Cavalcanti Sion Advogados was created following a merger between the team led by attorney Dora Cavalcanti, who has over 25 years’ experience in criminal law, and her long-term partner Paula Sion.
The sum of their legal skills has created an even more comprehensive and well-structured law firm capable of focusing on today’s most complex challenges in Criminal Law.
The firm is fully committed to discretion, availability and working closely with clients to build a frank and robust relationship and determine the best strategy for each particular case.
Reconhecimento:
Ethics and legality are key tenets in all the firm’s activities, which are centered on the team’s shared opinion that criminal representation is essential to protect liberty and the Democratic State of Law.
WHAT WE DO
The firm’s partners have extensive experience in major criminal cases and they have achieved positive results based on their combative and intelligent approach to criminal representation.
The firm closely monitors progress in all its cases, acts quickly to protect its clients’ interests and is continuously researching the latest developments in case law and academia.
The firm provides representation and consultancy in all areas of criminal law.
The firm is involved in cases across the country and some that have cross-border repercussions, supported by a wide network of partner firms and correspondent attorneys.
Consultancy services includes legal opinions, case strategy studies and assistance producing criminal compliance policies.
We provide representation at all stages of a case, including the investigative and judicial phases, to provide the best possible defense.
We file appeals and constitutional submissions as and when appropriate, including habeas corpus and writs of mandamus, and the firm will always provide clients with the most comprehensive defense possible.
Cavalcanti and Sion attorneys have acted as counsel in cases before the Superior Court of Justice and Federal Supreme Court and are aware of all the most recent positions from all of the Superior Courts.
Additionally, the partners are frequently involved in jury trials, which are the essence of criminal law and where oral argument is paramount.
People and companies fall victims to crime every day. It is also common to find company employees involved in crime and wrongdoing.
As the authorities are often overstretched, private investigations can be a key means of uncovering crime and collecting evidence to support criminal prosecutions.
If sufficient evidence is found, the firm can draw up and file applications to initiate inquiries, file criminal complaints and crime reports with the competent authorities and assist prosecutions.
The firm has vast experience in assisting criminal prosecutions and supporting state or federal prosecutors to help bring offenders to justice and obtain compensation.
OUR CLIENTS
The firm focuses primarily on Corporate Criminal Law and represents various foreign and domestic companies.
It has extensive experience liaising with legal and infrastructure departments to help serve each company’s specific requirements.
Financial Institutions and Capital Markets
In strategic cases and mass-market portfolios.
Main areas: internal and external fraud, police action involving bank branches, misconduct, crimes against the national financial system, tax crime, Money Laundering or Asset Concealment and consumer law offenses.
Close
Light and heavy industry
Main areas: environmental crime, work accident cases, internal and external fraud, government-related cases (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), tax crime, shipping and distribution cases.
Close
Civil construction and infrastructure
Main areas: environmental crime, work accident cases, internal and external fraud, government-related cases (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), tax crime.
Close
Medical and hospital sector
Main areas: import and export cases, consumer relations crime, tax crime, government-related cases (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), internal and external fraud.
Close
Technology and development
Main areas: import and export cases, consumer relations crime, tax crime, government-related cases (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), internal and external fraud.
Close
Agribusiness
Main areas: import and export cases, tax crime, environmental crime, government-related cases (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), shipping and distribution cases, work accident cases, internal and external fraud.
Close
Service sector
Main areas: tax crime, consumer law offenses, government-related cases (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), internal and external fraud, industry association defenses.
Fechar
Oil and Gas
Main areas: environmental crime, import and export cases, tax crime, government interactions (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), internal and external fraud.
Close
Food products and distribution
Main areas: consumer relations, import and export cases, tax crime, government interactions (Public Procurement Act and crimes against public administration), internal and external fraud.
Close
Under Brazilian criminal law, prosecutions are always brought against individuals except in cases involving environmental crimes. This means that even in cases involving corporate crimes, the firm is predominantly focused on the individual involved.
Whether we are defending someone or helping them obtain an appropriate response from the authorities if they have been the victim of a crime, we understand crimes and the resulting accusations fundamentally affect people.
This is based on our view that criminal law is not just another branch of the law. It touches on people’s lives and liberty and can cause sleepless nights and negatively affect mood, health and happiness. For the person involved, there is no such thing as a small criminal problem.
Just like a doctor, a criminal lawyer needs to act with humanity and tread with care. Doctors handle people’s lives and health, whereas criminal lawyers are responsible for their future and freedom.
This is why our analyses have to have the same level of precision, detail and information. Treatment also needs to be surgical, using the best possible method to “cure” the problem and reduce any side-effects.
The level of service, case, dedication and support is always the same whether you have suffered a crime or been accused of one, are a small business owner or General Counsel at a major company, to give people the support they need while dealing with criminal issues.
CRIMINAL LAW
Criminal law encompasses much more than it used to. Apart from the crimes listed in the Criminal Code, there is a long list of specific criminal laws. New crimes are constantly being created and have criminal repercussions in various aspects of everyday life.
There is a growing international trend to use criminal law not just as a set of rules to protect society’s fundamental values, but also as a means of regulating business and reinforcing state power.
Many of these new crimes are enacted in specific pieces of legislation in Financial, Corporate or Special Criminal Law, as opposed to what is now known as Classic Criminal Law.
Our team has broad experience in both areas.
These are crimes listed in the Criminal Code, which is intended to protect life, property, the organization of work, religious sentiment and the dead, sexual dignity, the family, the body, public peace, legal authority and public administration.
The better-known crimes include homicide, bodily injury, slander, libel and defamation, theft and robbery, criminal deception, misappropriation, rape, fraudulent misrepresentation and corruption.
These are crimes listed in the Criminal Code, which is intended to protect life, property, the organization of work, religious sentiment and the dead, sexual dignity, the family, the body, public peace, legal authority and public administration.
Clique aqui para conhecer alguns dos diversos diplomas que tratam de matéria criminal na legislação esparsa.:
• Crimes contra a economia popular (Lei nº. 1.521/51)
• Crimes de Telecomunicação (Lei nº. 4.117/62 e Lei nº 9.472/97)
• Crimes e contravenções da Lei de Incorporações Imobiliárias (Lei nº. 4.591/64)
• Crimes contra o Sistema Financeiro Nacional (Lei nº 4.595/64 e Lei nº. 7.492/86)
• Lei de Sonegação Fiscal (Lei nº. 4.729/65)
• Crimes Eleitorais (Lei nº 4.737/65)
• Crimes contra o Mercado de Capitais (Lei nº. 6.385/76)
• Crimes Hediondos (Lei nº. 8.072/90)
• Crimes contra o Consumidor (Lei nº. 8.078/90 e Lei nº. 8.137/90)
• Crimes contra a Ordem Tributária (Lei nº. 8.137/90)
• Crimes de Cartel e contra a Ordem Econômica (Lei nº. 8.137/90 e Lei nº. 8.245/91)
• Crimes de Licitação (Lei nº. 8.666/93)
• Juizados Especiais Criminais (Lei nº. 9.099/95)
• Crimes contra a Propriedade Imaterial (Lei nº. 9.279/96)
• Interceptação Telefônica (Lei nº. 9.296/96)
• Crimes de Tortura (Lei nº. 9.455/97)
• Crimes Ambientais (Lei nº. 9.605/98)
• Crimes de Lavagem de Dinheiro (Lei nº. 9.613/98)
• Crimes de Trânsito (Lei nº. 9.503/97)
• Violação de sigilo bancário (Lei Complementar nº. 105/2001)
• Porte, uso e comercialização de armas (Lei nº. 10.826/2003)
• Crimes Falimentares (Lei nº 11.101/2005)
• Crime de Organização Criminosa (Lei nº. 12.850/13)
• Acordo de Colaboração e Ação Controlada (Lei nº. 12.850/13)
EQUIPE
Dora Cavalcanti
Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo in 1994.
With more than 25 years of experience in the criminal area, the partner is used to facing the most diverse challenges in the defense of her clients, having acted in a wide range of highly complex causes over the years.
She is the founding director of the Innocence Project Brasil, which is committed to exonerating wrongfully convicted people and promoting the improvement of the Brazilian criminal justice system.
She is also a born advisor to the Institute for the Defense of the Right to Defense (IDDD), an organization dedicated to promoting access to justice and strengthening the right to full defense that she helped create in 1990. She was Vice-President of the institute for more than 10 years , President from 2002 to 2007, and President of the Deliberative Council from 2015 to 2019.
The partner has extensive experience in cases involving international cooperation, being regularly recognized by renowned international publications, such as Chambers Latin America, Who’s Who and Leaders League.
Dora is concerned with strengthening the female presence in criminal law and regularly participates as a speaker at congresses and class events throughout Brazil and abroad. She was a candidate for the Presidency of OAB / SP in 2021.
Paula Sion
Graduated from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in 1999. She has a postgraduate degree in Economic and European Criminal Law from the University of Coimbra, in partnership with the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences (2001); She took a specialization course in Economic Criminal Law, in the module “Tax Crimes, Money Laundering and other crimes”, at Fundação Getúlio Vargas Law School, GV Law (in 2007).
Paula Sion represents clients from various sectors in the most diverse matters of criminal law such as corporate crimes, crimes against the financial system, money laundering, tax crimes, bidding crimes, among others.
Sturdy in defensive action, but without losing sight of the pragmatism that should guide actions with the aim of achieving the best result for each concrete case, she recently participated in the articulation of one of the most important cases of award-winning collaboration in Brazil.
Paula Sion was Cultural Director and Fundraising Coordinator at the Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa (IDDD 2011-2014), of which she is one of the founding partners. She is currently a Fiscal Counselor for the Innocence Project Brasil. She was advisor to the Commission on Prerogatives of the São Paulo section of the Brazilian Bar Association and member of the Commission on Criminal Law, of the same entity, in the 2019/2021 period and candidate for the Vice-Presidency of Caixa de Assistência do Advogado – Caasp – OAB/SP , in 2021.
Gabriel Holtz
He graduated in Law from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (2014) and is a graduate student in Economic Criminal Law at Fundação Getúlio Vargas. He was a monitor of the Criminal Procedure discipline at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo in 2015.
He is a member of the Institute for the Defense of the Right to Defense (IDDD), the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences (IBCCRIM) and the Criminal Procedure Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association.
Fluent in English and Spanish.
Raquel Scalcon
Graduated in 2009 from the Faculty of Law of UFRGS, where she taught as a professor of Criminal Law between 2012 and 2013. She was a civil servant at the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region, working in offices with criminal competence (2007-2012).
Master in Criminal Sciences from PUCRS (2012) and PhD in Criminal Law from UFRGS (2016), after a period of research at the University of Göttingen, Germany (2014). She did a postdoctoral internship at the Humboldt University of Berlin, dealing with crimes against public administration (2018), with a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
She is currently Professor of Criminal and Criminal Procedure at FGV DIREITO SP, teaching undergraduate courses, FGV Law and Professional Masters (Economic Criminal). She is also Professor of Crimes against Public Administration in the Post-Graduation in Compliance at Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa (Albert Einstein Hospital).
She is part of the “Right of Defense in the Jury Court” Project of the Institute for the Defense of the Right to Defense (IDDD) and is Deputy Coordinator of the Amicus Curiae Department of the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences (2021-2022).
Author of the books “The penal concept of civil servants” and “Constitutional control of criminal laws”, as well as several articles in newspapers and specialized magazines in Brazil and abroad, she has been a lawyer since 2012 in the criminal and administrative area. She is fluent in German, English and Spanish.
Cristiane Costa
Graduated in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo – USP in 2019.
Postgraduate student in Economic Criminal Law at the Institute of European Economic Criminal Law (IDPEE) of the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra in partnership with the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences (IBCCRIM).
Associated with the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences (IBCCRIM) and the Innocence Project Brazil.
Fluent in English.
Mabel Cavalcanti Cordani
Bachelor of Laws from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo – PUC/SP in 2022. Attended the International Studies Program at the Pontifical University Comillas in Madrid. Associated with the Institute for the Defense of the Right to Defense (IDDD) and Innocence Project Brazil. Fluent in English and Spanish.
O compromisso em promover uma sociedade mais justa está na espinha dorsal do escritório, que prioriza a atuação pro bono em diversos projetos relacionados ao direito penal e à política criminal.
Cientes do nosso papel de promover o amplo acesso à justiça, zelando pelas liberdades individuais, não medimos esforços ou tempo para tratar de um dos problemas mais sensíveis ao ser humano: seu direito de defesa.
Nossas sócias e advogados estão constantemente envolvidos em iniciativas do Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa (IDDD), do Instituto Brasileiro de Ciências Criminais (IBCCRIM), e do Innocence Project Brasil.
Em novembro de 2018, em parceria com Rahal, Carnelós e Vargas do Amaral Advogados, o escritório recebeu o prêmio Lumen, do Centro de Estudos das Sociedades de Advogados (CESA); em 2019, o Innocence Project Brasil foi o vencedor do Prêmio Innovare, na categoria Advocacia e, em 2021, a sócia Dora Cavalcanti foi condecorada com a medalha Myrthes Gomes de Campos, a mais alta comenda da OAB-DF, em razão da relevância social do Projeto por ela trazido ao Brasil.
A partir de 2022, Dora Cavalcanti passou a integrar, como doadora e Conselheira o Projeto “Sempre Sanfran” instituído por advogados de destaque formados no Largo de São Francisco, com a finalidade de apoiar projetos que fomentem a excelência acadêmica, atividades de extensão e pesquisa, bem como promovam diversidade e inclusão.
Para saber mais, acesse os sites: