Since enactment of the Consumer Defense Code, in 1990, various governmental consumer-defense bodies have been set up, and the Brazilian courts have begun to play a more active role in consumer relations.

To meet this demand Marcelo Simão Solicitors’ consumer-law team has specialized in complex disputes involving the defense of suppliers for civil liability or for liability for defective products or services, taking into consideration the peculiarities of each client's business.

Brazilian consumer law lays down various rules that place the consumer in a privileged position, such as:

• Strict liability of the supplier (i.e., that does not require a demonstration of guilt);
• Institution of new methods, favorable to the consumer, in the interpretation of consumer contracts; and
• Setting various mechanisms that ease the procedural defense of the consumer, such as the possibility of shifting the burden of proof and the collective protection of consumers.

Marcelo Simão Solicitors represents large local and multinational companies in highly-complex legal proceedings, filed either by consumers or by collective entities, in class actions or individual suits. The firm is also active in defending its clients' interests in administrative procedures and in negotiations with public consumer-defense authorities, such as the municipal and state Consumer Defense Bureaus, state and federal Department of Public Prosecutions, and the Department of Defense and Protection of the Consumer.