Joel Luís Thomaz Bastos has vast experience acquired in the largest and most complex debt restructuring cases in Brazil, having advised debtors, creditors and investors in the restructuring of debts, court-supervised as well as out-of-court reorganisations and bankruptcies.

Throughout more than 25 years of practice, Joel has assisted clients in complex litigation matters involving commercial and corporate law, energy and telecommunications law, banking law, tort liability, and copyright law. He has participated in several international litigation and restructuring cases involving cross-border insolvency and foreign investment.

Since the advent of the New Bankruptcy Law, Thomaz Bastos has been advising clients on all of the most important restructuring cases in Brazil, representing the interests of financially distressed companies that operate in various industries. He has been acknowledged both in Brazil and abroad as one of the leading attorneys in this practice area and he received the ‘Deal of the Year’ award for his pivotal role in the Parmalat case and more recently in the OAS case. He has also participated and coordinated the largest and most complex court-supervised corporate reorganisation cases in Brazil.

Joel Luís Thomaz Bastos obtained his bachelor’s degree in law from the School of Law of Mackenzie University in 1992. He is the founding member and currently a member of the board of directors at the Turnaround Management Association – TMA Brasil, and also a member of the Brazilian Bar Association’s (OAB) special committee on banking law.