Firm expands its partnership in business development, innovation, and tax litigation
Leonardo Spagnolo Albamonte de Araujo, André Carvalho Ribeiro, and Lucas Montenegro Figueiredo have joined the partnership of Finocchio & Ustra Sociedade de Advogados, a full-service business law firm with more than 24 years of experience in the market.
About Leonardo Spagnolo Albamonte de Araujo
Leonardo has been with the firm for more than six years and previously served as Business Development and Market Intelligence Coordinator. A lawyer with a law degree from Mackenzie Presbyterian University, he also holds a degree in Business Administration from Faculdades de Campinas (FACAMP) and completed the PDD – Executive Development Program at Fundação Dom Cabral.
Throughout his career at the firm, he has built solid experience in business development, bringing together strategy, technology, data, and relationship management to drive sustainable growth and create greater value for clients. He has also played an active role in advancing the firm’s business strategy, strengthening client relationships, and fostering an increasingly results-oriented culture, while remaining true to the values and principles that guide the firm.
Leonardo takes on his new role with enthusiasm and emphasizes the responsibility of contributing to the firm’s next chapter. “Having the opportunity to contribute to a new chapter in the story we are building and becoming a partner represents recognition of this journey, but it also increases my responsibility for the future. My goal is to continue contributing to FIUS’s sustainable growth, strengthening our market presence and creating even greater value for our clients, partners, and the firm itself,” he says.
About André Carvalho Ribeiro
André has also been with the firm for just over six years. During this time, he has worked at the intersection of law, technology, and strategy, leading projects involving artificial intelligence, digital transformation, Legal Operations, and the development of new legal products.
He holds a law degree from PUC-Campinas, a Master’s Degree in Information Society Law, and an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is also active in academia as a postgraduate professor at PUC-Campinas and FIA Business School. He is the author of the book Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Data Protection.
As part of this journey, Ribeiro becomes a new partner of the firm, confident that his new role represents recognition of a path built on trust, collaboration, and the opportunity to turn ideas into reality. Leading the firm’s innovation projects and the development of new legal solutions, he says: “It is especially meaningful to take on this role at a time when the innovation work we have collectively built at FIUS is also being recognized by the market, with important awards demonstrating that this transformation is already delivering tangible results.”
“I take on this new role with a strong sense of responsibility and the conviction that there is still much more for us to build. Innovation has never been about one practice area or one person, but about the ability of our entire team to question, create, and transform. The future of the firm will be shaped by this collective strength,” he adds.
About Lucas Montenegro Figueiredo
With more than 10 years of experience, eight of them at Finocchio & Ustra, Lucas holds a law degree from the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR) and a specialization in Tax Law from PUC Minas Gerais. He has extensive experience handling strategic tax litigation before administrative and judicial courts throughout Brazil, representing both domestic and international clients. In addition to litigation, he also has advisory experience involving direct and indirect taxes, tax audits, administrative proceedings, tax offsets, refunds, installment programs, tax settlements, and tax management.
Upon becoming a partner, Figueiredo highlights the importance of his team and the firm’s other partners throughout his professional journey. “Becoming a partner at FIUS is a source of great joy and gratitude. I embrace this new chapter with immense pride in being part of a story built by people I admire and from whom I have the opportunity to learn and grow every day. I am deeply grateful to the firm, its founders, the other partners and, especially, my team, who helped me turn what once seemed like a distant dream into this achievement,” he says.
“I also see this achievement as a renewed commitment to contribute even more to FIUS’s growth, to the development of our team, and to building the next chapters of this successful story,” he concludes