economic Criminal Law, serving national and foreign executives and companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Litigation and Consulting Services (Contenciosa e Consultiva) Personalized legal counseling and litigation representation in Criminal Law and Economic Criminal Law, covering all instances and tribunals. Includes defense of investigated or accused individuals in criminal proceedings from initial phase through final judgment and penal execution, plus assistance to victims through police investigation requests, criminal complaints, and legal opinions on criminal matters.
• Crisis Management Services (Gestão de Crise) Strategic legal counsel for companies facing criminal investigations involving executives, including risk identification and assessment, coordination of corporate interests with executive criminal defense, legal advisory, and direct involvement in negotiation and formalization of leniency agreements, particularly with Boards of Administration of large corporations.
• Internal Investigations Services (Investigações Internas) Comprehensive internal investigation services for corporations, including fact identification, scope definition, documentary analysis with forensic technology partners, witness interviews, and preparation of final reports with conclusions and recommended legal measures to address detected fraud, irregularities, or executive misconduct.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Instituto Brasileiro de Ciências Criminais (IBCCrim)minorOthersProfessional membership organization. Many team members hold memberships and have completed specialization programs through IBCCrim in partnership with University of Coimbra's Institute of Economic and European Criminal Law (IDPEE).
• Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa (IDDD)minorOthersDefense Institute focused on defending defense rights. Several team members are associated with and participate in IDDD's Strategic Litigation Group. IDDD assists thousands of underprivileged individuals through various projects.
• Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) - Escola de DireitominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for law education. Multiple team members teach in the postgraduate program in Economic Criminal Law at FGV.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Demarest Advogados: Large São Paulo-based full-service firm with an established white-collar crime and compliance practice. Competes for the same corporate and executive mandates as Vilardi while offering complementary corporate, tax, and regulatory capabilities.
• TozziniFreire Advogados: Major Brazilian full-service firm with a recognized compliance, anti-corruption, and white-collar practice. Serves many of the same corporate clients on overlapping matters and competes for crisis-management and internal investigations mandates.
• Mattos Filho: Largest full-service Brazilian law firm with a leading white-collar crime, anti-corruption, and internal investigations practice. Competes with Vilardi for high-stakes corporate criminal mandates but offers a much broader service portfolio and international reach.
• Veirano Advogados: Major full-service Brazilian firm with a recognized white-collar and compliance practice serving corporate clients. Competes for anti-corruption, internal investigations, and crisis-management mandates while also offering broader transactional services.
• Machado Meyer Advogados: Long-established São Paulo full-service firm with a recognized criminal law and compliance practice. Competes for corporate criminal defense and investigations mandates while also serving clients on broader corporate and regulatory matters.
• Lefosse Advogados: Premium São Paulo-based full-service firm with a strong compliance, investigations, and white-collar practice. Frequently retained by large corporations on matters that overlap with Vilardi's crisis-management and internal investigations work.

Direct peers

• Bichara Advogados: São Paulo-based white-collar and anti-corruption boutique widely cited as a peer in Brazilian criminal-economic-law defense. Overlaps directly with Vilardi on executive criminal defense, leniency negotiations, and internal investigations work.
• Bottini & Tamasauskas Advogados: Boutique São Paulo firm focused on criminal economic law, white-collar defense, and compliance. A direct peer in scale and specialization, frequently engaged on overlapping executive-defense and crisis-management mandates.
• Moro Advogados: Brazilian criminal-law and anti-corruption boutique founded by former federal judge and Justice Minister Sergio Moro. Direct competitor in high-profile economic criminal defense, internal investigations, and crisis management for corporate clients.
• CRMV Advogados: Brazilian white-collar and corporate investigations boutique frequently cited as a peer for criminal-economic-law defense. Directly comparable in size, focus, and client base to Vilardi, with a similar concentration on executive and corporate criminal matters.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vilardi-e-advogados-associados

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vilardi e Advogados Associados