Giovanna Martins Santana

Giovanna Martins de Santana is a Brazilian-qualified lawyer with a decade of experience in litigation, and national and international arbitration. Prior to joining the MIDS, she represented clients before esteemed institutions such as the ICC, CAM-CCBC, and CMA (FIESP/CIESP). She also advised clients on dispute prevention, negotiation, mediation, and corporate governance matters. Giovanna has extensive experience in conducting risk assessments in support of M&A contracts, capital markets, and investment funds.

She has served as Tribunal Secretary and assisted arbitrators in national and international cases, including commercial disputes, M&A, financial markets, construction matters, and issues involving the Brazilian public administration. Giovanna is listed as an arbitrator at the Centro Brasileiro de Mediação e Arbitragem (CBMA).

She holds an LL.B. from the University of São Paulo (USP) and is finalizing her thesis on corruption and arbitration to obtain her M.A. in Arbitration and Procedural Law from USP. Additionally, she completed a postgraduate degree in Criminal Law at the Superior School of the Public Prosecutor's Office in São Paulo (ESMPSP). She also attended negotiation courses based on the Harvard method at Faculdade Getúlio Vargas (FGV) in Brazil.

Giovanna participated in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna (Vis Moot) and Hong Kong (Vis East Moot), receiving recognition for best memoranda for respondent and claimant. She also participated in the CAMARB - Brazilian Arbitration Moot, where she ranked 4th as best oralist, and the USP team took first place overall. She also coached the USP team for the Vis East Moot in 2015.

In addition to Giovanna’s international experiences, she lived one year in Germany as an exchange student sponsored by Rotary, and participated in the Summer Program for Peace and Law at the University of Hiroshima, supported by a scholarship from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Fluent in Portuguese and English, with good knowledge of Spanish and German, Giovanna is currently enhancing her linguistic skills by learning French.

Nationality

Brazil

Working Languages

English

Portuguese

Spanish

Areas of Expertise

Arbitration

Dispute Prevention & Resolution

Dispute Risk Assessment

Compliance

Bar Information

São Paulo, Brazil, 2014