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Since 2017, the BCBA Founders have been working to advance networking opportunities and bring multi-cultural and educational awareness to the growing community of legal professionals of Brazilian origin in Canada.

BCBA was born from the initiative of seven Brazilian lawyers who share a vision to develop professional excellence among legal practitioners of Brazilian origin in Canada. The Association’s purpose is to represent and advocate for the Brazilian legal community in Canada.

The Association aims to strengthen bonds within the Brazilian Canadian legal community by advancing its members’ well-being and education, bringing awareness to legal professional standards, and promoting equitable opportunities.

Board of Directors

Lais Gonçalves

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Eduardo Oliveira

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Wanessa Oliveira

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Priscila Atkinson

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Everton Torres

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Ivan Ozai

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Lara Merjane

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Partners & Sponsors

We are grateful to our generous Partners for choosing to support our mission to support the Brazilian legal community in Canada.

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Lais Gonçalves

Lais Gonçalves has been practicing law for over 20 years in several areas, including: government (as a part of Prosecutor’s legal counsel and, as a Judge-appointed attorney), immigration, criminal, civil litigation, mediation, family law and corporate litigation at a large multinational bank. The last 9 years she dedicated her practice to corporate immigration at her boutique law office. Lais has assisted a many clients with visa applications, was responsible for assisting employees of multi-national companies in obtaining business visas and work permits in a timely and efficient manner for more than 27 different countries. 

Her passion for people motivated her to create a Professional networking group of over 200 Brazilian lawyers now living in Canada to assist them with career development and re-qualification.

Lais hold an LL.B. and MBA in International Trade and Finance from Brazil. In Canada, Lais earned a Global Professional Master of Laws (GPLLM) at the University of Toronto. Lais is called to the Bar in Brazil and is a licensing candidate in Ontario. 

Eduardo Matos Oliveira

Eduardo Matos Oliveira represents individual and corporate clients in a variety of immigration matters, especially complex permanent residence applications, immigration appeals, and Federal Court cases. He practices in a leading immigration law firm based in Toronto that represents clients at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, before which the firm secured the landmark decision in Canada v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65.

Eduardo is an elected member of the CONCID – Brazilian Citizenship Council of Ontario and co-hosts a podcast with Jornal de Toronto. He is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Eduardo holds an LL.B. from Recife Law School. He has also earned a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Political Science from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil. In Canada, he completed an LL.M. at Osgoode Hall Law School.

 

 

Wanessa Oliveira

Wanessa Santana de Oliveira practices M&A, Corporate Law and Real Estate in Brazil since 2011, advising local and foreign clients about legal aspects of investing and doing business in Brazil. She has vast experience in mergers and acquisitions across multiple industries, with recent focus in the health sector. 

Wanessa landed in Canada in the Fall/2019 to pursue a Master’s degree in Innovation, Law & Tech at the University of Toronto. Aiming to become a lawyer in Canada, she obtained a certificate of qualification from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada through the National Committee on Accreditation (2020), and passed BAR exams of the Law Society of Ontario (2021), being called April-2022.

Currently, Wanessa is a Legal Counsel at Boston Scientific. 

Wanessa holds a bachelor’s in civil law and post-graduation in civil proceedings from a leading law school in Brazil. In Canada, she earned a master’s degree from University of Toronto and holds a certificate of qualification from the National Committee on Accreditation. 

Priscila Jales P. Atkinson

Priscila Jales P. Atkinson is Crown Counsel at the Constitutional Law Branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, where she practices exclusively constitutional litigation. Her work consists in litigating constitutional challenges at all levels of court and advising the Ontario government regarding constitutional issues.

In Brazil, Priscila clerked at the Brazilian Federal Court of Appeal and Brazilian Electoral Court of Appeal. She also worked at the homicide division of Pernambuco’s Duty Counsel Office and at the civil litigation sector of a Boutique law firm.

Priscila holds a LL.B. (Gold Medal) from the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil. In Canada, she earned a LL.M from Osgoode Hall Law School. Priscila is called to the Bar in Brazil and Ontario, Canada.

In 2020, amidst the global pandemic, Priscila’s passion for helping internationally trained lawyers inspired her to found the ITLNCA NetworkS. Now, her passional for helping Brazilians urged her to found the BCBA. She hopes the BCBA will make the career transition of Brazilian lawyers in Canada smoother.

 

Everton Torres

Everton Torres is a Licensed Paralegal/Law Clerk at Blakeney Henneberry Murphy and Galligan. He dedicates his work to civil litigation cases, with emphasis on insurance defence, coverage, and compliance issues, including personal injury, motor vehicle accident litigation, occupiers’ liability, construction litigation, property damage, institutional defence, defence of professionals, and estate litigation.

Prior to moving to Canada, Everton worked as Municipal Attorney in Brazil, representing the City of Conceição do Jacuípe, in the State of Bahia, where he was the head of the civil and tax litigation department for five years. He also had his own firm for seven years, where he devoted his practice on civil litigation.

Everton holds an LL.B., two post-graduation degrees in Tax Law in Brazil. In Canada, he earned a Diploma in Paralegal Studies with Honours from Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.

Currently, Everton is a National Committee on Accreditation candidate in order to be admitted to the Law Society of Ontario as a Licensed Lawyer.

Ivan Ozai

Ivan Ozai is a full-time professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, where he teaches in the J.D. program and in the LL.M. in Canadian Common Law. His main areas of research and teaching are national, international, and comparative tax law and policy, focusing on the intersection of tax law with legal theory and political philosophy.

In 2023, Ivan received the Osgoode Hall Law School Teaching Award, based on students’ nominations and awarded each year to a full-time faculty who, through innovation and commitment, has significantly enhanced the quality of learning at Osgoode. He has also been the recipient of multiple awards for his scholarly writing, including the Paul-Gérin-Lajoie Rising Star Award in 2019 by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec, Société et Culture and the 2018 IFA USA Writing Award by the International Fiscal Association, and his recent work was shortlisted for the 2023 Frans Vanistendael Award by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation.

Before moving into academia, Ivan practised tax law for over ten years as a litigator and a legal adviser. In Brazil, he also served as a tax court judge and held several senior government positions, including as the Director of the Advance Tax Rulings Directorate of the Department of Finance of the State of Sao Paulo.

Lara Merjane

Lara Merjane is a Corporate Lawyer at The Ross Firm Professional Corporation. Over the past 13 years, she developed expertise in drafting and negotiating commercial agreements for companies in Canada, the US, and Brazil. Her practice focuses on complex M&A deals, and corporate and commercial issues, with emphasis on risk and contract management. Lara sees the bigger picture when providing clients in high-stakes disputes with practical and results-oriented strategic advice.

Lara lawyered for seven years in Brazil on a broad array of commercial disputes, primarily litigating employment cases for multinational companies and negotiating collective bargaining agreements for regional and national unions.

After moving to Canada, she worked in legal departments of FinTechs, publicly traded American companies, and a Group of technology, recruiting and payroll companies with branches across Canada and the US, where she developed knowledge in cross-border commercial transactions.

Lara is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, a certified Commercial Contract Manager, and a licensed lawyer of the Law Society of Ontario and the Brazilian Bar Association (Goiás).