Maíra Isabel Saldanha Rodrigues

Maíra Isabel Saldanha Rodrigues specializes in Competition and Antitrust Law. Her practice focuses on merger control issues, design and implementation of antitrust compliance programs, and anticompetitive practice investigations.

Maíra has experience representing and advising clients from industries such as chemical, technological, pharmaceutical, food and beverages, and energy, on broad range of cross-border M&A matters, complex merger cases, and negotiation of remedies, as well as assisting clients in antitrust matters related to dealings with competitors, exchange of competitively sensitive information and dealings in the supply chain.

She is nationally ranked by Legal 500 in Competition & Antitrust, with clients commenting that she is “extremely attentive and focused on solving problems.’

Furthermore, Maíra also represents and advises clients in investigations related to trade matters, such as antidumping, safeguards and countervailing duties. Her experience allows her to assist manufacturers, importers and exporters seeking and defending their interests before the Brazilian Foreign Trade Chamber, taking part in every stage of the investigation, from drafting change proposals to responding to the questionnaires sent out by the Subsecretariat for Commercial Defense and Public Interest.

 

PRACTICE AREAS

Competition/Antitrust; International Trade

 

EDUCATION

  • Graduated from University of Brasília LL.B program in 2017.
  • Graduated from New York University (NYU) LL.M program in 2019, as the youngest Brazilian lawyer to join NYU’s 2018/2019 LL.M Program.
  • Postgraduated in European Competition Law from King’s College London in 2022.

 

MAIN CLIENTS

Hyster Yale, Gerdau Aços Longos, Qualicaps, Sherwin-Williams, Unipar.

 

RECOGNITION

  • “Team of the Year” within Competition & Antitrust – The Latin American Lawyer Women Awards (2024)
  • Rising Star in Competition and Antitrust in Brazil – Legal 500 (2021, 2022 and 2023).
  • Leading Associate in Competition and Antitrust in Brazil – Legal 500 (2024).
  • Shortlisted for “Rising Star of the Year” – Legal 500 Brazil Awards (2022 and 2023).

 

ACTIVITIES

  • Woman in Antitrust-WIA, Diversity Director (2024): Maíra was designated to co-chair the Director of Diversity role with BMA’s partner Camilla Paoletti, promoting initiatives on the inclusion of LBGTQIA+ and minorities’ insertion into antitrust.
  • WIA’s Content Director (2023): Maíra is responsible for the projects WIA Podcast (including WIA Talks, Nacional Podcast and International Podcast) and WIA Book (national and international) in 2023, working alongside Amanda Athayde. In 2023, WIA Book was sponsored by Raízen, one of Brazil’s largest oil companies.
  • WIA’s Publication Director (2023): Maíra, along with some of brazillian antitrust’s female leaders (such as Amanda Athayde, Ana Frasão, Bárbara Rosemberg, Lilian Cintra de Melo, Silvia Fagá and others), was one of the editors and examiners for WIA’s “Woman in Antitrust” publication, as well as being responsible for the selection and organization of WIA’s all-around publications during 2023.
  • Manager of WIA Podcast (2022): Maíra is part of WIA’s podcast, in which she interviews female antitrust leaders in Brazil (such as CADE’s Commissioner Lenisa Prado) and globally (such as Bhawna Gulati, Joint Director (Law) of the Indian Competition Authority. Highlights from her time as host and moderator include Episode 36 (“An Antitrust Revolution in the United States? The Neo Brandeis Movement and its Traction”, with Professor Eleanor Fox, NYU Law School) and Episode 62 (“Aprendizados do Caso Nestlé-Garoto”, with Gabriel Dias e Priscila Brolio), conducted in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
  • Manager of WIA Talks (2021): Maíra leads WIA’s interview program named “WIA Talks”. In the program, she conducts monthly interviews with high-level participants – such as Adriana Dantas (Chair of IDB’s Sanctions Committee, Member of Petrobras Integrity Board and Chair of Compliance Subcommittee and Anti-Corruption Committee at IBA); and Carol Conway (Head of Regulatory Affairs at Grupo UOL/Pag Seguro) – on topics related to gender equality.

 

PUBLICATIONS

  • Co-authored the article: “Non-solicit clauses on Employees: Antitrust And M&A Risks” for The Legal Industry Reviews Brazil. Ed. N°5, Vol.1, October 2024.
  • Contributed with the article “Sustainability Agreements: interface entre direito concorrencial e sustentabilidade”, published in the book “Direito e Meio Ambiente” by Cascione Advogados, 2024.
  • Co-authored the article: “Real Estate and Merger Control: Insights and Perspectives in Brazil” for The Legal Industry Reviews Brazil. Ed. N°4, May 2024.
  • Co-authored the article: “Cade Signals Its Enforcement Approach to Sustainability Agreements” for The Legal Industry Reviews Brazil. Ed. N°2, October 2023.
  • Co-authored the article: “Merger Control in 2024: CADE’s Tribunal New Composition and Trends” for The Legal Industry Reviews Brazil. Ed. N°1, June 2023.
  • Co-authored the booklet “Manual de Práticas Concorrenciais para Sindicatos e Entidades de Classe – 2023”, organized by Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (FIESP) e do Centro das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (CIESP).
  • Organized the 6th volume of the ‘Women in Antitrust’ book, released in 2023.
  • Co-authored the paper “Controle de Estruturas: Estatísticas do Tribunal do CADE em 2020 e possibilidade de mudanças em 2021. Estadão, published in January 2021.
  • Co-authored the paper “The Future Of Merger Review: New Perspectives For “Associative Agreements”, Ibrac, published in Aug. 2020.
  • Co-authored the paper “Protocolo antitruste: criar paper trail das ações é forma mais segura de agir”, Conjur, June 2020.
  • “UPDATE: Legal Research in Brazil,” GlobaLex, Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU School of Law, September/October 2019.
  • Contributed in the Brazilian Chapter of the Competition Litigation Comparative Guide, The Legal 500, August 2019.
  • Interviewed by Getting the Deal Through – Market Intelligence, on Merger Review Updates in Brazil, August 2018.

 

RECENT EVENTS

  • Moderator of the team’s panel proposal “Ex-post analysis – what can the Live Nation/Ticketmaster case reveal to us?” selected for IBRAC’s 30th International Seminar on Competition Policy in November 2024, with speakers CADE’s Commissioner Carlos Jacques Vieira Gomes, Supreme Court´s advisor Guilherme Mendes Resende, CCIA´s Vice President Krisztian Katona, ecoa’s partner Silvia Fagá de Almeida and Tozzini Freire´s partner Vivian Fraga.
  • Moderator of the event “Labor Markets and Antitrust: What employers should contemplate in the USA and Brazil / Mercado de Trabalho e Antitruste: O que empregadores devem contemplar nos EUA e Brasil”, joined by the speakers Prof. Eric Posner (University of Chicago), Lauren Weinstein (MoloLamken LLP) and Denise Junqueira in October 2024.
  • Moderator of the panel on “A cross-disciplinary approach to Antitrust Law”, joined by the speakers María José Henríquez, Athina Van Melkebeke and Vinicius Klein in April 2024.
  • Panelist on IBRAC’s event “Divulgação dos artigos e lançamento do livro The Future of Antitrust”, panel “Mergers in the digital era: what are the changes needed?” (August 2020).
  • Swisscam Brazil – Panelist on Swisscam´s event “Open Banking: Regulatory and Competitive Impacts” (September 2019).